Petra one more time

The walk through the Ciq during Petra by night last night was magical. In the morning, the rocky walls showed off their true colors of red, deep orange and brown. It should have been one of the 7 wonders of the world. Awe inspiring. No words can describe it. I'm seeing many tombs, the same as I've seen before. But this time, we went even deeper into Petra and saw the residential area and, with temples and houses along the cardo, and made the climb up to the Monastery. It was even more impressive than the Treasury. After the climb of 900+ steps, i turned to the right and what I saw took my breath away. The Monastery façade was enormous and very very tall. The view from surrounding Nabatean hills up there was spectacular. All ochre hills and rocks all around. This was my favorite part of Petra. The valley floor was impressive enough but the Monastery façade was really something else. I sat there with a cup of mint tea and just gazed on the Monastery façade. Afterwards I've walked the ciq again to exit Petra. 22 years ago, I rode on horseback through the ciq. now they didnt allow horses on the ciq. So including the walk in and out the night before for Petra by night, I've walked the ciq a total of 4 times. It didnt get any less impressive each time. We had our dinner at the red cave restaurant just 1 minute walk from the hotel Petra Palace in wadi musa. The owner was a famous person maniac and his restaurant was filled with photos of famous writers, singers and political figures, such as che, henminway. We had the traditional jordanian cuisine of pita bread with hummus and other dippings, a dish of chicken, lamb and veggies. very tasty! The mint lemonade in jordan is out of this world! I had it every day.

the following day Moe took us for a trek that gradually went up to the high place of sacrifice, a different way to get into Petra. We scrambled among boulders and ended up on top of the Treasury where we could see the ciq from the top. It was a fantastic hike and a new view of the rose city. We descended back to the valley floor by the normal route, the same stairs that went up to the high place of sacrifice. I didnt much feel like walking the 1K Ciq again, so Jodi and I took the chariot. It flew down the Ciq in thunderbolt speed, and we felt every rock bump and jolt in our bodies. I've never felt so sore from any rides in my life. After 2 days of climbing, and a terrifying and uncomfortable chariot ride, I've decided on a Turkish bath, the only one in Jordan that have men and women separated. The 15 minutes steam bath almost knocked me out. The scrub was not hard enough and the massage minimum. Not the best Turkish bath but I felt clean and invigorated afterwards. As if the red rock tombs werent quite enough, I also did Little Petra. Not much there except the façade of a major tomb still had the Nabateans columns totally intact. The entrance into it was a miniature 200m long ciq. perhaps the best part of it was the quietness. Unlike Petra which was littered with tourists, little petra was tranquil and peaceful. One could really take the time and wander around without other people in your way. We went inside one water cistern and it was big and deep and filled with dirty water. It was dark and menacing. I got really scared inside it. But a memorable travel moment sitting in the terrace in front of my hotel room, with the almost full moon overhead, illuminating the red orange hills. it was quiet, bright and orange hills in front of me.

Petra photos: