Jordan and Its Jewel: Petra

As I began to write this blog, I could hear the call to prayer from the loudspeakers in Aqaba. The beach was crowded all day but with the call many vendors and others would be retiring to mosques and prayer rooms for the sunset devotion. Aqaba had been jammed all weekend with the normal set of tourists and an unusually large number of other Jordanians that had flocked to Aqaba to celebrate the Mayday Long Weekend. As the sun was setting over the bay I stood at the balcony and could survey a stretch of coastline shared by four countries: On the far left was Egypt and its territories on the Sinai Peninsula, then moving right, a narrow strip of Israel coming down to the Red Sea at the town of Eilat, then Aqaba, Jordan and Jordan’s brief coastline, and finally on the far right, the very northeastern tip of Saudi Arabia.

Aqaba is known for that great beach, as well as some great snorkeling and diving along a reef that Jordan got in a land swap with Saudi Arabia in 1965. The Saudi’s gained substantial acreage in the desert and the King of Jordan increased his coastline by 18 kilometers. The new beachfront has allowed Jordan to expand its port and it also got a world class reef included in the deal. That reef is the focal point of many snorkeling and scuba day trips. Just in case you were worried about what Jordan gave up in the deal, don’t be, if any hydrocarbons are found on the acreage that was acquired by the Saudi’s there is a production sharing agreement in place as part of the deal. So Jordan, kind of a little guy in the Middle East, probably came out pretty well in those 1965 negotiations. That deal will benefit Jordanians greatly when they wish to escape to the beach on hot Mayday weekends into the future. 

Aqaba from ship

Unfortunately, we only had one day in Jordan and we only drove through Aqaba so we did not get to experience this port city from a pedestrian’s perspective. The ruins at Petra were the focus of our one-day visit to Jordan and we were not disappointed in focusing our limited time in that one area.

The drive to Petra took us through Aqaba and up through a band of rugged mountains that skirt the coast into the famous Wadi Rum area. This high desert district has been feautured in many films including Transformers: Land of the Fallen and Lawrence of Arabia. The latter film is one of my favourites and T.E. Lawrence actually used Wadi Rum as his base of operations to fight the Turks and Germans during World War One.

Coastal Mountains of sanstone and granite

Wadi Rum

The modern townsite of Wadi Musa, which sits above the ancient ruins of Petra, is typical of a town that is situated adjacent to a world-class tourist site. There are hotels, restaurants, shops and cafes of every description. There is also an abundance of local people selling all things Arabian, including rides on Arabian horses. Huge parking lots are situated at the gate and when you get off the bus you get that feeling that you are in a world-class tourist trap. However, as you pass through the gate and fight off the first two-dozen merchants you find yourself on a 700-meter pathway to the upper entrance to the Siq and you start to see clues that you are not visiting The Enchanted Forrest.

Mahmoud, our guide leads us beyond the gate at down the path to Al Siq

Blocks of Jin along the side of the upper path (this is not The Enchanted Forrest)

Beautiful Arabian Horses

As you get nearer to the Siq, some of the first tombs can be seen chiseled out of the sandstone and the first few “blocks of jin”. Then at the top of the Siq you see stretchs of the ancient Roman road, which was built out of limestone blocks brought to the Petra area from far distant lands. Shortly, you come to the top of the Siq and it is there you begin a slow dissent into the valley through a very curious narrow gorge that is a natural phenomenon. The Siq is only 10 feet wide in some places and at the widest point it might be 50 feet wide. It becomes obvious as you descend into the valley that one of the reasons that the ancients chose Petra as the site of a city is because the Siq was easily defendable. It was also easy for the ancients to gather water from the upper valley springs and ‘pipe’ it down the Siq in tiled pipelines that were chiseled out of the rock along the pathway. These water pipelines even had settling ponds chiseled into the rock at intervals to keep the water clear of heavier particles and sand.

Hiking down the Siq

A narrow point in the Siq. Note the shelf that was carved out of the
solid rock on the lower left side. That is where the water 'pipe' ran down into Petra.

A niche carved into the rock along the Siq

A rock in the Siq shaped like a fish was 'carved' by erosian

  Then when you get to the bottom of the Siq your guide tells you to close your eyes as he leads you the the opening at the bottom of the valley. This is what you see:

First glimpse of the Treasury

As you emerge from the Siq, this is what you see:

Awe Inspiring

The only way I can describe the feeling you get when you first see this is that it is like the feeling you had as a child on your first trip to Disneyland, except that this is truly the adult equivalent of that feeling. It is so awe inspiring and so stunning that it stops you in your tracks and makes you blink once or twice. I have read that it is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and a place that should be on everyones bucket-list. I agree whole-heartedly and if the Treasury isn't enough here are some more pictures that my dear wife snapped as we hiked further down into this ancient wonder. 

The colors are amazing

The picture does not do this view justice

'Taxi' to take you up behind the Treasury

The Amphitheater

One of the interesting side-stories of the trip was that our guide was born in one of the tombs. His Bedouin tribe had inhabited the ruins for generations until 1985 when they built a new town for his people on the slopes above the ruins and moved everyone there. He was a pretty cool guy though and he inspired me to pick up a Jordanian 'hat' just like his.

Mahmoud was born in Petra

We are currently in Egypt, having sailed out of the Gulf of Aqaba and landed in Safaga. We visited the Nile Valley yesterday and I have tons of material to write about from our trip there. What a fascinating place! It was an unbelievable experience. I will be breaking Eygpt up into several articles and try to post one tonight.

Right now, the Linda and I are going to a local beach to take a dip into the Red Sea.