Petra - the Rose City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After 25 years, we finally saw it !

 Petra .....That name has been in our family’s collective mind space since the early 1990’s when I used to work in Saudi Arabia and the wife would say, Lets visit Petra on your next holiday. That never happened as all vacations were spent back home. In fact, this visit in 2019 was totally incidental. We were planning a trip to Israel but seeing Egypt was next door, we added that country and later next to it was Jordan, so that got added on too. Right next door is Beirut where my ex boss lives and after 25 years of no contact, we got in touch thru FB and so Beirut got tagged on. Now, Lebanon will just not allow anybody with an Israeli visa so as my ex boss and Beirut were a priority to us, we were forced to cancel Israel. 

We had an excellent local agent in Jordan – you won’t believe it but it was all due to my Kenya based agent HTT Global Holidays of Nairobi (who was also planning another trip for me in October 2019 (later that year) for Madagascar) and she arranged our whole Egypt and Jordan trip. It was truly glocal. So my wife was thrilled that after 25 years I was finally fulfilling her wish to see Petra. I decided that I might as well add Wadi Rum and Aqaba where my childhood hero Col T E Lawrence had led Sheikh Auda Abu Tawi and his rag tag army.  

We arrived at Petra after seeing Madaba and Mt Nebo. Madaba is a city best known for the famous 6th C. mosaic map of Jerusalem & Holy Land and for its spectacular Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics and visit of St.George’s church. Mt. Nebo is a place with unique views of the Holy Land - from Dead Sea to Nablus and beyond. It is awesome seeing various distant places in Israel and Jordan from these heights. 

The drive was dull... flat parched landscape. Shrubs and small villages. As we neared Petra, we saw snow on the ground...middle of March - totally unexpected ! The area is hilly and scenery not very pleasant. Petra town itself is an experience where you see how people earn their year’s livelihood in a few short months by charging tourists exorbitant prices for everything; quite shamelessly. The rates for all items are far higher than anywhere else in Jordan or Egypt. As our hotel was near the Petra archaeological site’s entrance and museum, we went and saw the museum that evening. Read about it in my blog “Petra - the Museum by the site. An excellent learning experience of past cultures.” 

Petra lies on the slope of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin among the mountains which forms the eastern flank of Arabah valley and runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra is believed to have been settled as early as 9,000 BC. Archaeologists believe that in the 4th C BC it was the capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom. These were nomads of arabic origin who used Petra's closeness to the trading routes by establishing a major trading hub. This business  gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth.
We could not enter into the archaeological site as visits stopped for the day due to heavy rains and fear of flash floods – common occurrence. If this continues, it can ruin one’s plans to see the site for which one has come all the way. Weather bitterly cold... it was 6 degs. ! We got a tour guide Mahmoud who was with us for 2.5 hours. 

The Petra tour was for 2.5 hours. Now, this is a real con as no tourist knows in advance what the tour is about and the distances / time involved. So one would agree as after all 2.5 hours is a long time, more than spent in a museum!!  We entered the site at 9.30 am. Mahmoud arranged the horse cart for my wife and we were to meet at the Treasury. He wanted the cart to meet us at 3.30 pm at Treasury despite my wife and me telling him that “what will my wife do at the site for 5 hours sitting there in biting cold??” My wife repeatedly told him that she would go back by 12.00 noon after seeing the Treasury but he insisted. We had to rely on what we thought was genuine advice. 

The site is massive, and contains hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs, a treasury, Roman-style theatres, temples, sacrificial altars and colonnaded streets. There is a clear map showing the route to the Treasury and then beyond. Most folk stop at the Treasury. My wife sat in the horse drawn buggy and was taken direct to the Treasury. We walked. 9.30-10.45 am; we were on a road recently paved, except for large stretch of old path – large stones which if in carriage are back breakers when carriage is at speed. On the way back, due to demand for these carriages, the drivers made the horses run full speed despite our plea to slow down – it was horrific as our backs got badly jolted due to the uneven stone and mud surface.  

Tickets

Entry into the site of Petra is only permitted to visitors holding valid tickets. These are available at the Visitor Center and can be purchased on arrival. Prices differ for foreigners and locals and a range of ticket types are available depending on the length of stay and number of visits to be made into Petra.

 Fees for the accommodated visitor: Visitor who stays at least one night in Jordan.

Entrance Ticket	Price
One  Day	50 (J.D)
Two  Days	55 (J.D)
Three days	60 (J.D)

Fees for the accommodated visitor who visits Petra in the first day of his /her arrival from the border

Entrance Ticket:          90 JD - 40 JD = 50 JD

* For the accommodated visitors who visit Petra in the first day of their arrival from the borders they will pay the border ticket fees(90JD) and return in the next day to get a refund of 40 JD 

Tourist guide tickets: 

Trail	Distance	Cost
Main Trail	4 KM	50 JD
Main trail + High place of sacrifice monument	6 KM	100 JD
Main trail + The Monastery	8 KM	100 JD

Carriages price:

The carriage trail	Distance/ Back and forth	Cost
Visitor center – Treasury  and return	4 KM	20 JD
Visitor center – Museum and return	8 KM	40 JD

Petra archaeological site is massive - spread out over a vast area. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the Rose City due to the colour of the stone out of which it is carved. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.   From the entrance, you walk past the Djinn Blocks, then through the long ravine until you come to the famous 130 ft high Treasury, where Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed.  Here 80% of tourists call it a day and return. The road starts going uphill, towards the Street of the Facades, past the Amphitheatre, turning at the Nymphaeum and into the long Colonnaded Street. If you proceed yet further, taking a long turn at Qusral Al Bint, you will come to the Great Temple. Apparently there are two ‘back doors” or entrances towards the site mostly used by Bedus and easy to get lost finding them; don’t forget you are in a desert area. it’s marked on the map above on the top right corner. The way leading up to the Monastery (extreme top left in map) are sort of steps – slippery slopes, broken stairs, gravelly paths, and straight forward rocks. You risk serious injury on climbing these approx 650 ft to the top of the monastery. Both the back entry road and Monastery are miles away from the Treasury (bottom right quadrant of map). If you are a dedicated working archaeologist, I can understand the trek but otherwise, be sane and follow the herd. Avoid wasting precious money, time and energy.  

The walk is quite pleasant from the entrance to the Treasury, its flat land most of the way till the Treasury and then it starts to rise as you go further in to Great Temple. The ravine in Petra is over 1½ km; rocks on the road are often 2 ft across. You walk past the Djinn blocks which are individual clusters of cave like dwellings. These were actually tombs.  In Petra there are 25 such blocks but on our road, there are only three. 

The Siq is the ancient main entrance leading to the city of Petra and it commences at the dam and ends at the opposite side of the Treasury -  a length of about 1.2 km and a width of 3 to 12 m. The height goes up to about 80m. Mostly natural rock and partly apparently sculpted by the Nabataeans.  The Siq is world famous as it has two natural water channels which had clay pipes carrying fresh water to the city. It’s amazing to see and if it has rained sometime during the trip, you will see water in these channels. Just by the Siq, stand two men in ancient costume, earning living from tourists taking photos with them. 

We continue walking .... there is a pit stop available with a hut selling water / soft drinks etc. We overtake groups of tourists who travel alongside us. The worst are the Chinese who push and shove everybody, waving their camera sticks in your face. No consideration whatsoever for any traveller. 

We walk under 80 m high cliff faces with the dazzling colours and formations of the rocks. At times, the rocks seem to touch across above you. 

My daughter, guide and I reached Treasury by 10.45 am; we rested a bit and met my wife who sat patiently. Mahmoud then said that when we reached the last point, he would leave us and walk to his village which was just at the back. I point blank told him that his responsibility was to see us back to main gate, ensure my wife got a horse cart and we did not get lost. He realised that his ambit had failed and so agreed. 

In the cave dwellings, there are carvings of Chief God Dushara and his wife Alenza. His mother is offering frankincense, wine, honey and milk. The custodian of these shrines lived in a cave near the small shrine. 

An incredible sight is the Camel caravan relief made in 100 – 500 BC. It’s a third larger than life. It shows the camel caravan entering / leaving Petra. The lead driver is visible from the waist down, holding a stick in his bent left arm. To think that we are on the trail where camel caravans have travelled for so many hundreds of years ! Awesome thought. 

We are just about exhausted and in a reflective mood, the cliffs have narrowed considerably and suddenly, we see the vast height of the pink structure which is the Treasury. A few more metres and we are there! It’s a vast concourse in front of us, my wife patiently waiting for us.

As the morning progressed, herds of tour groups, especially cruise ship groups on day trips, arrived in this area. 

In that vast concourse of the Treasury, apart from the tourists, there are large stalls each side of the long siq opening, selling interesting knickknacks at really absurd prices. Also many Bedu locals who one has to watch out for as pick pockets and various nefarious practices abound.

The Treasury is  

crowned by a funerary urn which according to local legend conceals a pharaoh’s treasure. The Treasury was probably constructed in the 1st century BC. It is thought that the urn represented a memorial for royalty.

The purpose of this building is unclear: some archaeologists believed it to be a temple, while others thought it was a place to store documents. However, the most recent excavation here unearthed a graveyard beneath the Treasury. The Treasury comprises three chambers; a middle chamber with one on either side, the elaborately carved facade represents the Nabataeans engineering genius. 

Progressing onwards to the right side of the Treasury, we passed a donkey station – a row of the poor animals waiting silently under an awning. There is a long walk ahead. We had not actually studied the whole map of the site as we were led by our guide. As a result, we walked only just beyond the Street of Facades and Amphitheatre.  We were also quite exhausted after the long walk and were not sure if we wanted to walk a km or more to see the Monastery etc. More important, my wife was waiting at the Treasury for us to finish our ramble so that we could go home – unable to walk due to a twisted muscle in her knee, she sat patiently for nearly four hours in the biting cold for us to reach the Treasury and complete our perambulation. 

As you will see from the photographs, we are passing through facades of really tall buildings and uneven landscape. The Street of Facades is a name given to the row of monumental Nabataean tombs carved in the southern cliff face that lies past the Treasury and adjacent to the outer Siq, so that when you pass the Treasury, the Siq begins to widen gradually as it reaches into an open area. On both sides, there are a number of Nabataean burial interfaces decorated with grindstones along with other decorations. Some of these interfaces were destroyed by natural factors; it is believed that these interfaces represents some of the senior officials in the city or princes.

The tomb Anesho is located in the far south of this group and overlooks the external Siq. Anesho was the Minister of Queen Nabatiyeh Shaqilh II, who ruled between 70 and 76 AD as guardians of the throne of her son, Rabil II. These tombs represent courtiers in the middle of the first century AD.

I was amazed by the amphitheatre’s design. Carved into the side of the mountain at the foot of the High Place of Sacrifice, the theatre consists of 33 rows of seats separated by passageways. Seven stairways ascend the auditorium and it can accommodate 4,000 spectators. The monument was carved in the mountainside during the reign of King Aretas IV (4BC-AD27) the Romans rebuilt the stage back wall. but what is really interesting is the way they had created separate entrance ways for people -- three types of entries : 1^st / 2^nd / 3^rd Class type of seats so that you went directly to your area without  entering the wrong zone!! All this back in 4rh centuryBC.

We walked past the amphitheatre for about 500 metres, seeing various cave like structures. In some, there were specimens of old implements and habitation. We meandered for nearly 20 minutes from one side of the path to the other, ending with a break for a quick coffee at a stall. We had no intentions of going further up so back we went to the Treasury. We had a long wait from 12.30 - 1.15 pm for the horse carriage to return for us as there was a lot of traffic and high demand for these horse buggies’. It was interesting seeing the reactions of the tourists from all over the world when they came from the narrow exit path onto the concourse. It was a huge Aah ! at seeing this large pink building with its various columns and friezes; I think more out of finally having reached their destination than out of awe; or maybe both! 

Whilst my daughter and guide walked back, my wife and I returned back by the buggy going at a ridiculous speed as if the road was tarmac when in fact we were being thrown from one side to the other, our backs a total mess by the time we got out at the main gate at 2.00pm. 

So, if it takes 50-60 mins. to walk to Treasury and little more to walk back, its 120 mins. See the Treasury and sit for a while, it’s your 2.5 hours. THIS MAKES AN INCOMPLETE TOUR. Therefore it does not include going further up to see the main body of the Petra site. Which means that it is incorrect for anybody to promote a 2.5 hour tour in the first place without explaining what is involved. 

So our odyssey to Petra was finally over after 25 years or more! To be honest, I think the hype about it is more than reality – we expected to see the buildings etc from the inside which in fact you can’t. So, it was all from a distance. I have seen many archaeological sites but Petra is one place I would not return. 

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