Petra!

Today was Bucket List item #2 on the trip: Petra! This is Jordan's national treasure, and it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We actually started the Petra visit yesterday with the Petra By Night evening show. This included a candlelight walk down to the Treasury building, then some local music and a cup of chai. At the end, the guides had us close our eyes, and when we opened them, the floodlights on the Treasury had been turned on! It was truly a magical sight!

Today, we did the full day of walking around at Petra. The walk down to the Treasury building is
about a mile through The Siq, which is a narrow canyon that leads downhill to the Treasury building. You also had the option to ride a horse for the first quarter mile, which we did. It's kind of a rip off, because the horse owners expect a tip, but I wanted to do it!

The walk through The Siq is neat. There are tombs all along the sides of the canyon.

At times, the top of the canyon is only a few feet wide

There are also carvings of holy icons along the sides to protect the people who enter the city.

And then the Treasury building appears! You might remember this view from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Unfortunately we didn't find Sir Richard or the Holy Grail.

The Treasury building is magical any time of day! 

during the day is busy with the local bedoul people offering camel and donkey rides, and selling jewelry and (fake) coins.

I couldn't pass up a funny pic with these guys! 

We did buy some jewelry from the women throughout the day. We were also invited for dinner and tea at their camps, but we declined. All throughout Petra, the bedoul people are hassling you to buy stuff, and ride the donkeys and camels. Yes, Sean got really tired of it... One thing we found funny is that they all speak pretty good English, and with a British accent!

The Treasury building is the best known, but it's only one of many sights here. The Street of Facades is a large canyon with carvings all over both sides. Some are very basic, while others are more ornate.

There was also a fairly large Roman presence at Petra. They expanded the original amphitheater, and they also built a very impressive temple complex. Brown University has been doing improvements and archaeology on the temple complex, and it really is impressive!

The Romans also built a large road, which used to be lined with columns. Unfortunately, two large earthquakes prior to 500 AD did a lot of damage to it.

There was also a large temple built by the Nabateans at the lower end of Petra. It was also heavily damaged by the earthquakes, but it's still impressive.

There are lots of semi-feral cats around Petra.

This cute little guy meowed at both of us, and he even rubbed all over Sean's leg. I sat down to rest for a minute, and he came and sat right next to me. Unfortunately, when I moved, he grabbed onto my hand and scratched it really badly! I slathered hand sanitizer all over the scratches, and washed it with soap and water at the next restroom, and I prayed it wouldn't become infected!

We had lunch at the nice buffet restaurant at the bottom of Petra. By then, we had both worked up an appetite! We decided not to go up to the Monastery. It's at the top of a mountain, and it's 1500 steps up a stone staircase, or a fairly expensive donkey ride. Instead, we made the reverse trek back all the way up on foot. I have no idea how far we walked today, but The Siq alone was a mile, so I'm guessing at least 4 miles, probably five. I know we will both sleep well tonight!

We came back to the hotel and had a relaxing evening in the Cave Bar at our hotel. Dinner was a traditional Jordanian mezze with hummus, tabbouleh, labneh, etc.

We also were able to enjoy some local music for Valentines Day!

What a nice end to a great Valentine's Day with my sweetheart!