Petra Part 1

Petra is located in Jordan. It is a World Heritage Site, if that means anything to you. The name "Petra" means rock, and that's exactly what this city is. In 2007 it was voted to be one of the 7 Wobders of the World. That doesn't mean much to me when they keep changing them!

Petra is entered through a narrow gorge called the Siq. I posted on that here:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/entrance-to-petra-in-jordan

After emerging through this gorge, you find yourself directly in front of the treasury. It really is not a treasury, but it was once thought that treasures were stored there, and it was often looted.

This structure carved in the stone is probably the most famous of all the carvings in Petra. It is possible to take a guided tour through a pathway higher into the rocks to get a more aerial view of this. I passed on that because I knew I would be doing a lot of walking this day, and I had to be mindful of my arthritic back.

There is no entry into the structure for the tourist. Picture taking is available outside only.

Camel rides are offered here, but I passed. I had done camel rides when I was in Egypt and I didn't really enjoy it. It's a bit scary being so high up on the animal sitting on his hump.

The area it's nothing but this rose colored rock. It's hard to believe that people actually live here.

Come look at some of the carved formations walking through Petra:

Although this area is barren, it is not animal free. I enjoyed watching these puppies play.

Dogs are not the only things encountered on this adventure:

what is he doing here?

I'm not sure why these doors to nowhere are carved into the stone.

Not much for the locals to do here I guess, except for smoke from the hookah pipe and sell goods to any passing ptourists that walk by their way.

This area is known as the tombs. A burial place for some of the ancient Nabatean royalty. These tombs were carved into rock approximately 2300 years ago.

There is no access to enter the tombs. I did not even get that close to them as I did not see a clear access path nor was I inclined to do any additional climbing. Petra can be quite exhausting to walk all day with the constant climbing over rocks.

Although it was cool when I was there in January, this place can get quite hot in the summer. The sun can be unrelenting as well. January is their coldest month and I experienced temperatures in the 50's F.

Although Petra does not get a lot of rain, if it does rain hard the area is subject to flash flooding. Since all the water runs off the rock into the narrow gorge (the Siq), the water can get quite dangerous. In fact, just the month before my arrival a flash flood necessitated the evacuation of 1,700 tourists from the area. Additionally, in 2018 there were 11 flash flood deaths. I made sure I went on a sunny day!

I'll continue this post with a Petra 2 posting tomorrow. I'll close now with video: