Thursday, May 17, 2018

2018 Eastern Mediterranean Trip - Petra Pictures

So here we go. One World Heritage Site coming up...missing all the joy of the never ending onslaught of locals trying to sell you something. However, I must admit that because we started early we missed most of the tour groups. They seemed to arrive later and we watched them flowing down the Siq (the entrance valley as we were leaving.

Making our long way down the Siq


The vast majority of what we see of note in Petra is tombs
Tombs, tombs everywhere is tombs




How did this civilization grow in such a dry climate?
One reason was they were experts at water collection and management

All along the walk through the Siq there are channels that are flowing water collected from outside into cisterns



These channels actually had clay pipes in them
This is a close up of a section of clay pipe still remaining. It is set in concrete and on the inside you can see the calcifying buildup because of the hard water
 Rock that looks like a face
 
Finally we gain sight of the entrance to the city itself

We arrive and see probably the most photographed building in Petra
It is called the 'Treasury'
It's not
It's a...
Tomb

 
 Time for a break
de-I shows he has gone completely native with his Jordanian coffee held jauntily
Our first scene of the PARTS
Petra Area Rapid Transit System
In other parts of the world this might consist of buses, trams and metros
Here it is camels, donkeys and horse drawn carts
According to her handler, this one, named Monica, was the Lamborghini of donkeys
I chose not to find out
 A full pictorial on PARTS



As we make our way in, the valley opens up and we see the monumental...
Tombs





 Finally we come to the site where people actually lived
Even though the Nabhateans were there own civilization, they came under the influence of Rome and were eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire.
So we have a main street like the Cardo with all the domestic buildings to the sides.
These have been much less restored and frankly after all the pictures taken at Jerash didn't think they were all that photogenic



A tired photographer
Not realizing she is not even halfway done
Flowers and tombs
AND
My Favorite Part of Petra
The truly beautiful (in my humble opinion) combination of natural beauty with man-made beauty









Let's say goodbye to Petra with a scene that is reminiscent of our ordeal climb to come to get back to the hotel
Tired Police resting in the heat




3 comments:

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Desert and hills and floor-sitting. My bones are aching in sympathy.

Bernice said...

Wow, that is a lot of rocks. It is amazing to see the country through your lens.

alexis said...

still amazing, it feels to me it lives up to the hype. the rocks are pretty!!