After seven days at sea we have arrived in Jordan’s only port, Aqaba. We will disembark here and travel two hours overland to the “Lost City” of Petra (Raqmu). As we left the port city of Aqaba, we headed up into the rugged Jordanian mountains. In many places these mountains look like huge boulders strewn across a desert plateau. We passed Bedouin tents, Bedouins herding sheep and goats. We also passed camels roaming freely. Finally, at 2,657 feet we came to the Siq which is the name of the entrance to the Wadi Musa (Moses Valley – although it more resembles a very narrow canyon) which leads to the stone city of Petra, capital city of the Nabateans (Edomites).
It is a steep descent into the canyon where the walls are straight up and high and the pathway is often as little as three or four yards wide. The width is significant because the Bedouin populations provide transportation into the canyon by horse and horse drawn carts. Both at breakneck speed. Pedestrians beware.
Walking down the Siq, first you see isolated carvings and caves and the the occasional stone stairway …
Then you come to a very narrow defile and … in a few steps you have an Indiana Jones moment as the Treasury (Al Khazneh) appears before you (think back to “Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade”) … in front of the Treasury there is a wide flat area in the Siq and from there you can see more structures … there is a whole city carved into the walls of this canyon (I should also note that there were also camels and donkeys and horses and thousands of people when were there.) …
Around the corner from the Treasury is an amphitheater …
… and further on is the Monastery …
Of course walking in was all down hill but the walk out was pretty arduous. We were lucky though that the temperature was in the mid – 70’s …
On our return to Aqaba, we stopped for a view down in to Waddi Al Arab …
