Petra Jordan: Beyond The Treasury

Five camels dressed in geometric patterns wait next to Petra’s Treasury – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

 

Five minutes from hotels, restaurants and taxis eager to offer their services sits a corral of Arabian horses. As you walk past, the ‘real world’ still fresh in your mind, taxi drivers suddenly turn from uniformed men guiding their steel chariots over paved streets to those of a more natural appearance. Unlike their licensed counterparts, these men range in age from as young as twelve to as old as eighty, offering to share their own taxi in the form of four-legged friends who trot along as their leaders encourage them down cobblestone streets laid by Ancient Romans.

The suspense builds as you weave through rose-hued canyons and peer into dark caves, forever damp and musty. The cobblestone clashes with the gallant trots of Arabian horses and the slower steps of donkeys well-worked. As time passes, your sight becomes more refined and you begin to notice details previously masked by the canal’s grandiose appearance. A rock decorated with windows, doors, and columns takes on the appearance of a building likened to the White House. A shadow cleverly hides a carving that seems to resemble a mermaid (or maybe that’s your mind and extreme liking for the beings that creates the image). Four mounds no larger than your purse and one taller figure are at eye level. The four mounds are feet, and the taller figure, the bottom half of a man. Together, they represent what is left from a camel caravan and its shepherd once crafted into the rocks as part of a story older than you can fathom.

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Standing atop a rock looking over Petra’s Valley and Wadi Musa – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Reliefs are carved into mountains and cliffs all around Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Monastery El Deir – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Natural Stone Steps of Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

One of the locals, Lost of Petra, takes me on a hike with bedouin whisky (tea) to see The Treasury from above – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra Treasury and Tourists from above – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Ampitheater as seen from above – purposeful stairs mimic the stone’s natural layers – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Lion Triclinium is off the main path and requires a bit of scrambling to reach – it’s a welcomed detour and peaceful place to visit – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Siq – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Ampitheatre – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

 

A short distance away stands a religious site where couples would stand, hold hands, and gaze into each others eyes; this quick succession of events locking them into eternal matrimony. A couple pauses to dip into the small inlets, then unknowingly performs the ceremony under guidance of their tour leader. They laugh and joke with each other “If only it had been that easy!” You share in the laugh and stop for a few moments to listen to their Venezuelan love story.

Continuing through the Siq, the naturally formed pathway that Indiana Jones himself once raced along, you twist and turn and admire and wonder, ‘When will it appear? Is it really here?’

Then it happens. The cliffs suddenly become dark as Al Khazneh appears. Through a vertical crack extending sky-high, you see before you a smooth slate reflecting the sun’s early morning light. The iconic camel is indeed sitting in the foreground, its legs outstretched and double humps adorned in bright carpets to make an eager tourist’s ride less bumpy and more comfy. Just a few more steps and you are forcibly stopped. No way can you walk any closer as a structure so grandiose looms in front of you. The Treasury. It is exactly how you pictured but nothing like you imagined. In your mind, this is Petra. A narrow path leading to a cul-de-sac where a large carved-out building has sat since 400 B.C.

My, my, mind. How wrong you were. The Treasury itself is a monument well worth the hours you drove from Amman and the half hour you just spent walking from the entrance and through the Siq. Yet the true treasure is still to come.

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Thumbs up for a peak of sunshine in Petra! – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

View of Petra’s valley near the Monastery – by Anika Mikkelson – MissMaps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Up close to the Treasury in Petra – with a silly looking fella nearby – Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Two men and three horses race past the Obelisk Tomb and the Triclinium in Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

View of the main grounds, the Royal Tombs and Wadi Musa on the way to Petra’s high point – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

A bedouin man walks along an otherwise deserted path in Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

A bedouin in Nikes walks in a desolate area of Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

A small herd of goats high in Petra’s mountains – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

A bedouin woman in Petra sells dolls made by her mother, and purchased by me 🙂 – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

When you gotta go, you gotta go – might as well pick somewhere with a view! – Squatty Potty in Petra – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

A Venezuelan couple demonstrate marriage rituals of ancient Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Close up of the Treasury in Petra – high above the entrance, this is where the real treasures were stored – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Camel feet and the shephard carved into stone along Petra’s Siq – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

 

After pausing to regain your composure and admire those colorfully decorated camels standing beside their donkey friends, you continue walking into a world you never before knew existed. Beyond the tourist stands and Bedouin tea huts stands a mountain range of caves both natural and hand carved. The Roman influence is shown in not only the streets but also the towering columns marking entrances into some of the most exquisite buildings the Nabatean Empire ever did see.
Centuries old steps lead to the highest peaks, from which you can see how expansive and detailed the previous colonies were when they piece-by-piece built their homes. There are statues and mountain gardens, an amphitheater and church. At the far end of the day’s path you find a daunting stairway, 800 steps tall. The weary traveler may ask for a donkey or horse to carry him up but you opt to walk, keeping in mind that if your own legs don’t want to carry your body weight, another animal surely would not delight in that possibility. Hiking up the seemingly never-ending stairs is the best decision you’ve made all day, for at the top stands a building that could crush your memories of The Treasury. It’s bigger and badder and …wow…

The Monastery greets you with a huge smile and you reply with wide eyes and a mouth hung slightly open in disbelief. As a reward for all your hard efforts, you sit down to a steaming cup of Bedouin tea and gaze at the Monastery, along with its neighboring view: one that extends past desert rose mountains stretching far enough to become one with the sky. Being nestled into high mountains, Petra’s main attractions see an early sunset. You make your way down the steps and explore even more caverns and caves which decorate the rocks. Just as you reach the bottom, Bedouins encourage you to travel once more to high grounds. This time, to watch as the shadows begin to play with the red rocks and the sun begins to hide in a distant corner. After a full day of hearing these same voices requesting ‘Donkey? Taxi? Ferrari?’, you’ve learned to ignore their calls. Unlike the other suggestions, this encouragement to head back up and catch the sunset should not be taken lightly.

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Donkeys and Camels lay down for a rest after a long day in Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Costumed soldiers performed just outside of Petra’s Siq – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

If you get to Petra later in the day, you’ll be met with many more crowds than early on – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

I ran into some friends from Amman just as I was leaving Petra. We three shared a coat to keep warm – Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

I may or may not have caught two donkeys in the act in Petra…but am keeping this PG – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Horse Carriages take visitors through Petra’s Siq – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Enjoying Arabic Coffee at the base of Petra’s Monastery ‘El Deir’ – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Necklaces for sale from bedouins hang on a twisting tree near Petra’s High Place – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Costumed soldiers march from a tomb in early morning hours at Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Desert plants try to grow in Petra – some find success – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Fallen Columns at The Great Temple of Petra with the Royal Tombs in the background – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Columns still stand at the Great Temple of Petra – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Camel feet and the shephard carved into stone along Petra’s Siq – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Camels relax in front of Petra’s Treasury in the early morning light- by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Camels and Petra’s Royal Tombs – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Bedouin Men and donkees relaxing on a cliff above Petra and Wadi Musa – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

 

Fifteen minutes of easy climbing (remembering that you just climbed up and down 800 steps makes anything  seem easy at this point) leads you to a perch in front of another beautiful tomb. Here you will find a large platform sprinkled with a handful of tourists who also took the advice of Petra’s own community members. If you’re open to a conversation you’ll get to hear a backstory of their Yemenis roots, learn of the relationships between each of them, and the process in which they secure the goods and knowledge shared within Petra’s gates.

You plaster on a sincere smile and prepare to meet Mohammed of the Mountain, a man well into his sixties clothed in a traditional dishdasha. The eldest of seventeen children, he is ready to tease about taking you in as his wife. You gracefully decline than grimace with other tourists as he coerces them into his same master plan. The marriage arrangements are quickly made and it is decided which cave they will live in and with what his new wife will find to occupy her time during the day. Your new pals decide upon a mountain-top ceremony in celebration. It will be a barbecue style ceremony overlooking Petra’s Treasury. Just as the blushing subsides you hear him whisper to the man in his twenties sitting beside you, “Now don’t let this reach home.”

You all breathe a sigh of relief as the whisper confirms that he’s already got a leading lady waiting for him at home. Quick clears the picture they had painted in your mind of wearing animal hides, riding donkeys into town, and turning those fuzzy locks into more manageable dreads. In his comedic mannerisms worthy of Hollywood spotlights, Mohammed of the Mountain assures you that Lost, the twenty seven year old man seated next to you, will take you to the mountain-top barbecue despite lack of a ring or commitment to stay in Jordan for the rest of forever.

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Making Friends in Petra Jordan – Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Pure smiles with other tourists and bedouins during sunset at Petra – Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Mohammed of the Mountains and Lost of Petra along with his cousin humor tourists at Petra’s Royal Tombs while waiting for sunset – by Anika Mikkelson – MissMaps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Petra’s Royal Tombs with bedouins sitting above – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

Tourists relax on the edge of a cliff outside Petra’s Royal Tombs at Sunset – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com

 

Lost, Mohammed of the Mountain’s much younger brother, is incredibly giggly and social. Alongside his brothers and cousins, the mountains are used as their home and their school. They are some of the most insightful, well educated young men you will meet on this journey. They know the land inside and out, the history, the layout, the hidden caverns, and ‘shortcuts’.

Repeatedly, they will assure they they are not your friend because they want to have your money as a parting gift. They are your friend because they are in love with their home and hope you will leave feeling the same passion for Petra.

If you are truly dedicated to this adventure and are looking to learn what’s hidden beyond the pages of a book and past Indiana Jones’s iconic Treasury scenes, you will be amazed at what you find. Petra’s winding valleys and caverns swirling with golden rose hues are enough to transport you to another dimension, even if only for a day or two. Listen to the locals. Learn more, see more, hear more. And be sure to come back, as tomorrow promises yet another cliff-scrambling surprise as you climb to the highest heights to view The Treasury from above.

Petra Treasury and Tourists from above – by Anika Mikkelson – Miss Maps – http://www.MissMaps.com