Petra

The remains of the ancient city of Petra is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and is on everyone "must see" list when coming to Jordan.

The city was carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans more than 2000 years ago. 

The modern city of Petra sits high in the hills.

The old city sits "within the hills."  Here's one of the "welcoming" signs.

And here's the start of the long, long, long walk down into the ruins.

I was told it was a trek into the site, but that I wasn't too worry -- it was all downhill. 

However, that meant the return trip was to be UPHILL. I decided to worry about that later.  

As I headed down, I was immediately accosted by several people, offering supposedly a free horse ride down. "It comes with your ticket,"  I was told. The tip, however, does not come with the ticket, so I decided to walk.  

One young man, Ahmed by name, insisted he would get me a donkey ride back. "Very good donkey, cheap ride." And, thus the negotiations began. I made no decisions, thankfully, at that time, which meant that young Ahmed followed me all the way to the "Treasury Building," repeating his litany of "good donkey, cheap ride," and that's where I found out that Ahmed had connections - to other animals, but that's jumping ahead...

In this so-dry land that is so non-green, suddenly there are flowers and color and it is startling.

To my mind, Jordan has a BIG litter problem. But then perhaps Jordan has bigger problems than litter. In any case, there seems to be a real effort to keep the parks (and Petra) litter-free. The trash can is a case in point.

This is still on the way down to the ruins.

These are Djinn blocks constructed between 50 BC and 50 AD.  The name comes from the Bedouin belief that spirits (or Djinn) inhabited the structures. Actually, they are probably tombs and memorials to the dead.

Entrance to the city is through a narrow gorge over 1 kilometer long.

I think it's a recent addition to the "city."

Here's part of the ancient roadway.

Curious...

Was there more to the original carving?

We got to Petra early so there weren't many tourists...at least at first!!!

Here are some of the young entrepreneurs. Some sold jewelry, some sold rides and all of them, I think, brought in lots of money that day.  I just hope they got to keep some of it.

The famous "Treasury" building is seen through the crevice.

I'm not sure why it's called "The Treasury" but it's the most recognizable structure on the site. It was carved in the early first century as the tomb of a king.

And here's the rest of the "Treasury" site.

 

And where I got my first ride of the day...turns out Ahmed had connections with a camel owner....

                                                                  And here I come.                 

Nobody seemed to be connected to my first camel. Oh my. Then I was put on another one.  Well, rather I put myself on another.  Or rather the camel stood up and I held on.

 

Now I seem to be in control...or at least trying to tell the camel to go "that way."                                                                     

And, now here's me, holding on - tightly. The camel and I - and the rest of the camel train headed down - further into the "city."  I managed to stay on and look cool in the process.  

The camel train took us a good distance downhill and then it was time to walk again.

 

Getting off the camel was another problem altogether.  "Just relax," said my buddy Ahmed. "Uh oh," I thought.  

The camel sits down unlike any other animal - now that's a surprise.  It's kinda of a rocking motion, first the front set of legs crumble and one rocks forward and then the back legs crumble and one rocks backward, and if one is still sitting on the camel at this point, it's time to get off. 

What a hell of an experience. And I never knew his name.

I continued the downhill trek to the bottom. Some of my compatriots climbed up into the hills; one crew went far enough that they could view Palestine in the distance. 

I stayed ground-ward and sweltered in the blistering heat.

One of Petra's cutest residents.

And finally, I had gotten to the end of the road and was now offered a two-mile ride (by donkey) to the top of the next looming hill.

I declined and decided to start worrying about how I was going to get back up the hill to the entrance.


 
Lots of modes of transportation were available.

and donkey...

My choice.  Ahmed told me it was his donkey.  I'm not sure about that.

I was "in charge" of the donkey; held the reins all by myself. Ahmed followed, now and then swatting the animal. I protested, but Ahmed assured me he was using the "soft" end of the switch. I hope so, but I fear most of the animals in the "city" were mistreated.

I donkey-ed back to the "Treasury" site, we negotiated again and the ride proceeded through the gorge and up the road to its opening. 

It was quite a climb. And the donkey did not want to go.  Ahmed had other plans.

At the opening to the city, I had to dismount and seek other transport.  For some reason, donkeys traverse only certain areas. Now...it was time for a horse.

More negotiations, Ahmed had no more animals for me. 

The horse owner thought it would be a good idea for me to ride by myself. Omigod.  I did look pretty good on horseback, I admit (actually the horse was pretty compliant). But frankly I don't know how to ride. So we rode together back up the hill and that was the end of my trip to Petra.

A visit to a World Heritage Site and -- a ride on a camel and a donkey and a horse -- all on the same day. It doesn't get much better than that!

My mount was the awake one on the left.