The old Bedouin man waved to the west. “My tent is over there.” He lived still in Petra, had done all his life, as had his father and grandfather before him, generation after generation. Lives lived among the city of the dead. Every morning, still sprightly in his sandals, he trekked from his tent up Jebel Madbah. For what? The chance to sell a handful of grubby coins? Or the for the pleasure of gazing out over the chasms and tombs of his ancestral home? How, I wondered, had Petra changed during his lifetime? How would it be sustained? Did he have children of his own to continue his vigil, or was he the last of the guardians of Petra, a Petra that lived and breathed and interacted with the awe-struck visitors from across the globe? But I had no way to ask him. He pointed out the path further into Wadi Farasa and returned to his vigil. The last I saw of him as I turned to call back “Maasalama!” was a solitary robed figure sitting on a jutting spur of rock, head bowed, staff across his knees.

The rose-red city of Petra deserves every single word of hype it receives. Despite the crowds (though there are ways to escape them as I discovered) there is still something raw and mysterious about this once-hidden city. The archaeology itself is often beside the point. The central section of Petra, the stretch containing the theatre, the colonnaded street, the market places, the Great Temple, the royal palace and the later Byzantine church, tells the most about how the Nabateans lived. But people hurry past, eager to see more about how they died. Because the most iconic and noticeable remains of the Nabatean civilisation are their tombs.

Other reviewers have covered the basics below, so I shall just focus on the four (okay, four-and-a-half) stand out experiences.

1. The Siq and the Treasury. The most exceptional teaser campaign in history. The walk from the site entrance in Wadi Musa to the Treasury is 2km, of which the last 1.2km is through the narrow twisting chasm of the Siq, walls of red sandstone towering overhead. This opens out before al-Khazneh, ‘the Treasury’, the grandest of Petra’s tombs. I walked this route three times and it never failed to build my anticipation in advance of the great reveal. For my first walk I was just one of a river of tourists, squeezing through the canyon, voices echoing from the walls above. For the last I and my friends were alone. We had hitched a ride down from Wadi Musa in the back of as local man’s pick-up and were the first people through the gates at 6am. We processed through the Siq in reverent silence, fingers tracing the smoothly-worn stone, and halted at its end, revelling in the uninterrupted views of the Treasury (and the opportunity to take photos with no crowds or camels in the background).
2. The Treasury Overlook. I don’t know if this is an established name, but this is what we termed the view down from the bluff opposite the Treasury’s frontage. Following the trail past the Royal Tombs there are steps leading upwards. These emerge atop the landform through which the Siq snakes. The top is wild and barren but we found piles of stones and scuffed footprints leading the way to a rocky spur. The Treasury stood impassive to our left. Shadows slanted across its famous façade. As we had been the first people into Petra that day there were only a couple of tourists in front of it, small black specks serving to provide a sense of scale. I found it incredibly impressive so I’m a little bit distraught to read from Solivagant’s review below that this route is now off-limits to tourists.
3. The Monastery. The ‘Monastery’, ad-Deir, is the second most famous sight at Petra but it is a good trek from the Treasury. You need to go into the heart of the complex and it is then another 45-60 minute walk from the Wadi Musa turn. In the heat it is a very stiff climb. When I visited there were boys hiring out donkeys; think carefully before doing so because the descent looked particularly terrifying. But definitely see the Monastery once, and enjoy the satisfaction of having completed the journey. There is a drinks stall at the top!
4. The High Place of Sacrifice and Wadi Farasa. A well marked stairway winds up to the High Place of Sacrifice. On a final jutting finger of rock can be found the altar, basin and drains where the Nabateans gave offerings to their gods. Views are expansive rather than revelatory – you can see a long way over the hills but few specifics of Petra itself can be made out. But that is made up by the walk back down through Wadi Farasa (Butterfly Valley). This was possibly my highlight of the entire trip. Standing with your back to the drinks stall, facing the obelisks, look out for two steps to your right. Once over these there is a trail, indistinct at first and only marked by cairns of stones and a couple of painted arrows. The crowds of Petra melted away. Instead new characters appeared – a black-robed woman selling necklaces, archaeologists at work, the elderly Bedouin coin-seller. You pass the Garden Tomb, the Roman Soldier’s tomb. I felt I was discovering Petra’s secrets for myself. Here a rocky overhang like an eagle’s beak, there a hole in a plain stone revealing exotic veining within. At one spot there was an overhang with red scalloped banding so beautiful it looked as though it had been worked by hand. I climbed up for a better look and in doing so found an incised god, a votive offering, etched into the rock face. The thrill of discovery was intense.
5. Petra by Night. All the above can be seen on a basic visitor’s ticket. An additional ticket – on top of your basic ticket - is required for the Petra by Night experience. This takes you back into Petra after dark, a trail of tealights leading you on through the Siq. The final destination is the Treasury, its frontage illuminated by torches, the stars sparkling overhead. Here visitors sit while musicians play traditional music on the ney (flute) and rababa (a bowed fiddle). I lay back and stared up at the heavens, letting the exotic melodies transport me. The crowds were not quite as appreciative as I would have liked – I certainly would have found the atmosphere better if we had processed through the Siq in silence as requested rather than being surrounded by inconsequential chit-chat. But it is still an abiding memory of Petra for me.

 

World Heritage-iness: 5

My Experience: 5

 (Visited August 2009)