The Red Rose City, Part 3

Day 3

"In the red sandstone of which the valley is composed, are upwards of 250 sepulchres entirely cut out of the rock, the greater part of them with Grecian ornaments. There is a mausoleum in the shape of a temple, of colossal dimensions, likewise cut out of the rock, with all its apartments, its vestibule, peristyle etc. It is a most beautiful specimen of Grecian architecture, and in perfect preservation. There are other mausoleums with obelisks, apparently in the Egyptian style, a whole amphitheatre cut out of the rock with the remains of a palace and of several temples. Upon the summit of the mountain which closes the narrow valley on its western side, is the tomb of Haroun [Aaron]. It is held in great veneration by the Arabs.” - Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 1812

For our last day in Petra we decided to do something special: hire a guide to take us on the 5 mile hike from Little Petra, where we were staying, to the Monastery.  This hike goes over some beautiful terrain, but it's easy to get lost, so we hired Anjin, one of the many cousins of the family who owns Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp.

First Anjin took us to Little Petra, which is, you guessed it, a small version of the Red Rose City.  There are a few tombs and a triclinium (a feasting hall) and one of the tombs is unique as it has painting on its ceiling, one of the few paintings known to be Nabatean.  There is also a cafe which advertises the "World's Best View", the third world's best view we've seen in Petra. Indeed, it was a nice view, but maybe not the world's best.

The "World's Greatest View", 3rd time...

Little Petra...

Nabatean painting...

Little Petra has it's own Little Siq...

Bedouin musician...

Cafe owner...

“They live in the open air, claiming as native land a wilderness that has neither rivers nor abundant springs...It is their custom neither to plant grain, set out any fruit-bearing tree, use wine, nor construct any house...Some of them raise camels, others sheep, posturing them in the desert...” - Diodorus of Sicily, 1st Century BCE

From here we headed out on the hike, past Bedouin camps, through valleys and around a mountain or two, up and down some pretty big hills.  There is the "Monkey's Face", a hillside that is shaped like a gorilla's profile.  From here, you look way down into Wadi Araba, a deep canyon that goes out to the plain, 3000 feet below.  For the 5 mile hike we only encountered one of other group of two tourists.  Not many people take this hike, but we highly recommend it if you have a third day in Petra.


Northern ticket office for Petra.  The ticket taker gave us a nice cup of tea...

Great views from the trail...

Anjin and Amy...

The Monkey's Face...

The view down the Wadi Araba...

Finally we rounded a corner and there it was again, the Monastery, or Ad Deir in Arabic.  By now it was noon and the place was filled with tourists who had come up the normal way, by foot or donkey.  We were quite exhausted by this time, so we sat at the cafe in front of the Monastery for an arabic coffee and a snack.  Another world's greatest view.

First view of the Monastery...

Local Kids...

Jordanian coffee complete with cardamon...

The Monastery, 2018...

The Monastery, 1829 (Lithograph by David Roberts)

“I was without protection in the midst of a desert where no traveller had ever before been seen; and a close examination of these works of the infidels, as they are called, would have excited suspicions that I was a magician in search of treasures.” - Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 1812



The Royal Tombs

After hanging out at the Monastery for an hour or so, we hiked back down to central Petra, which was the main part of the city with actual buildings, not facades.  Here you will find the Qasr al Bint, or Castle of the Pharaoh's Daughter.  It is one of the few free standing buildings in Petra and the largest.  There is also the main temple, a large flat area surrounded by columns.  Next to it is what was a large garden, with huge areas of palm trees and water features. While this is all gone now, it shows that the was the Las Vegas of the ancient world, and even though in the desert, the Nabateans (and later the Romans) figured out how to capture enough water to have something like this.

Qasr al Bint...

The Colonnade Street with the Royal Tombs in the distance...

The Tenemous Gate...

The Great Temple...

The Great Temple...

From here it was onto some of the most beautiful monuments in Petra, a row of huge facades called The Royal Tombs.  This is a series of 20 or so tombs, with 4 of them being quite remarkable for their size, carvings and beauty.  One of the most magnificent, The Urn Tomb (named for a very small urn high up on its facade), is gigantic, with a huge plaza in front of it that was carved out of the mountain.  There is a large room carved behind the facade and several vaulted rooms below.

The Urn and Silk Tombs in the distance...

The Palace Tomb, the largest in Petra...

The Urn Tomb with Bedouin policeman...

Inside the Urn Tomb...

Next to the Urn Tomb is the Silk Tomb, noted not for its carving, which has weathered much more than the others, but for the beautiful sandstone it was carved out of, with running colors that reminds one of raw silk.  Next to this, the Corinthian and Palace tomb round out the most beautiful of the Royal Tombs, again, beautifully carved although not as well preserved.

The Silk Tomb...

Souvenirs...

And so we ended our fantastic three day stay in Petra.  Although we hiked a total of about 35 miles, we still didn't see it all.  The site is over 60 square kilometers.  I was ready for another day, but we still had a lot of our adventure ahead of us.  For next up was Wadi Rum, the amazing desert landscape where both Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian were filmed.  We were to stay in a true Bedouin camp for three days and enjoy a couple of days in the back of a pick up truck and a 5 hour trek on a camel.  

But the best laid plans of mice and men...