Petra Day One

One of the (new) Seven Wonders of the World and made even more famous by Indiana Joes and the Last Crusade, Petra is exactly as fabulous as everyone who hasn’t been there thinks and hopes it is.

Today, we arrived, walked through the canyon, turned a corner and WOW!

Iconic! And while the site was busy, that didn’t really bother me. My thought is that back in the day, Petra was busy with traders, shops, and people just living their lives, so seeing it a bit crowded with tourists isn’t that different. Sure, we’re dressed different but there is still shopping, money changing hands, milling about and even a few camels. So really, not so different.

And while most people are familiar with the Treasury, there is so much more to Petra. Today, we walked around the site and ended up hiking the 880 stairs up to the Monastery. Sounds like a bit of a walk but after Mt Sinai, anything less that 1000 stairs isn’t that big a deal anymore. And for those who don’t want to walk, there are always donkeys. Personally, I’d be worried about falling off the donkey to my death but it seems the little critters know what they are doing and so far as I can tell, people aren’t dying in droves!

On a side note, the donkeys look depressed as hell and I still think it’s possible they might just jump over, taking the rider with them.

Anyway, you hike up , ride up, whatever, and when you turn the corner—wow!
I have to say, I think I like the Monastery just as much as the Treasury. It’s not as ornate, but the fact it’s set way the hell up the mountain is impressive. Plus, you get the kick-ass view. We spent some time just walking around, going inside and trying to get into trouble.