Jordan: Petra

Our next stop after Wadi Rum was Petra, somewhere I had been before on a day trip from Egypt, but hadn't explored as much as I would have liked to. The drive took around two hours hours to Wadi Musa, the town where Petra is by, but first we made a detour to Little Petra.

Located five miles from Petra, you can hike from there to Petra's Monastery (Ed-Deir; pictured above), if you so wish. We were at Little Petra to kill a bit of time before we could check into our hotel, and spent about 45 minutes there. That's more than enough time though to see this small Nabataean site, which is thought to have been a suburb of Petra. And, like Petra, it dates back thousands of years. 

Petra though is the main draw of the town. And if we thought parts of Wadi Rum were busy, we knew Petra was going to be so much more crowded. Which is why we stayed at the Movenpick Petra as it's directly across from the entrance of Petra so we could be there when the site opened at 6.30am without needing to get up ridiculously early. 

    

It's worth an early start though to enjoy Al Khazneh (The Treasury) without the crowds, though you've got about a mile to walk from the visitor's centre, through the Siq, until you get there. Unlike Little Petra, it's not free to visit - we had a two-day ticket included with the Jordan Pass (which also got us free entry into places elsewhere in Jordan, plus our visa was free as we were in Jordan for more than four nights. It was 5JOD difference between a one-day ticket into Petra versus a two-day ticket, although we ended up doing just one day).

So, what did we do at Petra? As much as we could! And one of the first things we did was head for a better view of The Treasury which, yes, does involve a lot of steps but is worth it for the view. I did find this one to be the most tiring slog, but the view ends at a Bedouin tent with the sign "The most beautiful view in the world". Here you can buy a drink for around 2JOD (it's expected you do), take a seat and recover with a stunning view.

Follow signs for the Al-Khubtha Trail to get there, and you'll pass by a collection of tombs - the Urn Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the Palace Tomb, sometimes referred to as the Royal Tombs - see a great view of the amphitheatre and the ruins of the Great Temple, plus you might bump into some goats. From the point we left the Royal Tombs to the drinks tent, it took us about 40 minutes. Mostly walking up steps. It's quite the view though, isn't it? 

The next trail you have to make sure you do is the one to The Monastery. This time round I counted and I reckon it was 808 steps to get there which, again, took us about 40 minutes. But! If you want to get an even better view of it from above, you're going to need to head up another 150 steps. Worth it though! When I was there in 2009 you could go in the Monastery and the Treasury but today you're not allowed so admiring from a distant height is the best way to take it all in. 

Which is why you need to make sure you take the High Place of Sacrifice trail as you can explore inside the tombs there but also see where the Nabataeans made animal sacrifices at the top of Jebel Madhbah. Also, it's a really cool trail that not many people do. We saw maybe half a dozen people during the 1 hour 45 minutes it took us.

We started the trail by the ruins of the Great Temple which meant we finished it closer to the Treasury, and therefore were closer to the hotel! Walking down the Siq back towards the hotel though was quite the effort after all that walking - and all those steps! We spent 10 hours in Petra, walking a total of 29km and climbing up the equivalent of 260 flights of steps!! So I definitely saw a lot more than when I was last there in 2009.

     

And there were some interesting differences between visiting then and visiting in 2023. Firstly, the fancy new visitor's centre and museum was not there. But, the most noticeable thing was the difference in the behaviour of the Bedouins. Last time they were quite aggressive, screaming and demanding money, whereas now they offer something for money - whether that's a drink, a souvenir, or to take you to a great photo spot. 

We had an amazing time exploring Petra, and I was so happy to share this experience with Olly. And I was super glad our hotel was directly opposite the entrance because we were shattered! Worth it though. x