Stubborn? And how! - Petra part 2

Petra is not a small place. In fact you could probably hike non stop for days and not see it all. The Treasury is just the beginning really. After that, there are multiple directions to head in. Our group decided upon a route that would afford us the best possible locations and most impressive scenery for our hike. (It's nice having a friend with who has been before.)

One of the sites we saw, but didn't hike up to due to time.

Walking out of the first canyon after the Treasury we found a market of sorts. Bedouin shops selling various wares to the visitors. There was one guy in particular who was playing a stringed instrument that caught my attention. It sounded very much like snake charmer music, but I'm pretty sure he was attempting to charm us to come to his shop.

He really was good at playing whatever this instrument may be.

This was the path that took us further into Petra and away from the market area.

The next thing we came across was an early church that had been excavated out of the ground. And when I say early I mean like 5th century AD. It had amazing mosaics crafted into the floor. I just can't imagine the amount of work that went into making something like this, and 15 centuries ago no less.

Incredible. Click for a bigger version showing the intricate tiles laid.

Looking out across from the church you can see the remains of some ancient Roman ruins. The Romans apparently thought Petra was impressive and wanted to add their mark to it. It's funny how little remains of the Roman buildings when compared to the Nabataean portions even though the Nabataean structures had been finished hundreds of years earlier.

Roman ruins are always impressive....

Especially when in the middle of the desert next to other ruins.

Before we continued on any further, I turned back to see where we had come from. And wow, what a view.



Then we started a hefty hike up to the Monastery. The Monastery is every bit as impressive as the Treasury; the thing is that it's a ways back in the mountains and you have to really work to get there. The hike is exhausting. I think it gets less tourist love because of this. And maybe because it wasn't in Indiana Jones.

This is the beginning of the "thousand stairs" leading to the Monastery. I dunno if there really were a thousand stairs, but the locals must've told us there were a thousand stairs a thousand times.

This is from a point overlooking how high we had hiked - maybe 3/4 of the way up at this point.

We finally made it up to the monastery. It too, was gigantic.


Then we noticed a Bedouin climbing around on top. See the red shirted guy sitting up there?


So, naturally I had to climb up there too. I had to. See the white speck?


Two of my friends climbed up to the top with me. It wasn't SO hard to get up there.


It's really hard to give a sense of how high it really was up on top. I didn't dare take my camera up with me. I hope this picture of the central circle shows just how massive it really was.

Funny story: We saw the Bedouin up top and immeadiately we wanted to climb up. There were some men dressed in police fatigues sitting around and we proceeded to have a discussion in Arabic about whether we could go up too. They explained it was very difficult and that it was not a good idea. We said we'd be careful and those of us climbing up had experience with rock climbing. They then told us it was "forbidden." The word meaning "forbidden" in arabic apparently has nuances of meaning that I don't yet understand because right after this another police guy gave us the head nod "okay." But they kept saying it was hard, and forbidden but they didn't seem intent on really stopping us. I think they meant we "shouldn't" not that we "couldn't." We would not be denied though! As we were walking off, one of the police says to the girl in our group who was arguing the most "anideh." It took us a bit, but we figured out this meant "stubborn." Stubborn indeed haha.

That's all for today. Still more Petra to come later.

Walking in the steps of Indiana Jones - Petra part 1

So I know it's been a long time since my last post; for that I am sorry. But here I am with the first part of a multi part picture entry. I got to go to Petra recently. And yes it was amazing. Being told how amazing it was in advance, I was still blown away with how just mind bogglingly outrageous it was. It's hard to put into words. Hopefully my pictures will tell a better story. And yeah, it was pretty cool to be where they filmed Indiana Jones....haha.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Petra, it's one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World, and considered as impressive by many accounts as the Taj Mahal. It's huge and mighty impressive. Apparently, the ancient Nabatians who lived here thousands of years ago carved these structures straight out of the rock cliffs. Some were used directly for shelter whereas others carried more religious significance. It's crazy to see just how perfectly done the buildings are. And they are massively big.

While on the way, we drove by a few signs like the one above. I had to get a picture with it. I mean how many chances will I really get to pose with a "camel crossing" sign?


This was the view before descending down into the town of Wadi Musa which is the city bordering Petra.


Here is the obligatory Indiana Jones mooching at the entrance. I knew Indy had a gift shop, but snacks and coffee?? He's branched out!


This was the first rock carving we came upon.


This is where we first entered the canyons leading to everything...


I love how the locals are just chilling while we marvel at everything.


Passing by one of the many horse drawn Bedouin carriages.


The canyons that we walked through were amazing.


This is right before we rounded the corner to walk out and see....


The incredible Treasury building!


I made friends with this camel.


See? He really liked me. (Meaning he didn't spit at me.)


I also made friends with these Bedouin guards. I was pretty envious of their cool outfits. I still am actually.

Don't worry, I have several other posts on the way showcasing more of Petra, the people there, and their animals. Also, we did some climbing. More to come.

By the way! For those of you who haven't realized this yet, you can CLICK on the pictures to pull up a bigger version to view. Enjoy!