Photo.
Marna stands in the front of some caves in the ancient city Petra. © Josh
Cutler.
Petra
The jewel of the Jordanian crown is undoubtedly the
mystical ruin site of Petra. Ancient nomadic Bedouins known as the
Nabateans carved massive monuments into the cliff face of the overhead
mountains. They rooted down in this section of Jordan due to its strategic
location. At the crossroads of the trade routes, all caravans from Rome,
Syria, Egypt, Persia and Greece bottlenecked through here.
Nabateans made their living as toll collectors, providing safe passage
through this foreign land. Nabatean culture was reflective of all their
influences and their art and architecture combines the best of Greco-Roman and
Assyrian. A modge podge conglomerate of east meets
west...
Spielberg liked the city enough to film the third Indiana
Jones movie here. Hollywood couldn't have dreamed up a more magical location
than Petra. Even the big screen doesn't capture the immense monstrosity of these
ruins.
Entering Petra is an adventure of Indiana Jones
proportions... Marna and I climbed on our horses and galloped toward the Siq
entrance. The Siq was a gargantuan split in the earth with towering walls,
stratified with layers of rose, tan and red. Petra, known as the "Rose City" was
famous for its scarlet sand. The kaleidoscopic colours appeared like the surface
of Jupiter, swirling levels of rock painted with Mother Nature's
palette.
The sound of galloping horse hooves echoed off the
overhead walls creating a revirbiration of clicking and clacking. A hypnotising
soundtrack to the swirling rock spectrum of orange and maroon.
Finally the Siq opened to
reveal The Treasury, a towering monument of man. Looming overhead like a desert
mirage, it was an oasis for the eyes.
Photos. The first
glimpses of The Treasury
in the ancient city Petra. © Josh Cutler.
 |
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| Photos. The Treasury in
its full pride, located in the ancient city Petra. © Josh Cutler. |
 |
Camel caravans and bedouin salesman hovered around us immediately selling
everything from camel/donkey transport to silver jewellery. "No charge for
looking, my friend" was their slogan here... Needless to say Marna made a
few purchases and worked her bargaining skills.
Photos. Camel caravan
in the ancient city Petra.
© Josh Cutler. |
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| Photo. The author, Josh Cutler enjoying the
company of some Dromedary Camels. © Josh Cutler. |
 |
The rose city was way too big to explore entirely on foot. We hired a
couple donkeys to take us the outer lying sites including the hidden jewel, The
Monastery. About an hour by foot and 30 minutes by donkey we ascended the 800
steps along the rocky terrain.
Donkeys wheezing and struggling beside the massive vertical drops, they
seemed to know the way... Unfortunately, they were very stubborn about walking
along the edge of the cliffs rather than the centre of the path.
We were the
only souls brave (or stupid) enough to make the quest...besides the local Bedouin merchants who stopped
to sell us trinkets along the way. Obviously they heard of Marna's shopping habits here
in Petra ... After our donkeys reached a point of exhaustion I
wondered how these young salesmen managed to make this climb every day in the hopes
of selling a bracelet or two...
|
We disembarked our beasts of burden (the best $6 we ever spent) and
turned the corner of the mountain on foot.
There it was...the Monastery, an incredible sand stone structure 300
feet tall and carved entirely out of a mountain face.
Photo. The Monastery.
© Josh Cutler. |
 |
|
Photo. The entrance to the Monastery. © Josh Cutler. Even
the doorway was 40 foot tall...just how big were these Nabateans?
|
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The great thing was to take in the moment
in total isolation...no tourists, touts or camel pushers. Just Marna, me and the
most impressive man made structure east of the Pyramids.
It
was the icing on our cake...or as they say here in Jordan, the honey on our
baklava...
The Exodus
The two of
us are safe and sound in the heart of old city Jerusalem and will return to
the States soon. We arrived at the Jordan/Israel border just as it opened. We
were thoroughly amazed with all the wonders of Jordan but were relieved to be
back on Israel soil...
Joshua Cutler, 18 November
2005
Additional information
Presentation of the author:
|
Photo of Josh Cutler, a great adventure traveller from USA.
©
Photo Copyright for all photos in this article: Josh Cutler.
E-mail address: NYCutler@aol.com |
 |
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Travel Explorations
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08402
609-822-1167 x 38
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