Jordan’s PETRA ~ The Rose-red city half as old as time

Created sometime before the birth of Christ. . .

106 A.D. annexed by the Romans . . .

1812 discovered by a Swiss explorer. . .

1985 named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. . .

2007 named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. . .

One of 28 places that Smithsonian Magazine recommends you see before you die.

Gulf of Aqaba to right of Sinai Peninsula

We’d been on Oceania’s Nautica for nearly a month when when reached the Gulf of Aqaba. We would spend two nights docked at the port city of the same name. . .we’d arrived at the Kingdom of Jordan. 

By that point in our cruise – 27 days after departing Bangkok, Thailand for Istanbul,Turkey  - there was no doubt in my mind that we were living our own version of Scheherazade’s Arabian Nights.

We’d reached the land of Bedouins and camels made famous by Thomas Edward Lawrence, British military officer whose work in the area was immortalized in the movie, Lawrence of Arabia. Later fictional hero Indiana Jones searched for the Holy Grail here in his Last Crusade movie. 

A Bedouin camp between Aqaba and Petra

We must have been inspired by both those intrepid explorers as we  decided to skip the ship’s tours – this time we were setting off on our own* to explore Petra and the Wadi Rum!

 Petra, the rose-red* city 

The Sig - Petra, Jordan

The route to Petra, traversed by foot, horse-back or carriage is through The Sig, a narrow slot canyon with rock formations as dazzling as the city itself. We opted to walk with our guide through the Sig. He kept our pace brisk, noting there was much to see in the few hours we had allotted to this stop.

An amazing route through The Sig - Petra, Jordan

Petra is the ancient city of the Nabataeans, a trade center on a major caravan route that linked Arabia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean. It was a vibrant place some 2,000 years ago with 20,000 residents. Then in 106 A.D. it was annexed by Rome and in later centuries was hit by earthquakes and abandoned.  In 1812 it was discovered by a Swiss explorer.

"The Scout" and our Petra guide

In recent decades its stone structured has been inhabited by the Bedouins, those once-nomadic people of the desert.  Our guide, as a young Bedouin boy, lived in Petra with his family. He began selling postcards to tourists when he was five.  He spoke English well and said it was self-taught as he recognized the need to speak the language if he was going to succeed as a tour guide.

The Treasury - Petra, Jordan

Perhaps the most recognizable of all the carved-in-stone tombs and temples in Petra is the Treasury, or in Arabic, Khozneh. It was so named because it was believed to hold treasures but in fact was an amazing entry to a tomb.

Petra, Jordan

Petra’s main road seems to stretch endlessly past facades and entryways carved into rose and tan colored sandstone cliffs. Yet, some reports say only 15% of the city has been uncovered.

In Jordan, like Egypt, tourism has tanked as result of security concerns. As a result, it wasn’t over-run with tourists which made business slow for those offering camel rides and selling sand creations. The good news was we could watch this artist at work and get as close as we wanted.

Scenes in Sand Artistry - Petra, Jordan

Those creations we watched being made of sand coupled with the remains of those sandstone creations from centuries ago  - like the one in the photo below - will long make up the memories we have of this remarkable destination.

Camels feet and that of a human are all that remain - Petra, Jordan

We could have spent the day exploring here – especially since this shutterbug found the camels to be totally charming – but by high noon the heat had intensified. We’d seen the area where Indiana Jones had been, it was time to move to the Wadi Rum and walk in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia. . .

Camels are incredible creatures - Petra, Jordan

*Petra Footnotes:

* Touring ‘on our own’ as stated above, means we hired a private guide through, Memphis Tours, a company recommended by travelers on both TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic.

A large number of cruise passengers these days arrange their own tours in advance of sailing. We had numerous small groups setting off on their own at each of our ports of call, so for those thinking of how daring we must have been: we weren’t!

Our driver, who met us at and returned us to the ship in a spotlessly clean, modern vehicle, transported us to Petra and Wadi Rum and then turned us over to local guides.

[Our tour vs. the ship tour:  The cost of our tour may sound pricey at first at $670, for both of us, lunch included. However, a similar tour offered by the ship, also including lunch, would have cost $1,110. We had the flexibility to stop along the way when we wanted and we got to Petra before large numbers of tourists arrived. But in addition to cost and flexibility considerations, it is important to determine your own comfort level when choosing to go it alone or with a group tour.]

Petra is often referred to as the ‘rose-red’ city because of a stanza in the poem written by Englishman John William Burgon:

Petra

It seems no work of Man's creative hand,
by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;
But from the rock as if by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,
that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;
But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,
which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,
Match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time.

This poem won Burgon Oxford University's prestigious Newdigate Prize for Poetry in 1845. The last couplet has become one of the more famous in poetry. Burgon had never seen Petra. 


That’s it for this week – we’ll head next to the Wadi Rum. Safe travels to you and yours and hope to see you back here again~

Linking this week to:
Mosaic Monday – 
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration