We wake up early and after a nice cold shower – our hotel sucks – Eric and I hike down to the Petra front gates. We weren’t able to buy our entry tickets yesterday, so we’ve arrived early to try and beat the crowds.
For the most part we succeed and by 8:00am we’re beginning our descent to the Sique. “The Sique” is a 1 km long canyon that leads you into the major portion of Petra.
At the end of the Sique is the Treasury, which is probably Petra’s most well-known structure. Anyone who’s seen “Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade” will recognize it.
The anticipation builds with every turn and when the Treasury appears, it literally takes my breath away. It is so beautiful and I can’t believe I’m finally here.
Eric’s finally able to tear me away and we take off to explore more of the site.
Petra has so many nooks and crannies, that you can’t see it all in just one day, so Eric and have signed up for at least two days. For day 1, we’re going to begin with an overview of the site, so we start by walking along the Street of Facades.
We then move past a cluster of tombs…
And up the side of one of the cliffs to see the Theatre from a different perspective.
With every step and turn we discover new places.
Petra seems endless!!!
The next morning we get there about 15 minutes after the gates open – about 6:45am. This time we’re way ahead of everyone else and Eric & I are able to enjoy the Treasury with just three other people… and a couple of camels.
We spend at least half an hour sitting there and taking it all in.
Once more people start appearing, we take off to hike up the mountain to see the Monastery. It’s rumoured to be comparable with, if not trump, the Treasury.
It definitely lives up to the hype and once again, it’s pretty much all ours.
We continue our trek and find a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape.
We find yet another route and make our way back to the main gate, past more amazing sites.
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