Petra - A Gem in the Middleeast

For most Indians, Jordan is an undiscovered country despite being spectacular. Surprisingly, not many Indians visit this country. I don’t know the reason but the obvious reason might be its proximity to Israel/Palestine which is seen as a volatile region. But then it happens to be the safest & the most stable country in the region. Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was definitely a country I wanted to visit and Petra was the main attraction.

I visited Jordan with my wife on our return trip to India from United Kingdom. We took Royal Jordanian Airlines from London Heathrow and took a 2 days stopover before we continued our journey to Mumbai, India. We applied for a visa at the Jordanian embassy in London. Royal Jordanian is a wet airline when it flies from London Heathrow to Amman.Since we had a visa the immigration was smooth. However, I still remember the immigration officer going through all the pages on my passport in detail. He also took my passport to a senior officer and they were discussing something in Arabic for a long long time. I knew that Jordan had a friendship treaty with Israel and Egypt. So even if one had stamps of those countries it was not an issue. I was wondering why it was taking so much time for the officer to stamp my passport. Finally, he gave an immigration stamp on my passport. My wife’s immigration went smoothly.

On the way to Petra through the Desert Highway

We checked in at the Amman Airport Hotel which was just 2 miles away from Airport. The hotel is really nice and Royal Jordanian airlines don’t charge you anything for it provided you have a connecting flight in next 2 days. I really do recommend anyone who's traveling to stay at Amman Airport Hotel. Arabic is the official Language in Jordan and vehicle driving orientation is left hand. I was not sure how Jordan had a left hand driving orientation since 80 years back it was once a British colony!!!

We started our next day early at 5 am. Three highways connect Amman with Aqaba: the Dead Sea Highway, the King’s Highway and the Desert Highway. With the exception of the blazingly quick Desert Highway, each of the highways takes a full-day’s drive if one doesn't stop at the sights. We took the desert highway to reach Petra within 3 hours from Amman. The city of Petra and is located about 250 km south of Amman, the capital of the Kingdom Jordan, to the west of the main road that connects the city of Amman and Aqaba Gulf of Aqaba coast of the Red Sea. By more than two thousand years ago Arab Nabataeans came from the Arabian Peninsula and took their own place in Petra. Given impregnable location that was easy to defend, it became a Nabataeans fortress. Petra certainly bears the stamp of nomadism.

Petra Visitors Centre

Petra is one of the seven wonders of the modern  world and and other highlights of Jordan includes the Wadi Rum. The site is amazing - be prepared for a long walk and take comfy shoes. There is an option to purchase a carriage into the site (20JD). The entrance price is high in itself (100JD) but worth every penny.The treasury is breathtaking, and many of the colors of the rocks in the many tombs are truly amazing. Nevertheless, it is a spectacular setting with intricate and refined stonework.

Sunrise at Al Khazaneh 

Al Khazaneh - One of the Seven wonders of the World

The Siq opens suddenly onto Petra's most famous monument, Al- Khazaneh, known in English as the Treasury. Al-Khazaneh became extremely famous after the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which stars two of my favorite actors, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. The most recent Bollywood movie to be shot in Jordan  is ‘Krrish 3′ (Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra). The song ‘Dil Tu Hi Bataa’ was shot in Petra.The highlights were the first sight of the treasury from the Siq, the Place of the High Sacrifice and the walk down from the Place of the High Sacrifice past the Garden Temple and the Soldier Tomb.

From the Siq to the Treasury & beyond, you can't help but admire the ability of the Nebateans to carve this magnificent city. Make sure you take the 800 odd steps up to the monastery as it is possibly even more amazing than the Treasury. 

Purva ensuring we take the correct route

It is a huge complex and even two days with lots of walking did not cover everything as there are so many historic monuments. 

We took a Camel's  Ride to reach the Palace of High Sacrifice

  Although it is a very long walk to reach the treasury through a winding canyon this exceeds all your expectations before you reach it.There are horse drawn buggies and ponies that can be used but you can't beat the walk down, that was an experience in itself.

2 Hours of Trekking to reach Monastery

It’s almost embarrassing to "rate" and "review" a site like Petra, so let me just say that Petra is impossible to overrate: I would only recommend that you add a serious hike to the "cultural" tourism, because Petra is truly rewarding. Jordan has other reasons to visit, but Petra by itself is well worth it! I have visited many over hyped locations, cities in the world. Petra will always be the most exotic location in my top 5 places to visit. According to me, Jordan will be undoubtedly one of the most westernized and liberal countries in the Arab World. The ones who visited Petra will always say that it is a site that can never be forgotten.