Petra Part III: Up, Up, Up to the Monastery and Then On Up to The End of the World

Ad-Deir (The Monastery)

Our approach to traveling this year has been relaxed. We decide where we are going to go and then we go there, without a lot of advance research and planning. When we get to a destination, we see what presents itself. There are downsides to this approach, of course.  The primary one is that we have probably missed some things that were right in front of our noses. On the other hand, there have been many upsides to this approach.  The most obvious is that we rarely argue about what we are going to do when we reach a destination because we all just go with the flow in exploring what we find. (Don't worry, we have plenty of other things to argue about) The other significant upside is that, since we arrive at most destinations without etched-in-stone expectations, we are never disappointed.  In fact, we usually go away saying "that was even better than I thought it would be."

At no time was this more true than on our visit to Petra. We got to Petra, made it to the Treasury, and then looked around for what we would do next. What presented itself was a donkey ride with Mohammed and his buddies. If I had known what was in store for me on the donkey ride up, up, up the mountain to the Monastery, I probably would not have gone.  If I had not gone, I would have missed out on a fabulous experience.

Mohammed told me that he and his buddies and their donkeys would take us up the 800 steps to the Monastery, which was the "best place in Petra."  Missing from his description of the trip were words like "treacherous," "dangerous," "hazardous," and "perilous," but all of these words accurately describe our journey up the narrow, worn, fragile, slippery, crowded steps on the donkeys' backs to the Monastery.  But, so could words like "awesome," "exciting," "thrilling," "breathtaking," "spectacular," and "magnificent."

So, I climbed onto  Shakira, who, my guide was quick to point out, was a "boy donkey," Obviously, he didn't want me to confuse Shakira The Boy Donkey for Shakira The Girl Singer.

Shakira The Boy Donkey and his owner, my Bedouin guide

I was very nervous at the beginning, but then relaxed and enjoyed the ride until we got to the base of the climb and I realized how far up we had to go and how steep the climb was.  Then, I got nervous again.  My guide just kept saying "relax, relax, relax."

I had two things working against me on the trek up the mountain:  (1) I'm not that crazy about heights. The top of the Empire State Building is not my favorite spot in New York.  My knees feel like jello when I get anywhere near the edge of a high place.  In fact, my knees feel like jello when I even see my kids get close to the edge of a high place. So, the higher we went, the less I was able to relax, relax, relax. (2) Being a lawyer, I had no trouble thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong.  And, the ride was long enough that I could be very creative in imagining every possible horrifying, tragic scenario.

But, up we went.  Up, up, up.  And up some more.  They say there are about 800 steps.  If so, I would estimate that about 600 of them are "steps" in the ordinary sense.  The rest are rocky inclines that you simply hike up--or that the donkeys hike up while the riders hold on for dear life.

The donkey went fast.  It wasted no time getting up the mountain, which would have been fine except that all the walking people on the steps were practically being trampled by the donkeys.  It did not take me long to figure out that, as terrifying as it was going up the narrow stairs on Shakira with the edge of the steep cliff very close to my right side, it would have been even more terrifying to have been one of the pedestrians on the steps trying to get out of the way to avoid being knocked over or pushed off the cliff by the passing donkeys. The moral of the story: the climb is as treacherous for the people off the donkeys as it is for the people on the donkeys--maybe even more!

Photo by Charlie Scudder

Mohammad and his buddies really earned their money keeping up with the donkeys too.  My guide ran all the way up the steps close to Shakira, telling me to "relax, relax, relax" and trying to keep Shakira going the right direction (once Shakira turned completely around and started heading back down the steps).

The donkeys took us up as far as a plateau about 1/4 mile below the Monastery.  We climbed the rest of the way on foot.  As we came around the corner with the Monastery in view, I immediately knew that the harrowing trip had been completely worth it.

In the large open area in front of the Monastery, all sorts of things could be found.  For example, this photo shows some ancient column pieces.

And, there was a snack bar with cold water (almost frozen, actually), soft drinks, and snacks, and there were comfortable benches to rest on after the long ride and climb up the mountain.











Once we had enjoyed a short rest, we continued our upward journey on foot toward the End of the World.

The climb from the Monastery up to the top was not far and relatively easy compared to the steep climb up to the Monastery.

And, the view was spectacular.  (That person sitting on the edge of the cliff is Charlie.)

From up here, you can see the Rift Valley and all the way to the mountains in Israel.

No matter how high I climbed, Maggie climbed higher.  All day--even before the donkey ride up the mountain--every time I turned around, Maggie would be missing. But, I would just have to look up onto the rocky cliffs to find her. Sure enough, there she would be, up higher than everyone else.

Notice the carved out caves even up here at the very top of the mountain.

We walked most of the way down the mountain instead of riding.  As we made our way down, we passed numerous jewelry stands operated by Bedouin women.  They called out very special offers such as "look for free." On the way up, we were moving too fast on the donkeys to be the targets of the sales pitches, but we were not moving very fast on the way down.  Now we were dodging the donkeys and trying to avoid the gaze of the jewelry sellers.

We got back on our donkeys when were were near the bottom of the mountain, and had a relaxing ride back to the place we started. We were tired and sore, but we were all still alive and glad we made the journey up to the Monastery and the End of the World.

Petra Part II: Getting Around in Petra

There are all sorts of ways to get around inside Petra.  The obvious one is on foot.  The vast majority of visitors to Petra see it on foot. However, if you don't want to walk, there are plenty of animals to make your journey easier.

For starters, you can take a horseback ride from just past the Visitor's Center to the entrance to As-Siq. 

All non-residents of Jordan are required to buy a 33 JD ticket that includes one-day admission plus a horseback ride. So, almost everyone has already paid for this ride.  But, we saw very few people actually take this ride. The distance that the horse can go is not very far at all, and it is an easy downhill walk. Moreover, when you first get there, you are filled with excitement and energy and, therefore, do not feel the need to ride. The time you want the ride is back up the hill at the end of the day when you are tired and hot and hungry and feel like you can't take another step.  But, the horses aren't available then!

Once you get to the entrance of the Siq, you have the option to take a horse drawn carriage. The horse drawn carriages are quite beautiful; they are adorned with brightly colored blankets. 

They go really fast down the Siq, however, so if you take the ride, you miss out on all the beautiful scenery on your way.  And, the key word in that last sentence was "down."  The walk through the Siq into Petra is all downhill.  Therefore, it's a relatively easy walk.  The only obstacles are the uneven cobblestones that cover some parts of the path, and the only dangers are that you will trip while looking up at the amazing overhead views or get runover by a carriage which comes barreling down the narrow Siq at what seems like 150 miles per hour.

We walked and I'm glad we did.  We took our time and enjoyed the amazing natural and carved beauty of the Siq.  It was one of the highlights of our trip to Petra.

However, coming out is another story.  Coming out, the Siq is an uphill walk.  It comes at the end of your day when you are hot, tired, and hungry (as I mentioned above), and a ride would be nice at this point.  We still did not take the ride and I'm glad we walked out. It gave us another chance to enjoy the Siq, take some more pictures, and generally reflect on our awesome day.

Once we got inside Petra after coming through the Siq, we were bombarded with possibilities for camel rides.  There were camels everywhere!

The camels didn't seem to like me much.  Every time I got near one hoping to get my picture taken with it, it turned and indicated by a show of big, ugly teeth that it was about to bite me. One stuck out its tongue at me, which was one of the most disgusting gestures I have ever seen any animal make.  I wish I had had the wherewithall to take a picture, but I was in a slight state of shock at the gross display and could not decide whether to stand still or run.  The tongue looked like a giant internal organ--most likely a bladder, but I'm not sure exactly which organ it looked like.  Then, as the camel was moving the tongue around, a frothy foam covered the camel's tongue, lips, and face.  If it had been a dog, I would have thought for sure it was rabid.

Although the camels seemed to dislike me, they seemed to like Maggie quite a bit.  In fact, it almost seemed as if they swooned in her presence. 

Photo by Paul Scudder

As we made our way around the ancient city's first curve, we were again bombarded by offers for rides--this time on donkeys and mules.  There were donkeys galore, each with its own entreprenurial Bedouin who tried to convince us that his ride and his price is the best in all of Petra.

We ended up deciding on a donkey ride with Mohammed. Why Mohammed's donkeys? For one thing, he was very persistent.  He followed us up a hill with two donkeys. He was nice, and he described, in clearer detail than anyone else, what we would get for our money. I'll have more details about our wild donkey ride up to the Monastery and our journey on to the End of the World in Petra Part III.

Undoubtedly, the horses, camels, and donkeys and their Bedouin owners were part of the ambience of Petra and they are a big part of what makes a visit to Petra such a unique and memorable experience.