The Lost City. There’s so much more to Petra than the Treasury!

We had an early start for Petra – which we were happy to get up early to go back after getting a small sneak peek the night before. We have about 14 people in our group, and at times it seems challenging for our guide to get us all together. A few of us joked it was like herding cats!

It’s not a long walk down to Petra, probably about 30 minutes on a downhill slope. There are other ways to get down there – you can pay for a golf cart (I think about 15 Jordanian dinar one way), and taking a horse down is included in your ticket. However, someone will lead the horse down with you and they expect a tip. Our guide recommended 5 JD, but we didn’t mind walking.

The walk was much easier in the daylight, as you could see the gaps in the stone. We found out that the reason why the road had different types of terrain was because when the Romans took over they put in cobblestone roads. (Where didn’t the Romans reach?!) A few different floods had washed out the stones and they were replaced by pavement.

Some sections they filled in the gaps between the stones to make it a bit smoother, but other sections you really do need to tread carefully. Because we had our guide, we learned a lot more while we were walking in vs. Petra by night where we were on our own.

The Nabatean people were the people who lived in and carved all of Petra. They really rose to power in 1st century BC, and that was when Petra was built. At its peak, it was home to over 30,000 people. Isn’t that crazy!?! Petra was a trade hub – it connected Arabia, Egypt, Greece, China, and regions across the Mediterranean Sea. Over time, this made the Nabatean people very rich.

Very advanced at the time, you could actually see the way they routed water into their city by using terracotta pipes. They also harnessed the power of natural springs, and created underground cisterns for storage. They had numerous temples, villas, theaters, and elaborate tombs for both the VIPs and the normal people.

We were shocked by a few things: there were actually quite a few toilets along the path (with running water!) and tons of little shops with water, soda, snacks, etc. Of course there are a million stands that are selling souvenirs as well. It was great because you didn’t need to worry about carrying a lot of water. You could always stop and pick up a cold bottle when you wanted.

As we walked we continued to see the Roman influence on the region. A large amphitheater that could hold 3,400 people (the size of my hometown!), and some of the architecture. Although, to be fair, the Nabatean people were well traveled and since they were a trade hub, you could see influences from other regions.

The sandstone had some amazing colors naturally blended in from all of the different minerals that were mixed with it, it was beautiful to see!

The large group of us had lunch together, and then we had a few hours of free time. We decided instead of heading back to the Treasury, we were going to tackle the Monastery. I mean, it was only about 800-900 steps that were littered with donkey poop… so why not?

Most people from our group opted out of the Monastery hike, but we knew we would have plenty of time so we set out. It was steep – and the steps were uneven. However, if you take your time you can do it if you take your time! One thing I found interesting with both our group, but also hearing conversations in Petra was that the number of Americans were small. Yes, there were other English-speakers, but a lot are from the UK. The trail was scattered with people from all over the world!

As we climbed, we crossed even more shops and stands trying to sell you a cold drink or souvenirs. Honestly, I didn’t want to add the extra weight as we were climbing. It wasn’t even that hot! But we were working up a sweat as we climbed the stairs.

It was well worth the effort, there were hardly any people up there! So we walked around a bit – we saw there were signs for other points and in handwriting “Best view in all of Jordan.” But our legs were tired – supposedly it was a 3.5 mile hike in from the visitor center. I didn’t log the hike on my watch since we stopped so many times when we were with the bigger group.

We made our way down and then towards the visitor center. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take a golf cart to the visitor center. But we walked the whole way! We totaled 22,000 steps that day. Woof. My legs still ache as I write this 2 days later!

What surprised me the most is when I think of Petra, I only think of the Treasury. But this is a CITY. It’s incredible. I wish we had more time, and we would have if we hadn’t been with such a large group. I don’t think we will be back anytime soon, but there was so much that we missed out on!

We still had an hour to kill so we found one of the only hotel bars in the region that served wine – so we went there and ordered pizza. At 5 pm, our bus brought us back to our hotel where we were rather worthless.

It was a great day.

Hotel:

RN Petra

Up Next:

Wadi Rum