Day 9 (Petra)

I'm sitting here at the Visitors Center at Petra using their computers for a daily update. They've got some kind of program going where you can vote for Petra as one of the new seven wonders of the world. Check it out here.

Today has been amazing. Petra is stunning. Most have probably seen Indiana Jones and the Search for the Holy Grail. The final scene is shot at Petra. But most of you, just like me, probably thought that this one place was all that existed at Petra. Well, I was wrong. This one carving in sandstone is only one of dozens of similar such carvings. This one is just the best preserved from erosion. There are so many of these kind of edifices and that one is not even the biggest one. It is a truly amazing place.

We first began by walking down the As-Siq. It is a gorge that has been carved out of the sandstone by natural forces. The Nabataeans were the ancient inhabitants here and they are the ones who are responsible for all the carvings in the sand stone. The large and impressive ones are probably tombs. There is not much inside, especially no holy grail and no Knight Templar (but we all know now that the real Holy Grail was Jesus and Mary Magdalen's son...thank you Dan Brown). The Nabataeans have carved water channels into the sides of the Siq to direct the rain water down the gorge. They even created a dam at one point and tunneled 88 meters to another Wadi to protect them from flash floods!

We continued hiking and eventually took a turn that led up. There were hundreds of stairs carved into the sandstone leading up to an amazing vantage point where we could see the entire town of Petra and many large tombs carved into the cliff sides. We then hiked back down into the main town area and then headed back up again to what is called the "Monastery." Some hired a donkey to take them up the steep steps. Many of us thought we were going to a real monastery, and were surprised to find that it was not an actual monastery but one of the larger carved edifices in a cliff high up in the mountains.

We stopped for a while at a tent/store near the Monastery that sells jewelry from the Queen Noor Foundation. Queen Noor bought equipment and brought in craftsmen to teach the Bedouin women to make jewelery. She then leased the equipment to them and eventually gave the equipment to them. There are now 60 women who are in business making jewelry from this endeavor, and some have bought their own equipment and are making it from their homes. The jewelery was beautiful, and I may have taken the opportunity to pick up a 10-year anniversary gift since I am on this trip over my ten-year anniversary, May 31. But no promises made here...

After taking a stop at the shopping tent we continued up to another vantage point that looked out over the entire Petra mountain range and plains beyond. It was a breathtaking view.

We headed back down for lunch, and after lunch I was itching to do some more hiking in this amazing place. I asked around but most were pretty tired. So I went out on my own and got of the beaten trail. I bought a topo map at a book store near the restaurant and headed up the Wadi Al-Mataha to the Sadd Al-Majan and finally back down through the Wadi Al-Mudhlim. The hike was one of the best dayhikes I have ever done. I followed the wadi all the way up and it was hard to get lost even though I was unsure about whether I was in the right place. The wadi was broad and wide to begin with but soon became very narrow. At one point for about fifty yards, the wadi had turned into a gorge no more than four or so feet wide. It snaked back and forth so that I could not see what was around each corner. And no one was here but me (I did bump into one other couple coming down the wadi). At numerous points flash floods had jammed huge boulders in the gorge prohibiting me moving forward. I was in each instance able to shimmy my way up the gorge by jamming my back on one side and my feet on the other and climbing up the wall and over the boulder. At the end of the hike, I came across a tunnel cut into the sandstone. At first I could not see the other side, and it was pitch black. But as I got closer and could see through the tunnel (about 20 meters tall, 10 wide, and 80 long), I realized that I was back at the dam I spoke of earlier and the carved tunnel to keep the Nabateans safe from flash floods. It was an amazing hike and the only think I would have appreciated more was if the hike was longer.

We headed back to the hotel after this great day at Petra and most of us jumped in the pool and cooled off. It was a great day.

P.S. I also added Day 8 today. So check that one out too.