Petra – the forgotten city
We had walked for almost 2 kilometers through a narrow gorge in the freezing January cold. The exitement increasen before every turn and bend – what was on the other side?
Suddenly it was there. Al Khazne.
The old burial chambre also called The Treasury, was shimmering with stunning architectural details inbetween the steep, pink walls of mountain.
We had arrived the ancient Jordanian city carved into the mountains. Once a central town on the Royal road between Cairo, Syria, and Eufrat.
Forgotten, or?
Located in the middle of the Jordanian desert, at the end of a 2-kilometre long gorge, sits Petra. Its’ heyday was from year 600 BC to 300 AD, before it was completely forgotten from the 14th century.
At least almost forgotten untill 1812, when the Swizz explorer Johannes Ludvig Burckhardt set a goal to rediscover the old caravan centre. Pretending to be the arab Sheik Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah, he convinced a beduin to show him the city.
Because Petra had not been forgotten by all. Beduins har used the valley and lived in the houses built in the mountains for centuries. Still living in the area and many make a living off the visitors to the world heritage site in various ways.
On this January day it was quiet, and it was nice chatting with the kids. Even though I’d rather see them beinh at school in the middle of the day…
Pink and pretty Petra
Coming out through the long, narrow gorge, it’s like you suddenly find yourself in a different world.
Petra is located in a small valley and everywhere you look there are a mix of grand faced and sircular cave openings. Everything carved in and out of the pastell coloured mountains. It’s not without reason that Petra is called “the pink city”. The pink stone gave everything a soft pastel pink-ish tint.
The royal tombs, the caves which acted as residences, and the amphitheater witnessed of a lively and magnificent city. My imagination got a lot to work with!
I couldn’t stop wondering what caves that people lived inside looked like a 1000 years ago.
The royal tombs had richly decorated facades that showed wealth and rank, but to my surprise they only held a small room with a tomb inside.
In Petra’s heyday, camels were the most important means of transport, and you still see them everywhere. Beautifully decorated, they relaxed in the January sun.
If you shall only visit one UNESCO World Heritage Site, let it be Petra!
Plan your trip
It is possible to travel here on a day trip from the seaside resorts of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel, or you can take it as part of a tour of Jordan from the capital Amman.
We took it as a detour on a longer journey in Israel and Palestine. Took a taxi round trip from Eilat and stayed one night in the small town of Wadi Musa nearby.
It is worth mentioning that the price of the entrance ticket differs depending on how long you are in Jordan. Day trips are the most expensive and then it becomes more affordable the longer you are in the country. A great way to encourage longer stays!
You can travel here all year round, but I believe it can get very hot in the gorge and Petra itself in the middle of the day in summer. We were here in January with few other tourists, and it was really cold in the shade and at night.
