Discovering the wonder of the Rose City: PETRA (Jordan)

It was that time of the year, our annual family trip and Jordan was our destination of the year. 
 After discovering the capital city of Aman, we headed towards the ancient city of Petra with a hired car. The paths that took us to the Rose City had already begun to give us an indication of the beauty that would be awaiting us. We stopped on the way to enjoy the stunning sunset from over the scenic hilly roads. 
We checked into our Hotel ‘Petra Tree’ and settled down to have a warm dinner after which, we headed out to participate in the Petra By Night tour. This tour runs every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for 17 JD and starts at 8.30 pm from the Petra visitor centre, lasting a couple of hours. The scene we saw was truly magical. Walking through the candle lit pathway in the rock city of Petra and exploring its caves in the candle light was another level of an exciting feeling all together.

 We walked through the Siq and experienced the magnificence of the Kazaneh or the treasury entirely lit with candle lights. The tour included a small musical cultural show introducing us to the stories of the ancient city. 
I highly recommend this tour to experience a brief magical moment in your life. 

The next morning, we headed back to the ancient city to explore its beauty in broad day light. As we walked through the city, we noticed that most of the city dwellings consisted of small caves while some of them had artistic stone structures in front of the caves sometimes to ward of the evil eye. In case you are too weary to walk, there were options of using horse carriages, camels or riding on donkey backs to help you explore the mysterious ancient city of Petra with much more ease. We saw the main treasury in its full glory again but, in the sunlight this time, and were once again awestruck by the sight in front of us. The building looked almost undamaged except for a few bullet marks which were caused due to the locals trying to loot the treasury in search of wealth as told to us by the guide. The treasury has served as a filming location for several Hollywood, regional and Bollywood movies like the Transformers, Krishh 3 (Bollywood) and the famous Lawrence of Arabia of course to name just a few of them.

 Walking further into the city, we discovered that it was quite a long walk throughout the city. I would recommend going in the periods from September to March as it is warm enough without being too hot or sunny to to drain you off all your energy.

The ancient city also has a theatre which is carved into the side of the mountain at the foot of the High Place of Sacrifice with a capacity of over 4000 spectators. The backwall of the theatre was rebuilt by the Romans when they later occupied Petra.

he highlight was walking up to the highest point in the city where the flag of Jordan waves in its full glory. It was a long climb but all the effort was totally worth it to discover the beauty of the entire city from that spot on top. Carrying a bottle of water, wearing comfortable clothing and shoes definitely helped us a lot in this zestful traverse through Petra. 

 Petra is well equipped with toilets for the visitors and are mostly kept tidy. There are also options for buying interesting souvenirs like the little coloured sand bottles and local jewellery for your friends and family. We picked up a few on our journey back towards the main entry gate of the city. One of the sellers, a woman from New Zealand who was selling her autobiography, had a very fascinating story to share. She met and got married to a local Bedouin and lived in a cave. Stop by to have a chat. Her book is named: Married to a Bedouin. 
Seeing the ancient city in the moonlit night and the sunlit day were two totally different experiences, both beautiful in their own unique way.

The city had so much to offer in spite of being hit by flash floods numerous times which caused a lot of its treasure and urban material to flow away. We also stumbled upon a few shards of pottery among the sandy ground. This shows that the ancient locals devised efficient water control schemes like dams and conduits to control the floods. My family and I were definitely happy and more than pleased with all that Petra had to offer. The whole day was a bit tiring because of the trekking and climbing but it gave us a very absorbing and memorable experience together as a family. This trip could be extremely fun and eventful for all kinds of travel groups, be it friends, family or colleagues.

There were a plenty of options to grab some tasty food and a good drink within a few 100 meters from the main gate of the Rose city. We ended the “exploration” by basking in the comfort of one the restaurants near the main gate which served relishing Arabic cuisine.

          It was indeed one of the best and most memorable family holidays.

Pictures Uploaded:

• Petra By Night 
• Bab Al Siq: The gateway to the Siq
• The Treasury (Kazaneh) 
• The Camel: Vehicle of the Locals in Petra 
• The Theatre 
• The Royal Tombs of Petra
• Night Lights of the City 
• Our Walk Back to the City Gate