Jordan - Petra. 'nuff said.

Before I started my trip, I have to admit that the only thing that I really knew about Jordan was Petra, and about that I knew little more than the famous Treasury façade. Even though I learned a lot more before heading to Petra, I still was viewing it at the highlight of the trip as we were on our way to the ancient city.

Before arriving in Petra, we stopped in Wadi Mousas (Moses Valley) to see the rock that Moses struck in the desert, producing water for the Israelites. (See Exodus.) Of course I have no faith in it being the actual rock, but it makes for a good story and a great photo op.

We arrived at our hotel in Petra, but our rooms were not yet ready. A group of us went to a restaurant called Burkara and ate there. The meal I ordered was called “Chicken From The Machine.” Basically, it was rotisserie chicken and it was really good. It came with a cucumber and tomato salad and only cost around $4 American, so I felt like I accomplished much.

In the evening, a few of us attended Petra at Night. The path to the ancient city, through a narrow natural path between sandstone mountains, was lit by candlelight and the entire area was further illuminated by a beautiful full moon. The walk, approximately 1.2 kilometers, led us directly to the famous Treasury, which also was illuminated by candlelight. My first view of the building, carved into the side of a mountain, through the slender separation of sandstone directly opposite the landmark was one of the few literally stunning visions I have ever encountered in my life. The Treasury was much more stunning and impressive to me than the Great Pyramid, which I had seen only a week before.

Upon arrival at the Treasury, we sat on mats laid out before the building as we listed to live performances of traditional Jordanian music and listed to lectures about the history of Petra. After the performances, we returned to the bus and the hotel to get a few hours of sleep before returning.

I knew that even though many people have seen nothing of Petra but the Treasury, there was more to Petra than that single façade. I did not know, however, the extent of the excavation of the ancient city. We were told that it would take three or four days to explore everything that Petra had to offer and after our day there, I have no doubts. We returned to Treasury and then advanced through the Street of the Facades, to take in hundreds of tombs and other carvings into the soft sandstone mountains.

I don’t know the names of most of the things that I saw and I won’t pretend to have a ton of knowledge, but I will point out a few of the highlights – with photos, of course. One of the highlights for me was an ancient amphitheater carved into the mountains, first by the Nabateans and then expanded by the Romans. Eventually, it was able to hold approximately 7000 people, though I don’t know how comfortable the sandstone seats would have been.

We also visited what we were told was the home of somebody rich that was across the, we’ll call it street, from the amphitheater. We had to climb up some semi-steep steps to get into the house (I use the word “house” loosely since it is actually a home carved into the side of a mountain) and enjoy the view. An adorable Jordanian girl that couldn’t have been more than seven followed us up there and managed to sell stuff to the dozen or so people in the home because nobody could say no to her.

Besides the Treasury, the biggest highlight for me was the Monastery (Ad-Deir). This structure is also carved into the side of a mountain, but this one is carved very, very high into the side of a mountain. We had to climb a flight of 800 stairs in order to get to the Monastery. Across from the Monastery was a café that included seats and a souvenir shop set up inside a cave (former tomb?) that sits across the courtyard in front of the Monastery. From this altitude, we were able to see fantastic valley and desert views of the surrounding area.

That takes me to right now, sitting in the lobby of my hotel, writing the past few entries and wondering when I will finally get an opportunity to actually put them on to the website. Maybe in Amman . . .