I feel a bit like a postcard tourist. You know, the ones that turn up - usually in a tour bus, to take to postcard shot of them in front of whatever landmark, before bussing off to 5 other countries in 6 days. Don't get me wrong, here. I'm not bagging you out if this is your gig. It's a poor generalisation really, as I'm absolutely sure that plenty of these tourists do their research - and I've been one of them on occasion. I'm just making the point that I usually like to do a bit of research on a place. I like to get a feel for the history and culture before I hit the ground. I'm feeling very under prepared for Petra. I haven't read anything about the place aside from one solitary (and brief) brochure.
Oh well, not to worry - I've certainly got my postcard shots!! It's pretty easy to do when you've got one of the seven wonders to work with. (Actually, I googled the seven wonders just to confirm that statement and found eight different lists - Petra was on at least one, so I guess that makes it legit.) Now, if only those few thousand other tourists would get out of the way...
Even without knowing much about Petra, it's easy to see why it is one of the Wonders. Pictures/postcards just don't do it justice, though that didn't stop me taking about a hundred pictures! Al Khazneh, or "The Treasury" is the best preserved ruin, carved into the sheer sandstone canyon wall. You approach this monument (main canyon) through another narrow canyon (only 3-4m wide in places). It opens up to a magnificent view of the Treasury. Absolutely amazing. As you head further down the main canyon, you come across a spectacular ampetheter carved directly into the rock. In places, the rock hewn seats are "missing" where the remains of older tombs are.
The colours in the sandstone are amazing. In places, the coloured sandstone layers looked exactly like those touristy coloured sand-in-a-bottle things you sometimes see (like at Uluru for example). Actually, you could get plenty of the sand-in-a-bottle souvenirs from the numerous Bedouin souvenir tents throughout the park at the "best price my friend". I don't know how they do it, but they manage to make great images in the sand - mostly of camels.
I was among the first few people to make it down to the ruins in the morning and was rewarded with being able to view things in the serenity and soft tones of the early morning light (you can tell the morning photos by the lack of people). Absolutely amazing (have I used that word before?). Being ahead of the crowds definitely made the place seem more ancient and remote. I was so glad I had made the effort when I was heading back past the treasury at about 9am as the first of the tour groups hit the canyon.
I took advantage of the cool morning air to climb up to some of the more remote tombs and was rewarded with the discovery of this little gem. The way the wind had weathered the coloured sandstone walls made for a very pretty site.
Follow this link for some more pics of Petra.
