Day two began so
early, but with delicious omelets. The breakfast buffet includes an omelette chef
who makes your omelette to order from a range of wonderful ingredients. No
better way to start the day.
And then at seven we
gathered ready for our morning at Petra. This is the official website as well. It was
cool, and quiet, not many people yet. We were guided down the road by our guide,
Michel, towards Al-Siq, the narrow passage made so famous by Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade. We paused as we passed the Djinn Blocks
and Obelisk Tomb and the Bab
as-Siq Triclinium. At the entrance to Al-Siq was a Nabatean dam built after
devastating floods to prevent further flooding and to aid in the capture of
water that was then fed into Petra City down water channels.
We then entered the Siq, walking in the cool, stopping
for the statue of the Camel driver and camels, a Roman road and the admire the
water channels that brought water down into the city. We learned some of the
history and enjoyed the gentle down hill slope. We were then gathered on one
side of the Siq to look at something innocuous, and then Michel asked us to
cross over. Gasp! There was our first site of the Treasury. I took a video of
me walking down the Siq as the Treasury gradually appears. It is very dramatic
and cool.
The Treasury on Indiana Jones was a temple, but in reality,
it is a tomb. What you see is the elaborate facade to a not very deep “cave”.
This amazing carved edifice, and all the others we encountered as we walked
down to the amphitheatre, are all the tombs of very important people, mostly
rulers it is thought. From the Nabataean histories they are reasonably confident
at naming who several of the tombs were built to house in death.
We spent time exploring the Treasury and its
surroundings, filled with Bedouins selling souvenirs, food, drinks, and
offering camel, horse, cart, and donkey rides. Before we entered the Park,
Michel told us he would recommend some places for us to buy from while we were
in there mostly to stay in favour with the Bedouin stall holders. But he would not
buy from any of them. In the end we all bought something, if only drinks. It
soon became very hot, and by the time we left it was very crowded.
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| view from Urn Tomb |
At the amphitheatre, we had about 2 hours to explore.
Nearby were the tombs, and further down the road was the residential area of
the city. The Nabataeans were a nomadic tribe out of Arabia, who found this
place in a strategic crossroads for trade caravans. they settled here and built
wealth and power on the back of this trade. It is thought that the caravans
never came into this city, and were housed and watered elsewhere, nearer water,
and away for the main population.
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| Royal Tombs |
Petra itself remained hidden for a long time.
I took some photos of the main city area and then Bonnie and I climbed up into
the Royal Tombs. We stopped at a few of the souvenir stores. At one Bonnie
bought jewellery, and we were invited to share mint tea with them. In the
distance was the newish town the Jordanian government had built them with
power, sewage, and running water. Many missed living in the caves in Petra, but
it was either live in the town or leave. So, they lived in the town and worked
in Petra. I bought art painted by a boy with health issues, sold by this woman.
It is a Bedouin in front of the Treasury and sits on my wall.
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| roof of Urn Tomb |
Bonnie and I had fun climbing up and exploring the Royal
Tombs. The views are amazing. It was only as I looked at my photos that I
realised what a climb it was back up to the Treasury and back out up the Siq.
The Urn Tomb had been used as a church and had little alcoves caved into the
back. The colouration on the rock is stunning. And the lighting through the
entrances just added to the whole thing.
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| Crowded entrance to Al-Siq on the way out |
While buying my painting I lost Bonnie. I spent some time
looking for her in case she was waiting for me somewhere. She wasn’t.
Eventually I had to trust she had left, and with less than an hour to go I did
a very brisk walk back up to our meeting point at the visitor centre. The hardest
bit was getting into the Siq. The entrance was crowded with new arrivals
stopped in wonder. So, I tried coughing to get people to move aside with little
success. In the end I
just coughed and barge my way back into the Siq. I needed
a cold Fanta when I got back and had a little time to explore the visitor
centre and some of the history and art including the famous gravestone head
art. My other option for the painting was this, and I wish I had got that, but too
late for buyer’s remorse.You can find my Facebook photos I put up at the time here.
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| Seven Pillars of Wisdom - Wadi Rum |
After an amazing buffet lunch at a local restaurant
including a vast array of salad bars, meat bars and dessert bars, all of which
required tasting (well, not so much the salad bar) we headed off way down south
to near the Red Sea and the Saudi border, to Wadi Rum. This was where Lawrence
of Arabia and Faisal I bin al-Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi leader of Arab Revolt fighting
the Ottomans in WW1 made their base. This revolt was launched by Sharif Hussein of Mecca at the invitation
of Great Britain and France in return for Arab independence at the end of the
war.
“Sharif Hussein’s objective in undertaking the Great Arab
Revolt was to establish a single independent and unified Arab state stretching
from Aleppo (Syria) to Aden (Yemen), based on the ancient traditions and
culture of the Arab people, the upholding of Islamic ideals and the full
protection and inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities. Arab nationalists
in the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Peninsula found in the Hashemite
commanders of the Great Arab Revolt the leadership that could realize their aspirations,
and thus coalesced around them.” (http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_arabrevolt.html)
That promise was not kept, but his sons did become the
first kings of Iraq and Transjordan. The Hashemites kings of Jordan continue
today. But it is a very messy story and the consequences of European empire building
after WW1 continue to be played out today.
Wadi Rum played an important role in the revolt. It is where
the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” was filmed, and Lawrence’s memoir “7 Pillars of
Wisdom” is named after a rock formation seen as you enter this desert.
This is a very different desert from the Judean
Wilderness. This is sand with rock formations rising out of that sand. We
climbed into 4-wheeled drives and drove through this sandy wilderness with an
army of other 4-wheel drives in front and behind. We stopped for ancient graffiti
at on ancient trader’s caravans stopping point. We climbed another rock
formation which gave great views of the Wadi. I discovered that people have not
walked on sand before, a strange notion for any person from Aotearoa. I knew to
walk in the footsteps of those who had climbed before me. But one of the
Americans did not know this, but watched me and learnt. And then I ran down the
soft sand bouncing and running in a way I have not done for years. O the joy!
We stopped where the hidden camp of the revolt is thought
to have been. It had a rock with both Lawrence and Emir Faisal’s faces carved
into it. Some say Lawrence created these. I had my photo taken next to Lawrence’s
carved face. In the 7th form I played the Ottoman General had
Lawrence raped to break his spirit and break the revolt. Sorry.
We stopped where the hidden camp of the revolt is thought
to have been. It had a rock with both Lawrence and Emir Faisal’s faces carved
into it. Some say Lawrence created these. I had my photo taken next to Lawrence’s
carved face. In the 7th form I played the Ottoman General had
Lawrence raped to break his spirit and break the revolt. Sorry.
Great hilarity. And then the food comes out:
meat, veges and rice cooked on rocks – a Bedouin hangi! We moved to the dining
room for dinner. Delicious. And maybe a little unsafe? More about that in the
next post.After dinner the Bedouin
staff put on a show of dances, getting others up to join them. It was a warm and
clear night. A great end to an amazing day.
You can find my Wadi Rum photos on Facebook here.
Being in Petra was
such a privilege. It is amazing, the story of it is so rich and yet so many
know nothing about it. I was so glad Michel took us early, beating the heat and
the crowds. And going to Wadi Rum was such fun, linking me back to 17-year-old
me playing my wee part in the school play. A day I am reminded of each time I
look at the Bedouin on my wall.
The Treasury on Indiana Jones was a temple, but in reality,
it is a tomb. What you see is the elaborate facade to a not very deep “cave”.
This amazing carved edifice, and all the others we encountered as we walked
down to the amphitheatre, are all the tombs of very important people, mostly
rulers it is thought. From the Nabataean histories they are reasonably confident
at naming who several of the tombs were built to house in death. 
Wadi Rum played an important role in the revolt. It is where
the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” was filmed, and Lawrence’s memoir “7 Pillars of
Wisdom” is named after a rock formation seen as you enter this desert.
Great hilarity. And then the food comes out:
meat, veges and rice cooked on rocks – a Bedouin hangi! We moved to the dining
room for dinner. Delicious. And maybe a little unsafe? More about that in the
next post.
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