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Madaba, Highway Sites & Petra

Kings Highway

Tony Clemens
2005-09-01 19:04:21

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which allow a an overall view of Petra.

I don't want to get into a big description of all the sites at Petra since a guide book can do a much better job than I but I would like to mention some of the highlights for myself. After the Treasury a walk further along the Sig will lead to a theatre, while similar to the many Roman theatres in Jordan this was carved into a cliff face, not builted of stone blocks, and can hold 8500 people. You will also see many tombs carved into cliff faces. The best tombs along the east cliff are the Urn Tomb and Palace Tomb. The city centre was destroyed by an earthquake in the 8thcentury, like many areas in Jordan, but there is much archaeology being undertaken. Brown University is working on the 7000 square metre Great Temple and a Byzantine church has recently been uncovered and parts of the original Roman road is visible. Much of Petra city probably still lies under the sand. At the far end of the city centre is a small museum and a large Nabatean temple.

If you only have time for one hike at Petra make it the hike to the Monastery, the most impressive building at Petra, its about a hour hike from the museum and a climb of 220 metres. The views are also great. The facade of the Monastery is 40 metres by 40 metres and a local entrepreneur as set up a refreshment stand nearby inside a cave, the drinks are cold. Close by is a viewpoint of the Wadi Araba about 1000 metres below. The direction of the Wadi Araba is the direction of Israel, any local will tell you that on the other side of the border is where Israel has its nuclear weapons.

If you are in Petra at the right time another great way to visit Petra is Petra By Night which happens only once or twice a week. This trip happens after dark and the path along the Sig to the Treasury is lit only by candles.

Disaster Tourism?

What do I mean by disaster tourism? Basically visiting an area shortly after something horrible happened in the area since prices will be lower and the crowds thin. I have never planned a trip because of a disaster and except for delaying a trip to Hong Kong by several months since airlines were cancelling flights and countries were refusing to issue visas to Canadians because of SARS I have never cancelled a trip because of one. I visited Los Angles several months after the Rodney King riots, Peru after the Japanese embassy incident, Tanzania and Kenya after the American embassy bombings, Bali after the nightclub bombing and other incidents. While in Petra we meant up with an older British women who had just arrived from Taba, Egypt. About a month previous there was several bombings in Taba and other resorts in Egypt and she was deliberately visiting Taba because of the terrorist attack. She claimed to be the only guest in a 55 room hotel, she also said she visited Bali about 2 months after the terrorist attack there. I wonder if she has visited Thailand or Sri Lanke since the tsunami?

Its probably not a bad idea, wait a couple of months for the clean up, the heighten security to kick in and you can visit an area cheaper and free of other tourists and your business will probably be welcomed by most locals. July 2005 - anyone planning on visiting London?