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Tag Archives: Petra

In Petra

Petra is amazing. No words, nor pictures can describe how amazing this place is. We went to visit Petra back in December. As one of the world’s 7 Wonders and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Petra surely didn’t disappoint.

You need more than just one day to visit Petra. To thoroughly see Petra. And preferably without kids with short legs 😉 . The area is massive. You will do a lot of walk, a lot of climbs mixed while standing with your mouth open looking up every two rocks or so. We were lucky to be there in winter, because the temperature was very nice. I heard it could be scorching hot in summer. I couldn’t imagine having to walk/climb/crawl in a 40 degrees heat weather.

Being there I had to juggle between taking pictures, exploring the place, while carefully walking the sandy paths that were  -in some part more than others- mined with animal droppings. We only had less than a day in Petra. We got there a little after midday and left just before it got dark. I think we only just ‘brushed’ the surface, though what a magnificent ‘surface’ it was.

Here are some images that were taken from the entrance to the Siq. It’s a sandy path about less than a kilometre long that divided in two; one for the animal (horses, carriages etc) and one path for visitors to walk. Even here we could already start to see some unusual rocks.

the way to the siqObelisk Tomb

The Siq.

The Siq is the main road leading to the city of Petra. It’s a 3-12m wide narrow path with 80m rocky walls along side of it. It’s the most interesting walk I’ve ever had. The rock walls around us was truly magnificent; not only in size but also in colours. Many Nabatean carvings were made along the walls, which are interesting and apparently quite functional, back in the days. Animals, including horse carriage, and people walk through here to reach the Treasury.

The Magnificent Siq

 

 

After the walk through the Siq came the Treasury. The square in front of the Treasury when we finally got there was full of people; tourist and locals alike, and also animals as transportation for hire. It’s challenging to get a decent clear shot of the Treasury since it’s so high (39.1m), and always full of people.

The Treasury, Petra - Jordan

 

The urn you can see at the top was believed, long time ago, to contain great treasure, that’s why it is called the Treasury until now.

 

From here we continued towards the Monastery. The way there is long, and to reach it we had to go up 800 steps or so . With two kids and their sets of tiny legs we decided to hire a donkey and some mules. From here on, the photo taking became somewhat limited, because I was concentrating hard to not fall off my ride. We passed the wall of façades, many great tombs and temples along the way. We did not have time to get off our rides and see every one of them. Our destination was the Monastery, and the way was up up and up. At a certain point near the top we had to get off our animals because they were not allowed to pass anymore. We walked the remainder of the steps slowly but surely. Again, I was grateful for the cool weather we had that day.

The Monastery, Petra - Jordan

 

For more detailed information of Petra you can visit here. IMHO, Petra should be in everyone’s bucket list!

The sun was setting, so we had to start to head back. Going down the 800 steps and the long walk was still ahead of us. We got the kids back on their donkey until we reached the Siq, because otherwise I didn’t think they would survive the long way back.

 

It’s been a long and tiring day and our muscles were sore for days after. But it’s oh so worth the pain.

Towards the Exit, Petra - Jordan

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  • Bijit Dutta04/02/2014 - 3:09 am

    incredible photographyReplyCancel

  • ohdearria07/02/2014 - 5:25 pm

    Wow! Amazing pictures Ayu, you’re so talented. Make me want to go to Petra/Jordan, one day! Keep sharing your beautiful shotsReplyCancel

  • [ayu]07/02/2014 - 11:47 pm

    makasih yaaa. semoga jangan bosen. there are other beautiful places in Jordan that I visited. I’m sorting through all the photos I took during the holiday, keep watching this space…xReplyCancel

  • […] her head was a piece  from our past holiday that had successfully flown me back to Petra, even when it was only in my head. First on her head, then in my […]ReplyCancel

52 Portrait Project – 4/52

Faces of Petra is the theme of this week’s portrait project. Even with the stunning view surrounding us when we were in Petra, the locals had their way to make their presence truly felt. I’m talking about the trading locals who filled the area in front of the Treasury, who were there in throngs, with their various items to sell and animals for hire. We’ve got a wide selection of items to buy from them; silver bracelets, necklaces, (claimed to be) authentic old/antic coins, scarfs and postcards. The four-legged variety mode of transportation was also available there. You can choose between camels, donkeys, mules, horses, or, if riding on layers of blankets on top of moving animals is not for you, you can opt to sit like a true tourist princess in one of horse carriages.

Most of the sellers were the local Bedouin from Petra. Back in the 70s and early 80s some of people from the Bedouin tribe actually lived in the caves and resided amongst the rocky ruins around. Not anymore though, as these days no one is allowed to live inside Petra for better preservation of the area, so now the Bedouins are there only during opening hours to conduct their business.

Back to the portraits now. Here’s Salomon. He’s a young teenage boy with kind eyes, high energy and very little English. We started our ‘relationship’ with a misunderstanding over a price of silver bracelets (he wanted to sell by the grams, while I bargained based on the number of items). We ended up spending most of our day there with him (and his borrowed donkeys), because he turned out being very helpful, though not so informative as a guide. Kind eyes can go a long way, I guess.

the donkey charmer, petra - jordan

 

These were the postcard selling girls. These girls were very friendly, playful and giggly. I gave them a Polaroid as a souvenir. They looked so happy.

postcard sellers, petra - jordan

 

These old men were working together in front of Treasury. They dressed as period soldiers/guards, and then went to approach tourists who wanted to take photographs together for some small tips. These two looked tired and a bit sad. After receiving some tips and lots of thanks from us they went off, back to work. On to the next group.

old soldier 1, petra - jordan

old soldier 2, petra - jordan

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