Jordan - Petra (Chapter)

This is the Petra chapter from Lonely Planet’s Jordan guidebook.

It’s dawn. The path winds down towards the Siq, the dramatic rift in the land that leads towards the hidden city of Petra. The only sounds are the ringing of hooves on cobblestones as horse carts pass into the narrow gorge. The corridor of stone narrows and the cliffs cast long shadows across the sacred way. At length, the path slithers into sunlight and there, bathed in morning glory, stands the Treasury, a beacon of hope to the ancients and a promise of ‘wonderful things’ for the modern visitor. If this sublime experience isn’t sufficient inducement to visit Petra, then the magnificent spectacle of the ‘pink city’ tombs at sunset surely will be.

• tread the path of history by winding through the Siq, the sheer-sided chasm leading to an ancient world
• maps
• catch the early-morning sun slanting off the pillars of the Treasury, the sublime spectacle at the end of the Siq
• transport
• climb the processional way to the High Place of Sacrifice, pause for tea with the Bedouin and return to the valley floor through a garden of wildflowers
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: The Ancient City, Wadi Musa and Siq Al-Barid (Little Petra).