If it’s Wednesday, it must be Petra

We were supposed to head out from the hotel in Amman at 8am, but yesterday, the group decided to move that up a bit to give us a little more time at the various sites. Stashing luggage at the hotel for our return, we just took what we needed for two nights - one at the Wadi Rum camp and the 2nd in Aqaba, on the Red Sea.

We are now comfortably ensconced in our Martian Dome at the Wadi Rum camp in the desert, a couple hours drive from Petra where we had a wonderful visit. The drive from Amman was about 4 hours. From the visitor centre, the walk to the ancient city of Petra was only about  2 kilometres and certainly not difficult. The last 1.2 km was through The Siq, a winding narrow gorge through steep sandstone walls carved out by nature. This provided the Nabateans with an easily defensible access to their capital city. The walk is slightly downhill all the way.  

                                         The Martian Domes - Outside and view from inside.

The day was rather cool with all of our group dressing warmly. Light down jackets seemed a good option for most. A few even wore gloves. 

The  colourful striated sandstone walls of The Siq were surprising in their intensity and variation of the hues. All along the way, walkers must keep aware of the horse-pulled carriages ferrying visitors both ways. The horses cantered at a good clip and one had to hug the canyon walls if a carriage approached through one of the narrowest sections.

                                                 Walking through The Siq

Quite suddenly, around a bend, The Treasury reveals itself a sliver at a time. The ornate facade becomes more and more visible and impressive through the last few meters of the approach. Ancient visitors to Petra must have been awed by the magnificence of the structure and the power of the Nabateans. That was likely the intent of the builders.

                                                 First views of The Treasury

The Treasury has been carved out of the sandstone cliff. The pillars, pediments, and carvings, all part of the rock itself. Behind the massive facade of the treasury, the king's burial chamber is situated, no longer accessible to the public. We did go into several of the tombs. They are stark and plain, serving as a mausoleum for a family. 

Early on our walk, Salah explained that all the carved openings in the sandstone, whether simple or spectacular, were tombs. With the Nabateans occupying the site for more than a few hundred years, tombs were plentiful. The more impressive ones were for the royals and wealthy citizens. While a few of the tombs, like The Treasury, were designed for single individuals like a king, most of the tombs were intended for families and contained burial niches in the interior walls into which the wrapped bodies of relatives were entombed one atop another. The tombs were closed with wooden doors as opposed to being permanently sealed like the Egyptians' tombs, the current belief being that the families might have returned to the tombs on special dates for ceremonies. The wooden doors also allowed the bodies of other deceased relatives to be brought in after drying them in the sun for a week or so.

We spent more than 4 hours at the site, just enough to get a good taste, but not enough to see everything. The ancient city was quite expansive and, although none of the residential buildings have survived, from an elevated ledge, we could see their location and the size of the city.  One could spend another full day exploring Petra and still not see it all.

Salah took us to another spectacular tomb, the largest on the site, The Urn Tomb, named for a prominent decoration above the door. The acoustics within were remarkable and Salah sang the Islamic Call to Prayer for us in the main chamber. 

                                                          The Urn Tomb

Two hours more driving brought us to the Wadi Rum camp in the Jordanian desert. Accommodations are either square black tent structures on platforms, or Martian Domes with a transparent front wall that opens to reveal the night sky or the desert hills. Unfortunately, tonight is overcast, but we are hoping for clear weather tomorrow when we take our 4 wheel drive vehicle tour of the local desert.