The magical Petra

Second day in Jordan… Rested, well-slept, well-fed, packed and ready for the four-hour journey to Petra. But first, we visit the Citadel, which we didn’t get to see yesterday. It is the historical heart of the capital, with remains of various civilisations, including the Romans, Byzantines and Umayyads. We walk among the stones and buildings, take a few photos, the sun is beating down on us. While we are looking around, we are followed by children playing a game – to find out where the tourist is coming from and his name. At first we did not understand their intentions and mistankely through they want to offer us something to buy, but it appears to be their “competition” as learning one’s name was greeted by a cheer of others, if you gave him a fist bump, that was even more celebrated, so I’m guessing that had to be worth more points or however they ranked these.. in any case, a surprisingly nice to see not everything and everywhere is about getting money out of tourists.

In the middle of the afternoon, we finally arrive at Wadi Musa (Moses’ Valley), where we have booked accommodation for two nights and which is an excellent starting point for visiting Petra. And this is where our luck on this trip begins, with an immediate free upgrade to a better room and…

We had paid for the Jordan Pass for two days, so we took advantage of the first entry right away. I am impatient. I want to see everything and more. That is why I am here, to see Petra. It is just after 4:30 p.m. when we finally enter the Petra Visitor Center. Crowds of people are leaving, only the two of us are walking in the opposite direction. It’s an unusual feeling, as we’re heading into the unknown. We know that sunset is at 7:30 p.m., so we still have some time to explore.

The first part of the route is a regular gravel road, with a few carved windows here and there, nothing special. I am impatient, so we hurry along. Until we reach a narrow canyon called Siq. Here we slow down. A pleasant breeze blows through the canyon, we look around, marvel, ask ourselves impossible questions and want to enjoy the moment. Every step turns into a ‘wow’. What do we see? Walls, tens of metres high, embracing you and inviting you to continue. You don’t know whether to look ahead or up. You feel so small and insignificant.

Behind every corner, we anticipate the appearance of the Treasury. That familiar image from the Indiana Jones films, books, and postcards. And there it is. You cannot prepare yourself for the feeling you get, when you see it in real life. We stood there and stare at it for a few minutes. Mighty, elegant, carved into reddish rock. We can see that something big and important is being prepared in front of it, but we don’t know what exactly is going on…

We take a few photos, Jure insists on taking photos on the rock. I didn’t plan on taking photos today, just going for a walk. Jure took it seriously and insisted, there seems to be no end to it… His perfectionism is killing me, so we argue for the first time on the trip. But we quickly smooth things over before we reach the theatre. We don’t linger there long, as we want to squeeze in a view of the treasury from the viewpoint above before sunset, but we’re too late, as the entrance is already locked. So we look at the tombs (Urn, Silk, Corinthian, Palace) insteada. The sun caresses us pleasantly, the wind flutters the flag, and Bedouins invite us for tea. We enjoy ourselves, caress the stones and still can’t believe… we’re here.

On the way back, I jump onto the rock again, and this time we manage to take some photos that we are both happy with. We slowly leave Petra, which is already being prepared for the night tour of Petra. The last rays of daylight shine through the canyon. Burning candles create a truly mystical atmosphere. At that moment, I exclaim: ‘It’s magical.’ And it really is! We don’t want to go home, so we slowly, lazily walk up the hill, step by step, enjoying every minute of the magnificent Petra.

My wish was fulfilled at that moment. Even better and more beautiful than I could have hoped for.

But there’s is no such thing as “enough of Petra”. We carefully set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. The plan is to be at the Treasury before sunrise. We want to see how the sun shines on it. What?! Me, the biggest sleepyhead, getting up at 5 o’clock on holiday? Oh, yes I did. Admittedly, I was still half asleep, but we were at the entrance before 6 o’clock.

We walk quickly across the canyon and make it all the way to the Treasury. We are still too early. The two of us, a few other people, cats and dogs wait for the sun. We jump onto a rock just above the Treasury, take a few photos and hurry on to yesterday’s destination. The view of the Treasury from above. A whole pack of dogs joins us along the way as we start the ascent on the rocky steps.

We arrive to the gates that were locked yesterday. We are too early?
The friendly police officers in the valley assured us that it would be open, but it is not. We stand there, looking around and hoping that someone will come to open it. And indeed, a friendly Bedouin arrives on a donkey. He offers us a ride, but we decline. We feel sorry for the animals. We stood there for a while, still accompanied by the dogs. Along the way, some of them gave up and return to the valley, but one of them was so agile that he ran alongside the donkey, while the white dog stayed with us, despite our several attemps to evade him.

Although it is only morning, the sun is already intense, and we are sweating and pushing our way up the hill. All for the view. Here we are. We take a few photos. Just the two of us and the white dog enjoying the view. It’s beautiful, but I honestly wonder why we came to see the exact same thing from a different perspective. Tourists really are funny creatures sometimes.

On the way down, we take a look at The Church, a Byzantine church, and the Great Temple, where we also have a late breakfast. A tick in our box for having breakfast in Petra. :-)

And this is where our decision starts to waver. It’s almost 10 o’clock. The sun is beating down like crazy. Should we continue to the Monastery or not? There are plenty of offers for transport by horse or donkey, but we immediately dismiss this option. The fact that there are 900 steps leading up there doesn’t appeal to us. We are convinced that we will return to the monastery in the evening via Little Petra. Well, anyone who knows us, knows that we were already tired and lazy enough not to do that. :-)

And if you were wondering what else we got besides a new, beautiful room – a perfect sunset over the mountains where Petra is located.

Everything was as it should be for the conclusion of this chapter in Petra. ‘Magical and magnificent.’