Our final day of hiking takes us into Petra proper. Following sandy tracks and a few camels down Wadi Ghurab, we pass the stone age village of Al-Beidha. Wherever we look now there are signs we are entering the heart of the ancient city. Following an old trading route, we arrive through the rarely used ‘Back Door’, but I still expect our reverie of solitude to be broken.
Unlike the tourist-congested main entrance, the back is completely empty. There are no gates, and only a small ticket office. After walking through wilderness and empty desert landscape, I approach our transition to rose-hued World Heritage territory with nervous anticipation. There is always the fear that that such a monumental site will not live up to the hype.
Skirting round the final mountain on a natural rock terrace, with vibrant red and pink-coloured cliffs tower above us like a melting sunset, the inevitable crowds begin to appear. Guides race past on donkeys to collect more tourists whilst yelling "no brakes" with perfect comic timing. Just beyond, we round a sharp bend and Ad Deir, or the Monastery, Petra’s largest monument, appears in front of us like a mirage. This unfathomable 147-foot-tall façade chiseled into the mountainside is all the more remarkable when we learn that it dates back to the first century BC.
Descending an easy, downhill route past canyons and sun-baked plains, we see the first signs of Petra’s mass tourism, something that had eluded us for the past four days. There is a real sense of pilgrimage entering Petra on foot. Petra is a marvel and the views and scenery you take in when getting here on foot are worth the blisters and sunburn. Wearily we continue along the ancient Colonnaded Street through the centre of the Ancient City. Too tired to explore, we simply exit past ‘The Treasury’ and though the famous ‘Siq’. Petra’s masterpiece can wait.
Despite a hot shower beckoning, it would almost be a crime to miss the oldest bar in the world. Occupying a 2000-year-old Nabataean rock tomb, the historic Cave Bar is where we choose to celebrate the end of our journey with a cold beer and some freshly cooked pub grub.
Descending an easy, downhill route past canyons and sun-baked plains, we see the first signs of Petra’s mass tourism, something that had eluded us for the past four days. There is a real sense of pilgrimage entering Petra on foot. Petra is a marvel and the views and scenery you take in when getting here on foot are worth the blisters and sunburn. Wearily we continue along the ancient Colonnaded Street through the centre of the Ancient City. Too tired to explore, we simply exit past ‘The Treasury’ and though the famous ‘Siq’. Petra’s masterpiece can wait.
Despite a hot shower beckoning, it would almost be a crime to miss the oldest bar in the world. Occupying a 2000-year-old Nabataean rock tomb, the historic Cave Bar is where we choose to celebrate the end of our journey with a cold beer and some freshly cooked pub grub.
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