Sleep has been pretty erratic as I’ve run into changing time zones, and now I am more than half a day ahead of Seattle time.  Alarm clocks weren’t needed as I was wide awake at the 5.15am stupid o’clock.

Going there and back to Petra in one day means 7 hours to fill on the bus.  Jett Bus takes you there and back for $30, so it seemed and was a great solution for me as an individual traveler.  Getting a car and driver is six times the cost.  Getting a full tour with transport times ten.

As we left Amman the city was starting its day in a growing hive of activity.  We ticked off the miles as the landscape changed. The greens turned brown, but the views were calm and the horizon flat.  Occasional towns cropped up and it was intriguing to wonder, what brought them here.  Miles from anywhere.

Halfway along the journey, we stop for a welcome break.  There are several places to eat, cafes, shops, and petrol stations along the route, and I was looking forward to a much-needed snack having skipped breakfast.  We stopped at, well I don’t even know, it was horrific, a store selling Oriental antiques and handicrafts.  Sad face.   I’m guessing our driver was on commission.

As we entered Wadi Musa, home of “The Lost City of Petra”, a new feel came along.  

A pleasant town leading to what lies ahead lies inside.  I have had Petra on my radar for some time,  Additionally, I learned about it a little more via differing sources, but one which got me more interested was “The Spice Trail’ show on ITV in England when Joanna Lumley visited Petra   

Located amid rugged desert canyons and mountains in what is now the southwestern corner of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Petra was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106.

The city sat empty and in near ruin for centuries. Only in the early 1800s did a European traveler disguise himself in Bedouin costume and infiltrate the mysterious locale. In 1985, the Petra Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it was added to one of the New Seven World Wonders, along with the Taj Mahal, Rome Colosseum, the Great Wall of China, joining Petra, and more.

Everywhere said it’s beautiful, will take your breath away and time will run fast.  On occasion, things are hyped and fall flat, but not Petra.  It was everything and more   It is and”it’s rightly a wonder of the world” and it is wonderful!  Which is not bad for a place that was built in the 3rd century!  How did they build this?

My hike through took 6 hours, and it passed in a blur. I didn’t stop for lunch and I drank water on the way.  It is early season, the weather in the 70s, but it felt 20 degrees more.  It wasn’t overly busy in the early season, and 
because of Petra’s size at times, you could find calm and peace.  

You are approached to take a donkey or camel ride to make life easier, but most visitors want to walk it all in.  There is so much to see.  That is until just after lunch, in the heat of the day, the relentless 850 craggy steps to the far away Monastery change tourists’ minds.  

I didn’t particularly like how the donkeys and camels were treated, but I’m guessing for here it’s normal, but it seemed a tough life for them.

I headed to the Monastery first, on great YouTube advice.  When I say first, you pass me through much, but the marathon mission is to get there,  It included photos and occasional meandering, but those testing 850 stairs up, around, and over were challenging.   I can understand why some people just don’t go that far.  On the way back from the Monastery I caught a misstep, so easily done.  Rolling my ankle badly.  After a moment or two I carried on going, but it was showing me how easily a misstep can make things precarious.

This slowed me down, but I didn’t want to be a hobbler carried on by the donkeys! Where’s the dignity in that   After some time I made it back to the Treasury again on the way back?  It would be remiss of me to gloss over the Treasury, wow, breath was taken away, both on the way in and the way out.  Glorious, doesn’t do it justice.

A quick bite to eat in Wadi Musa brought another Petra parody of sharing pizza with two cats and a dog. I’m not sure who ate the most!  Hobbling to the 5pm bus and headed back to Amman – the day flew by, but the long journey slowed the long day, but I’ll remember Petra for always.