Like this:

(my video from the Treasury in Petra… forgive the poor quality, but if it does nothing else it shows good scale and perspective)

In the 3rd century BC, the Nabateans began carving out of the cliffs of southern Jordan palaces, tombs, and homes.  The impressive remnaints constitute a whole ancient city hewn directly from the rock faces, providing magnificent views for photo-eager tourists and the native Bedouin people alike.  The history of Petra is not entirely clear to me, but the experience was otherworldly…

All in all Jordan was a serious change from the Israeli culture located on the other side of the Jordan river and the Bay of Aqaba.  Taxi drivers drive fast and the lines on the road are more suggestions than anythings.  We took the bus to Eilat, in the very South of Israel and crossed the border into Jordan via the Yitzhak Rabin border crossing.  From there Petra was a 2 hr cab ride north near the small village of Wadi Mussa (the location of our Orient Gate Hotel hostel).  At 8:30 pm we decide to participate in “Petra at Night,” a candle lit tour of the ruins that provided a unique spiritual exercise (of star gazing and peaceful hiking) rather than the ability to actually see any of the actual sites.  The tour took us a half an hour into the tall narrow canyons ending up in the presence of the iconic Treasury carving (portrayed in Indiana Jones Last Crusade).  Then we all gathered together and were treated to beautiful, traditional Bedouin music; the solitary notes seemed to echo perfectly off the high cliffs.  Though, in the end we couldn’t see much in the way of ruins and carvings are concerned (it was completely dark), we came away energized and ready see the city for what it truly is in the sunlight.

There’s not much I can say about day two in Petra… it was awe inspiring.  In the end I spent 12 hours in the city, exploring, taking pictures, and fending off local Bedouin, looking to sell jewlery, ancient antiques, and donkey/camel rides.  Here are the best pictures of the day… but they really don’t do Petra justice.

the treasury

intricate light play on cliffs

drinking some water

Jordanian flag and Monastery

at world’s end view

column ruins

resting with columns

kings tomb area

stadium columns

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