Petra
picture courtesy
Atlas Tours
Some two hours distance South of Amman
is Jordan's most famous and spectacular site. This ancient city carved
out of the face of its surrounding mountains has mystified and excited
people for thousands of years.
After your drive with great views of
the mountains you actually descend into them and leave your vehicle
in an area surrounded with activity. If you've signed with a tour, you
will / should be provided with a nice placid horse or donkey, and a
guide or two to lead you.
You ride through caverns hundreds of
feet tall and at times only a few feet wide for some time until up ahead
you glimpse, through a narrow slit in the rock face, an incredible sight:
built into the rock face in front of you is an ornate and wonderfully
decorated building façade called the Khasneh, and you have arrived
finally at Petra.
You will undoubtedly take all day to
explore Petra's area, with its amazing building facades, its ancient
caves and its massive Roman style theater (not to mention the bracelet
and jewelry sellers) you can't go wrong with a side trip here.
A brief history of the area can be
read at Brown
University's Petra site.
As a general rule: avoid the "camel
rides" offered by the fellows in front of the Khasneh.
<---back to Wadi
Musa city guide (the city near Petra)
<---back
to Jordanian City Index
