Petra Part I: Getting to the Treasury

We woke up to a steady rain on Thursday morning in Amman. We had big plans to go to Petra for "Petra at Night"--a special opportunity to see Petra by candlelight--on Thursday and then a full day of exploring the ancient Nabataean city carved into the giant rock cliffs in Petra. But, it was raining. It was too late to cancel our hotel reservation without paying for it anyway, so we decided we would go ahead and go, hoping that the rain would stop in time for the candlelight tour of Petra to commence as planned on Thursday evening.

As we put our backpacks into the trunk and got into the car to leave at about 3:00 p.m., the weather was still iffy. But, as we drove out of Amman and into the desert, the sky cleared up and the rain stopped. Yes! It looked like we were going to be lucky.

But, we had driven for about 2 1/2 hours and were deep into the desert and only about 50 kilometers from Petra when our car broke down. It was around 5:30 p.m., so it was beginning to get dark and it was very, very cold in the desert. We were stopped on the side of a two-lane highway which had a fair amount of traffic, but . . . hey . . . it's not like we were eager to get into a car with just anyone out in the middle of the desert! Our driver called his company, which said it would send another car from Amman to pick us up and deliver us to Petra. Well, that was all fine and good, except that Amman was 2 1/2 hours away. We would surely miss Petra at Night, and we would likely be freezing cold by the time the car arrived.

However, we lucked out again! Another driver, who was a friend of our driver, happened to be coming by with a large van and only two passengers. The two passengers--very friendly Brazilian tourists--agreed to share their van with us. So, we all climbed in and made it to Wadi Musa (the town just outside of Petra) just in time to grab a quick bite to eat and make it to Petra at Night. We are extremely grateful to the Brazilians and their driver for picking us up.

You remember Petra from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Petra is one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Nabateans, who built Petra, were ancient Arab tribes who came to Jordan about 2200 years ago. They controlled the trade routes in southern Jordan, charging tolls and providing protection for caravans carrying valuable cargo, such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and silks, and African ivory and animal hides.

Petra at Night was awesome! Three nights a week, they light the long As-Siq path and the area in front of the Treasury with hundreds of candles. We waked through the 1200 meter As-Siq gorge to the Treasury where we sat on rugs, sipped warm tea, and listened to Bedouin music and storytelling. The whole experience was well worth the stressful trip and whet our appetites for our daylight visit the next day.

Photo by Paul Scudder

The As-Siq is a long narrow pathway entrance to Petra that winds between tall rock cliffs. (This is the gorge through which Indy and his dad escaped on horseback in the Indiana Jones movie.)  The As-Siq gorge contains some of the most amazing rock formations and colors imaginable. It also contains numerous carved terraces, water channels, and decorative sculptures and votive-niches. It is a spectacular entrance to the amazing ancient city.

This photo shows some of the amazing color and layers in the rock walls of As-Siq.

A camel caravan is carved into the rose-colored stone wall of the Siq.  Only the camels' feet and a portion of the camel driver remain. This photo shows what remains of the camel driver.

The centerpiece of the ancient city (and the facade of the building in which Indy found the Holy Grail) is the Treasury. The top photo in this post and the Petra at Night photo both show the Treasury. The facade of As-Khazneh ("the Treasury" in Arabic) is enormous--it is 30 meters wide and 43 meters high. What makes the Treasury all the more spectacular is how you come upon it after walking through the long, narrow, shadowy As-Siq.

The inside walls of the Treasury have some of the most amazing color in all of Petra.

Getting to the Treasury (twice--once at night and then again during the daylight) felt like a huge accomplishment. The weather cooperated; we had perfect weather on both of our visits: Thursday night was crisp and clear, Friday was sunny--not a cloud in the sky--and cool. But, the Treasury was just the beginning of our great day in Petra. We had the rest of the day to explore this archeological wonderland! And, we made it all the way to the End of the World. Stay tuned; I'll get to that . . . .