A Day in Fascinating Petra

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We visited Egypt and Jordan as part of an organised group tour. We decided on a tour to enable us to see as much of Egypt and Jordan as we could, with someone else taking care of all the logistics in this unique part of the world. 

Petra is one of those places that we found captivating, and would return to if we get the opportunity. The history of the place, and seeing first hand the way the city has been carved from the rock is incredible! We were glad to have a guide, Muhammad, as part of the tour.

Accessing Petra

We stayed at the Movenpick Petra. This hotel is conveniently located close to the entrance of the historical site of Petra. Although it was an easy walk from the hotel to the entrance, be aware that the walk from one end of Petra to the other is about 4 kilometres, more if you deviate as you explore different sights. Given the distance you need to cover, there are other options like taking a golf buggy or riding in a horse drawn cart (for a fee) from the entrance to the Treasury building, the most well known sight in Petra. We walked with our guide. 

Walking the Canyon

Our first impression as we headed into Petra was how colourful the rock formations are. There are lots of deep shades of red and orange. To reach the Treasury building, you need to pass through a narrow canyon.  We could hear the sound of the horses’ hooves echoing around us, being ridden by those avoiding some of the walk.  

As we approached the Treasury building, Muhammad pointed out evidence of channels which were used to transport water into the city for drinking and irrigation. We also admired the Bab Al Siq.

The Treasury

The first glimpse of the Treasury through a narrow opening in the canyon is amazing! It is the picture you always see in magazines and in travel blogs. I felt like we were on the set of an Indiana Jones movie. 

Once you reach the open space in front of the Treasury, you are amongst lots of other tourists, and camels on offer for rides, but it doesn’t distract from that first ‘wow’ moment.

The Treasury building is so amazing on the outside, that I had imagined it would be also impressive, or at least spacious, inside. There is actually not much behind the ornate façade. A room has been carved into the rock. Even though the size didn’t impress, the colour did. 

Sights along the Main Route

Moving on from the Treasury (it was hard to tear ourselves away to be honest), we saw the Street of Façades. It was amazing to see the perfectly flat façades carved into the rock. The amount work and time that would have gone into creating them is incredible.

Not far from the Façades are the Royal Tombs. These tombs are said to be for the Kings of Petra.

We also saw the Rock Graves, an amazing number of tombs cut into the rock. The Theatre has been carved into a mountain side. It is like an amphitheatre in style and layout, and can seat 4000 people. Again the colour of the rock is impressive.  

Towards the end of the main route through Petra is the Colonnaded Street. This street was the centre of ancient Petra, and is said to have been lined with shops. A number of pillars remain, some have had some restoration.

Climb to the Monastery

It took four hours for our guided tour from one end of Petra to the other. At this point, our guide gave us the option of heading back, or climbing the 950 steps to the Monastery.  We asked if it was worth the climb, and Muhammad assured us it was. He also made sure we had no physical issues with the steps, and advised that he normally takes a donkey up. We didn’t want to take a donkey, so off we set on foot. This trail was in addition to the four kilometre length of the main trail from the entrance gate.

We counted the steps so we could monitor our progress up the hill. After 100 ‘steps’, we reassessed our commitment. It may have been 950 steps, but in between sets of steps were stretches of walking! 

Along the way, we passed little stands selling mostly jewellery. We also saw a rock formation that looks like a Koala’s head. At one point, a donkey carrying supplies up the steps nearly drove Hubby off the narrow track.  Just as we were joking that we’d never reach the Monastery (did I mention the weather was hot?), we emerged at the top and it was before us. 

Laying Eyes on the Monastery

We were so glad we decided to persevere. The Monastery was just as imposing as the Treasury, only less ornate. It was amazing and immediately the climb up the hill was forgotten. We stood in the open area in front of the Monastery, and took photo after photo. We loved it! After a couple of minutes we could hear yelling. We ignored it for a bit, but once it didn’t let up, we looked around to find a group of people up on a lookout opposite the Monastery trying to tell us to move out of their photos. At least they gave us a little time to get some photos when we arrived. 

At the Monastery, we were surprised to find a number of tents selling drinks and souvenirs (including more jewellery) in such a hard to access location. We bought a drink and a bag of chips and sat in the shade of the tents admiring the Monastery. We perused the stalls of the sellers, and Mike bought a silver ring and I opted for some silver earrings. 

The Return Trip

We climbed back down, and made our way back through Petra. We stopped again to admire the Treasury building before the last stretch of walking back to the hotel. There is a trail which takes you up to an elevated lookout point over the Treasury building. After our trip, we regretted not finding it and following it for another amazing vantage point. Check out Travelling the World Solo’s story and photos to see what we missed. We would have also loved to do a night time visit.

We treated ourselves to an ice cream in the hotel’s courtyard bar, followed by a thick local coffee as a further pick me up. 

Our feet and legs were aching that evening. Luckily the next day of this tour we were travelling to the Dead Sea, so had some time sitting on the coach. After a day in Petra, we definitely needed the recovery time.

The Wrap Up

The official Petra web site is at https://visitpetra.jo/. You can access a map of Petra with the walking trails and main places on this site, and also check the cost of entrance fees. Petra isn’t cheap to visit, but is worth the cost. This site also advises on the cost of guides if you opt to engage one.  We got so much out of having Mohammed with us.

Petra is one of the biggest highlights of all our travel experiences. Whilst we were in Jordan, we saw and did some amazing things, including floating in the Dead Sea, seeing the Jerash Amphitheatre near Jordan, and visiting the Jordan River, where according to the Bible, Jesus was baptised. However Petra was by far our favourite. If you get the chance to visit, make sure you take it. Do your research before you go, do a night visit and don’t miss the trail up to see the Treasury from above – it’s behind the Royal Tombs.

If you want to see more of the photos we took during out visit, head over to our Petra Gallery.