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The Kings Highway & Petra
2 – 4 August
"You want donkey to monastery?"
"You want camel ride?"
"Air conditioned taxi!"
Our two days at Petra were spent politely refusing all such
offers with a smile and "No thanks", for which we got a
smile and a "Welcome!" in return. Such is the wonderful
nature of the Jordanian people that we never, ever felt
pressured and always felt that they were genuinely welcoming
us to their land.
There are no words to describe just how amazing Petra is. I
remember being pretty impressed when I saw the Treasury come
into view in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade as they all
rode through the narrow siq, but nothing compares to walking
the 800m or so on foot and seeing it come into view with
your own eyes. It’s a breathtaking, heartstopping kind of
moment. There are so many other things to see in Petra but
the Treasury is the first and last thing you see as you
enter and leave the site. It’s magnificent, huge and best of
all changes colour during the day, from a pale dusky pink in
the morning to a gorgeous deep rose hue in the late
afternoon.
We spent two days exploring the area which gave us plenty of
time to enjoy the surroundings rather than rush around with
the aim of "seeing" everything as most tourists do. Tombs,
ampitheatres, monasterys...we saw so much and yet no matter
how small the site may have been, everything impressed me.
To think that at one time it was an ancient city, people
lived there and people carved these monuments and buildings
from the rock walls out of their own hands – where on earth
would you even begin? The amazing thing about these sites is
that the façade was so intricately created yet inside was
usually a simple, empty, square shell of a room.
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