Petra (12/25-26)

So for those of you who have never heard of Petra or have never seen pictures BUT are movie buffs, think ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ and the lost city where Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and the Nazis go in search of the Holy Grail....that’s Petra. It’s no film set, it's for real and it’s even more spectacular in person than on the big screen.

Kimberly

For pictures, click here.

Petra

They call Petra the “Rose City” for a lot of the stone and rock in the city is a light rose color. The reality is they should have called it the “Rose, blueberry, curry, slate, and chocolate city” as there are many other natural colors there…all of which are equally beautiful. What makes this city so remarkable isn’t just it’s obscure location and that it is hidden in a network of siqs and canyons, nor the fact that the city is huge and has an incredible variety of different tombs and buildings, nor how well some of the tombs and monuments are preserved, nor their massiveness, nor the fact that the builders created a complex network of damns and water channels to bring water into the city - what really makes it so incredible is that almost the entire city was carved out of the canyon and siq walls by hand….now that fact combined with all previously mentioned should impress the pants off of anyone.

To be honest, it is really hard to describe in words the splendor that is Petra. It is simply one of the most amazing things I have ever seen anywhere in the world. It is incredible to think that these huge structures were carved directly into the cliffs of this beautiful canyon thousands of years ago. Many of them show the erosion of time, wind, and sand. But others are preserved like they were built yesterday.

After walking a mile through the narrow siq with its 200 meter high ways,
stumbling upon "The Treasury" must have been quite an experience for the first explorers. Even we were speechless at first sight of this incredible wonder, and we knew what we were going to find at the end of our walk! We did not realize, however, that The Treasury is just one of many of these carved Nabatean tombs that survive in this valley. Our other favorite monument was "The Monastery," which we reached after a tiring 45 minute hike up the cliffs of the canyon (Merrill ended up taking a donkey, but only after long negotiations!).

Really, the whole sight is simply spectacular. I cannot describe it any better. You just have to visit to see for yourself! (Or take a look at our pictures in the meanwhile!)