The day is here!

I am thrilled to see Petra in person. There’s something so satisfying about visiting an iconic place — somewhere you’ve known about for decades but are just now seeing for the first time.

(Confession: The night before was my actual first visit to Petra, for a program called Petra by Night which occurs three times per week — the entire Siq is lit by candlelight and it’s an ethereal experience. That post goes up Monday!)

Since that program ran late the previous evening, I sleep in a bit and grab an early lunch so that I don’t have to buy any food inside Petra (as you can imagine, it’s way overpriced). So for a few dollars I order hummus and a falafel sandwich from a shop in town while consulting Lonely Planet.

I have two full days here. I don’t follow the Lonely Planet guide exactly and sort of cobble together my itinerary as I go, but the info above was helpful in understanding the scope of Petra and how to divide my time.

I’m staying at a cheap motel just above the main street in Petra, splitting a room with my friend Mel. (She only has one full day here and headed out at 6am while I slept in.) It takes about twenty minutes to walk down to the Petra Visitor’s Center located at the end of the street below:

I quickly pop my head into the Mövenpick Hotel, the fanciest place to stay around here. Ooh-la-la.

At the Visitor’s Center, I purchase a two-day pass for about $85 USD. A one-day pass is $77 USD, so if you have the time to spare, two days in Petra won’t cost much more. If you’re coming on a day trip from Israel or Egypt without spending the night, the entrance fee to Petra is $127 USD. Which makes sense, as those tourists aren’t spending any other money in the country so Jordan wants a bigger cut from them.

From here I officially enter Petra and walk about 15 minutes to the entrance of the Siq (the main canyon that leads up to Petra’s famous Treasury).

The views are stunning but I’m bothered by two things: 1) bus loads of tourists on the day tour who just arrived, and 2) men on horseback harassing me to ride down with them (“It’s included in the ticket price!” Yeah, but your tip’s not, buddy…). Oh man, I can be such a curmudgeonly traveler sometimes.

Local Bedouin families live in nearby caves:

And here we are at the entrance to the Siq. At this point the canyon walls narrow and the crowd winds through towards the Treasury, about another 15 minute walk.

(For those of you keeping track, here’s the time breakdown — it’s a 20 minute walk from the cheaper motels down to the Petra Visitor’s Center, then a 15 minute walk to the Siq, and then another 15 minute walk to the Treasury… so from the time I set out, it takes about 50 minutes until I’m at the iconic gateway to Petra. All well worth it, just beware that travel time adds up when you stay above the main drag in town. On the reverse trip, I take a $3 cab ride back to my motel — totally worth skipping those final 20 minutes walking uphill. Cabs wait by the Petra Visitor’s Center all day for this purpose.)

Cheesy, but a little cute:

And now I’m in the Siq. The pink curving walls remind me of Antelope Canyon in Arizona from a family trip back in the ’90s.

Every few minutes a horse-drawn chariot races through the Siq, its passengers gripping for dear life.

Occasionally I round a bend and find an empty stretch of path like the one above, but mostly it looks like this:

One final chariot shot for good measure.

I spy a glimpse of the Treasury…

What a marvel — this giant structure was delicately carved out of rock beginning as early as 300 BC. It remained a lost treasure of the ancient world until 1812 when a 27 year old Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt set out to find this rumored, mystical place. A previous explorer got wind of Petra but was murdered before he could find it, so Burckhardt picked up the trail. He learned Arabic, took on a Muslim name, and embedded himself in local communities in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine until he uncovered Petra’s secret location. When he found it (while sacrificing a goat at Aaron’s tomb, more on that tomorrow) Burckhardt couldn’t linger or his fellow travelers might suspect his true identity as a treasure seeker. He died of dysentery in Cairo when he was only 32.

Someone should pitch this to a major studio… I smell an awards season hit. Is Leo too old to play 27? Maybe this is his Oscar-winnning role.

While you’d expect everyone’s focus to be on the Treasury, these cheeky camels steal the show.

It’s around 1pm and I’m just getting started. But I run into Mel and our Scottish friend Sean who traveled with us from Amman — they’ve been here since the gates opened at 7am, walking non-stop, and have just finished exploring Petra. They are exhausted but thrilled. While the crowds are heavy now, they had the entire place to themselves earlier and got excellent photos.

Your photographer says hi!

I leave behind the crowded Treasury area and head further into Petra. While the Treasury is the best-known part of this site, it’s just the tip of the iceberg — (or the desert equivalent of an iceberg, whatever that is… a sand dune?). I’ll spend the next five hours exploring.

There’s a handful of shops selling goods and food, all overpriced.

This man demonstrates how sand artisans create scenes in glass bottles.

The details are genuinely impressive.

Before this post grows entirely too long, I’ll save the bulk of my afternoon hiking for tomorrow’s entry.

After reaching the Monastery (Petra’s second most famous spot after the Treasury), I head back towards the Siq. By now the sun hangs near the horizon and the hills glow a soft yellow color.

Those are the Royal Tombs in the distance.

By now it’s around 6pm and the Treasury is nearly deserted. So if you’re looking for the best time of day to get clean shots of this landmark, arrive at 7am or leave at 6pm!

Ah, the Siq is blissfully empty. It’s a peaceful walk back.

… That is, until I run into these three hooligans. (I snap these photos the next afternoon — hence the other tourists.)

These three girls are essentially gypsy children. They may look like harmless 12 years olds hocking postcards, but they gang up on me when I round a corner and reach for my camera and my sunglasses. I push them away and rush off. I am SO mad at how aggressive they are, and relieved to have escaped without them snatching something valuable.

When I return the next morning, I spot them again. At first they play nice and pose with tourists, but then try to grab stuff (watches, jewelry, sunglasses, cameras). I see a woman fight back, shoving away the ring leader to keep her grasping hands at bay — the girl hits back violently while the other two grab ROCKS to throw at the poor woman they’re trying to steal from! I was furious at these kids. There’s no sign of their parents (or any Bedouin adults for that matter) along the entire stretch of the Siq, so they are operating on their own and returning home with the goods later. While they’ve clearly been trained to behave this way, and I can only imagine what it’s like to live in relative poverty as wealthy tourists visit their land every day, it’s still no excuse. Selling post cards is one thing, but pelting tourists with rocks because they won’t surrender their camera is another. If there was any sort of authority nearby I would’ve reported them. There are security cameras but I don’t see any uniformed guards (unless you count those dudes dressed up as Roman guards posing for photos at the entrance to the Siq).

So if you’re visiting Jordan any time soon, keep your eyes peeled for these gypsy kids and don’t get near them. And maybe don’t leave at 6pm when the place is empty and they can more easily corner you. When I return at 7am the next morning I’m on guard, but thankfully they are nowhere to be seen.

I have a story about another Bedouin kid, a young boy around the same age who’s also selling (super pixelated) postcards near the Visitor’s Center. I run into him the next afternoon and brush him off, worried that he might attack me like the girls did. Instead he shouts out impassionately, “I LOVE YOU!!!” as a final sales pitch while I walk away. It’s hysterical and I crack up.

After resting my tired legs (so much walking!), I meet up with Mel and Sean for dinner. This chicken dish is outstanding.

The next morning, my friends are off to Wadi Rum at the crack of dawn and I have one more day in Petra. I’ve taken their advice to arrive early and walk down in the dark, as the Call to Prayer echoes in the empty streets.

The Siq is eerily empty. There’s one or two other tourists; we keep passing each other as we stop to take photos, and it’s nice to know I’m not entirely alone. I have my eyes peeled for those pesky girls.

It’s now my third and final time entering Petra, and this sight is no less thrilling.

Camel butt.

One more Petra post coming tomorrow. Can’t wait to show you the Monastery and epic hiking views!