The Ancient City of Petra, Jordan

We returned to Aqaba Jordan on Thursday for the benefit of the new passengers to visit Petra, the Ancient City.

The site of Petra is a 2 hour drive from Aqaba and features massive tombs carved out of sandstone over 2000 years ago.

Fortunately we chose to do this excursion on this segment which proved to be the right one as those who did it last Monday, were frozen stiff by cold weather and it rained turning everything into a muddy mess due to the horse and carriages that are used to get those to the lost City for those that can't get their by foot. It is over 2.5 klms in and same out although the track is quite good, quite difficult terrain at times, some of it up hill. Once into the City there are horses, camels and donkeys all creating scenes of havoc.

The path is about 16 feet wide, yet features walls that tower more than 80 metres in height and takes you to Siq the official entrance originally served as a means of protecting the Nabateans, the Romans later used it to collect water. There are remnants of the 2,000 year old terracotta pipes that made up part of the vast water system used by the city of Petra.

Petra became a centre of the Nabatean culture and prospered as a centre of the spice trade, at one stage it is estimated the population swelled to between 10,000 and 30,000 people.

Eventually we reached the magnificent Treasury or Khazneh whose impressive red facade was used in scenes of the movie Indiana Jones. A massive facade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock face and dwarfing everything around it and representing the engineering genius of these ancient people.

We were overwhelmed by the natural beauty of the place and its outstanding architectural achievements. there are 100's of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings. 500 have survived, empty but bewitching as we filed past their dark openings. High above, overlooking the valley is the impressive Ad-Deir Monastery - a flight of 800 rock cut steps take you up there........no no no!!

Then further on to the impressive 8,000 seat Roman amphitheatre and Royal tombs.  these tombs are massive and very impressive and consist of the Vaulted Urn, Corinthian and three-story Palace tombs.  Archaeologists believe the Romans constructed the site in the 2nd Century.

In one of the most exciting discoveries in recent times, archaeologists working in Aquaba have unearthed what they believe to be the world's oldest building built specifically to be a church, which would date back to the 3rd to 4th century.

It certainly is one of the highlights we have seen so far and an awesome experience, so we arrived back at the ship around 5.30 pm very exhausted.