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Petra

 Petra
Simon has been talking about Petra for a couple of years, but I just wasn't that excited about it.  We knew that it was one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.  Honestly, we thought it was just the Treasury building, and I didn't want to go that far to see one building carved out of stone.  Simon then started doing some research and found out just how extensive and amazing Petra is.  We found out that we could fly from London to Amman for cheap and then take a bus (about 3 1/2 hours) down to the Petra.  Simon kept telling me that we would of been kicking ourselves if we had left Europe, being so close to Petra, and not going to see it.  He was absolutely right.  Petra is probably the most impressive thing that I have ever seen.


Treasury
The treasury is the first thing you see when you enter the city.  You pass though a long and beautiful Siq to see this masterpiece.  It is protected from the elements because of where it is situated and is the most preserved building.  It is carved out of solid rock and the purpose of the building is a mystery.


 View from the Siq.  The Siq is a gorge that was created by water.  The Nabataens made a dam and channeled the water though the Siq on the sides so they could have drinking water.

Not sure what Conley is doing here, but we think this picture is hilarious.




Petra is full of caves to explore and our kids loved it.


 Behind Auburn are some of the homes.  Up until 30 years ago the Bedouins lived in these caves.  It wasn't until they were trying to preserve the site that they asked them to leave.  Bedouins still live in caves around the Petra area.


 We hiked up to the Monastery, one of the other famous buildings.  It was a good hike up and our little Auburn did the whole thing by herself.  It was exhausting for me, but well worth it.  Conley got a little help from Daddy's shoulders.


 This is the Monastery.  It is just a nickname, because they think that it was a temple to accommodate large numbers of people.

 


We spent two whole days in Petra exploring.  Simon spent an extra half day doing some hikes that were beyond our families level.  He hiked up to the  High Place of Sacrifice one day and got some amazing views.


Petra is an entire city that belonged to the Nabataeans.  Here you can see an overview of part of the city.

The Royal Tombs.




Comments

faith said…
Beautiful! Looks like it was a great decision to go. And I bet, when they're older, your kids are going to ask why you couldn't take them to all these amazing places when they were old enough to remember! :) What a neat opportunity you are having and I think it's wonderful that you are taking full advantage!
April 22, 2013 at 6:49 AM
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