JORDAN
Petra: A journey back
in time
have always been close to traveling to Jordan but I always backed out because a trip like this is tricky. You land in Amman and you want to see three things: Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea and you may think that these are close to each other but no, Amman to Petra is a 4-hour drive and Petra to Wadi Rum is two, so you need good planning
On our second day we started at 6:00am and we basically had the Treasury for ourselves.
Of course almost all (if not all) the hotels can help you with organized tours but if you don’t want to travel in a group, your best solution is to book a driver or rent a car. We chose to book a private driver for three days via GetYourGuide for €275 each and we basically had someone to drop us off and pick us up. Before I go on, keep in mind that you need to buy a Jordan Pass before you go. We bought the Jordan Explorer for €100 each, which waives the fees of the visa (it’s not a visa) and grants you entry to over 40 attractions. That includes Petra, whose entrance fee is around €90 alone. Keep in mind that when you present your Jordan Pass at the Visitors’ Center you have to have your passport with you. What we did was book a hotel for our first and last day in Amman, a stay in Petra and a camp in Wadi Rum.
Infinity Lodge, in Petra, is on a hill, not close to Petra’s entrance but has a wonderful view of Wadi Musa for a very reasonable price (€63 / person). If you want to explore Petra a little more than the average tourist, you should also visit Little Petra which is on the end of Petra. It’s a 6-hour walk from the Visitors’ Center but it has its own entrance and you can split your visits to two days, like we did. Very few people know or care about it, so it was empty in the middle of the day. On our way to Little Petra, however, the driver took a few liberties and made a few more stops.
At the Orthodox church of Saint George in Madaba (€2 entry fee) we saw the oldest map of the Holy Land, and we also visited Mount Nebo (€6 entry fee), mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land before his death.
Also, if you’re visiting Shobak Castle, you can’t miss The Smallest Hotel in the World. The owner, Mohammed Al Malaheem, also known as “Abu Ali,” has transformed his old Volkswagen Beetle into a cozy and quirky “hotel” that can accommodate up to two people.
Little Petra, also known as Siq al-Barid (literally “the cold canyon”), is a site located north of Petra and the town of Wadi Musa and like Petra, it is a Nabataean site, with buildings carved into the walls of the sandstone canyons. It is part of the Petra Archeological Park, though accessed separately and often way less crowded, and included in Petra’s inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On our second day we started at 6:00am and we basically had the Treasury for ourselves. It was such a remarkable, beyond words feeling to see the Treasury live, one you don’t feel often however many beautiful sights you see around the world. Petra, or Raqmu as it was originally known to its inhabitants, is also called “Rose City” because of the colour of the sandstone from which it is carved.
The city – one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – was settled by the Nabataeans, a nomadic Arab People and has been inhabited since. 7000 BC. The Street of Facades, the amphitheatre, the tombs, Temenos Gate and so many more are worth your time. When we were done, we had little time to spare before our check out from the lodge but we decided to reach the Monastery.
This is the tricky part. You can only reach it if you climb 800 worn-out steps made of stones or rocks. There are countless men offering their donkeys to take you to the Monastery but we chose to walk – the animals look in bad shape and tired, its best to avoid it. It was an exhausting climb under the sun and in the end I couldn’t feel my legs but I did it. You do find nomads selling various products on the way so, if you have time you can stop for a bit. When you make your way back to the cafes, if you climb the hill you will find a bus station where a mini bus can take you to the Visitors’ Center for free, so you won’t have to walk any longer.
To his day, I still can’t process that I have been to Petra, all those images I’ve been seeing on social media, I finally saw live and the experience was everything I could imagine and more. We were told by our driver that on a few occasions, people come to Amman, visit Petra for the Treasury and then leave. Please don’t do that, there are so many things to see and explore in this ancient city.