Saturday 7 October 2017

There are no words to describe Petra.  Built sometime during the 1st century BC it was part of the trading route connecting Mesopotamia and Egypt and grew rich through frankincense, myrrh and spices.  It was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 363AD and abandoned by all but the local Bedouin.  Until 1812 when a Swiss explorer rediscovered it for the western world.  A feast for archeologists,

Petra is a visual feast of extraordinary buildings, all carved out of the pink sandstone.

A trip to Petra is not for the faint hearted, as the main trail in and out is 4km each way, over uneven ground which is a little hilly.

The Bedouin are still in residence and are very canny with their business.  There are various forms of transport on offer for those not willing to use shanks pony, and Murad, our trusty guide, was indeed to be trusted in relation to these modes. A horse can be ridden from the entry gate, but only for the first 500m!  Then, a horse and cart (looking quite precarious I must say, with horses slipping on the stone ground and Bedouin hoons speeding them along)  will take you the remaining 3 1/2 kms into the Treasury

But walking allows us to see, which is something those in the carts certainly can’t do because they are holding their breath, with eyes tightly closed.

We see the aqueducts built to channel the water

And we see carvings and burial monuments and all sorts of amazing things.

And then, after a 2km walk, we reach the siq, the narrow gorge which offers us our first glimpse of the iconic Treasury building

Honestly, it took our breath away.  It’s 40 metres high and is incredibly intricate.  It reminded me of Michaelangelo’s philosophy about sculpting “just chip away the excess marble and there is the art work”.  Amazing stuff.

There are now other forms of transport for the remainder of the 2km walk through the city of Petra.

We chose to walk, probably a good idea since the donkey man is distracted by his traditional Bedouin mobile phone!   We are impressed by the politeness of the Bedouin, who once told firmly NO, acknowledge our wishes and leave us alone.

There are lots of Bedouin hawkers, flogging donkey and camel rides, souvenirs and water.  We succumb to only the latter.  They start ‘em young in Petra

When Petra became a world heritage site in 1985 the local Bedouins were rehoused on a hill above the site

If you look carefully you will see the village on the right of this photo.  All the monuments are in the gorge below.  But the Bedouins are still active in the old village too

We make our way down (note down, means up on the way back) past temples

 

This is truly incredible stuff.  Cherrie tries to escape up the stairway to nowhere

And finally I find centre stage

The wonders of this wonder of the world just go on and on.  Wonder overload I think its called.

And, then there are the 1000 steps up to the Monastry, the largest monument in Petra, and the highest.  This is not a climb for the fainthearted but I’m afraid that I meet that sad criteria.  We tried, and tried, but whilst I was willing, my walking stick went on strike after about half way.

And its still feeling the effects.  Poor Cherrie stayed with me, foregoing the opportunity to partake in another 500 uneven, steep and treacherous steps.  What a woman.

One can only wonder at the view from the top.  Half way is pretty spectacular.

Unbelievably, tourists are led on donkeys on this track, at great personal risk I would think.  The Bedouin public liaibility cover must be nearly the size of Petra itself.

On the way down we meet the modern donkey

A goat with a Bedouin earring

And a camel without one

When we finally got back down again

we had some lunch (more of the same) and enjoyed the shade. It’s a hot day. Into the 30s and we’ve walked 6km and another 4km to get out. I tried the escape route, but to no avail.

Cherrie, as usual, was very patient with my by now very slow progress and it was a long walk to freedom (apologies to Nelson Mandela).  Big Bedouin watching all the way

After 8 hours inside Petra we finally make it back to our hotel, exhausted but incredibly inspired.  We are staying at the Movenpick Hotel.  You may know them as the Swiss ice cream makers  but let me assure you that as hoteliers they make excellent ice cream.