Jordan and the Lost City of Petra Part 1 - some background to this most memorable excursion

Yesterday in Aqaba and Petra in Jordan was the most full-on day I have experienced so far - about five hours travelling by bus from Aqaba to Petra and back, walking for several kilometres in the heat over sandy, rocky slopes with horses and carriages driven by Bedouins bumping their way past you at speed, and even a horse ride (who would have thought?).

Aqaba, Jordan’s busy seaport, reminded me of Muscat in Oman, only the rocky mountains surrounding it were much taller and a little more distant from the township. As was the case in Muscat, the dwellings were mostly 2-storeys with flat roofs on which you could walk. The buildings were mostly rendered in various shades of white, cream and brown. I noticed that quite a few had satellite dishes on the top and some had a large solar panel mounted at an angle to catch the maximum amount of sunlight. I did not see any high-rise towers. A very small number of hotels had maybe 8 storeys. I assume this restriction on height is a government policy, as is the case in Oman, though on our drive-through I did not see anything to match the grandeur of the opera house and Grand Mosque in Oman. That is not to say they do not have such buildings, though their guide did not mention them. They are very proud, however, of their Marine Sciences Centre and Aquarium, beautiful beaches and coral reefs which are a mecca for those who love diving and studying marine species.  

Again, while about 94% of its citizens are Muslim, like Oman Jordan also prides itself on being a very tolerant society. The people were very friendly and I would add that most were wearing western clothes - including the ubiquitous pair of jeans - with Arab headgear. I did not see any ladies in black. Although it is smaller than Tasmania, and much of the country is a vast chain of rocky mountains and plains with few inhabitants, mostly bare of trees and vegetation, we were told that there are about 9 million citizens. Of these, about 3 million are native Jordanians and the rest are mostly refugees - the majority of whom are from Palestine - who have settled there and have been freely given Jordanian citizenship. But this too is a country with an enlightened leader. 

The chief export of Jordan is phosphates, but now they have also discovered uranium. Tourism also plays a large part in its economy.   

Another source of pride in Jordan is its incredible history over thousands of years. It was here Lawrence of Arabia helped an Arab prince fight the Ottoman Turks, and through here Moses led his people from Egypt. But the piece of history that attracts so many tourists is the ‘Lost City of Petra’, which is the site of one of the most important ancient Arab kingdoms - that of the Nabataeans, who moved to this natural rocky fortress from Arabia about the 6th century BC. The story of their society is incredible, and their skill at ceramics and carving stone is legendary. Unfortunately they were conquered by the Romans in AD 106, who were only able to conquer them by cutting off their water supply, though evidence suggests they continued to flourish, albeit under Roman rule, until the city was partly destroyed by an earthquake in AD 363. The Crusaders then used it as an outpost but it fell into obscurity until it was discovered by a young Swiss explorer in 1812, who had searched for it for some time.    

The ruins were then was occupied by a particular tribe of Bedouins, who unfortunately destroyed anything that was not of value to them, leaving no trace of the skeletons that occupied the many burial caves, or of the tools, ceramics etc. of that ancient society. Eventually the Bedouins were moved out of the city about 30 years ago, so that it could be studied by archaeologists and used as a tourist attraction, but not before they struck a deal that they would be given land and money to build houses nearby, and that they would have sole right to sell goods and run the horses, camels, horses and carriages and donkeys at the site.  

My experiences at the site will be told in my next post. But I leave it to you to find out more about the amazing story behind Petra site.

Aqaba from the ship. Notice all our buses lined up for our shore excursions, in the foreground.

Glimpse of the township of Petra, from where we made our pilgrimage to the site of the 'Lost City'.

Near the start of our long hike into the Lost City. Notice the carved blocks and the long, long lines of visitors.