Day 4 – May 16, 2022
Petra – A Full Day of Exploring
I don’t really know what I expected when I wanted to visit Petra. I had seen many pictures of the iconic treasury of Petra, but beyond that, I really did not know how large of an archaeological site it was. We entered the gate at 6 am when very few people were at Petra, so there were not many people there when we arrived. From the entrance, it was close to a kilometer down a dirt road and then winding through a narrow canyon before we were greeted by the monolithic Treasury building carved into the side of the sandstone. For the next few hours, we wandered the massive grounds of Petra, which was founded around 312 BC. Many of the buildings carved into the sandstone sides were built as tombs for important people. The Treasury was expected to have taken 20 years to carve out, with a large part of it being the inside rooms.
As we wandered down the canyon and into some more open areas, we saw more tombs with the tops of their doors barely visible above the ground. It is expected that the original ground was many meters below the surface as it is today. Further down, there was a Roman amphitheater and then a series of multiple tombs, one beside the other. Throughout the valley, there are caves that people used to live in, and there are still many people that live in the caves of this valley today.
Besides exploring the sights along the main route, I took two hiking detours. The first was about an hour up a long winding route to the Monastery. This incredible building is only viewable for those willing to do the hard climb up the trail but is well worth it. It is probably the most well-preserved facade in Petra. I couldn’t help but admire the view from a rock overlooking the site.
The second hike was another long one that took you up the mountain staircase along the backside to a viewpoint overlooking the Treasury. Along the route were a few vendors selling drinks with comfortable viewpoints to admire the views. They also offered shade and a reprieve from the 32-degree heat of the day as there was not much shade otherwise. This hike took at least 30 minutes each way, and once at the top, once could not get a great view of the Treasury without entering someone’s little viewpoint cafe perched on the edge of the rocks. They had signs asking that if you entered, you must buy a drink. Not everyone did so, but after hiking that far in the heat, it was a bit disappointing to be surprised by this capitalistic viewpoint. In the end, it was a great hike, and there were a few other spots I discovered when returning back where you could also see the Treasury from above.
I hiked out to the main entrance of Petra around 2 pm, which had me walking and hiking for 8 full hours. I was exhausted from the heat, but it was well worth it. I crashed with sore legs when I got to my hotel and rested in preparation for Petra by Night.
Petra by Night was in the evening and started around 8:30 pm with a hike to the Treasury. Along the pathway were over 1500 candle-lit lanterns guiding the way through the dark. This was the main part of the night, to hike down in the dim light. A short 15 to 20-minute musical performance was presented with everyone sitting down on the ground in front of the Treasury. After the musical performance, they shone some different colored lights on the treasury for some great night photos. I kind of wished they had turned the lights on much earlier so we could enjoy the scene during the performance. Overall I would not necessarily recommend this evening’s show. It was very simple and after an exhausting day, returning down the long walk to Petra was not as exciting as the rest of the day’s activities.