Day 14 Hiking at Petra
As usual I woke up early in the morning. Having breakfast at the hostel then the boss of the hostel took me to Petra by his own car. It took only 5 mins to there for it was only 2km away.
It was still early, there were not much visitors around. I entered the gate to Petra with yesterday’s ticket. This time I looked at all sights very carefully because I’ve done some homework last night. So I could tell, of course roughly only, the stories behind most of the sights. The main different between the route of today and
yesterday’s, was that, before I reach the theatre, this time I turn south up the hill. Then I followed the steps kept going up and up and up to the High Place of Sacrifices. It took a good 45 mins to get there. From there I looked down to where I came from, the view was so nice. 2000 years ago the Nabataeans took their animals up there, as sacrifices for the heaven or their god. It makes sense that to communicate with the heaven; the best location should be the highest spot at the mountain.
On the way I saw many ‘seniors’ around. Most of them are in groups. They were quite well prepared. They are all equipped with things like hats, backpacks and hiking sticks and are dressed like hikers.
And I also saw groups of Japanese seniors walking around. As usual they were very disciplined. I also saw another group of Japanese seniors that they gathered in front of the theatre and sang beautifully. I reckon they are some sorts of choirs.
After reaching the top of the mountain, I turned north and went down hill. It took another 45 mins to do this. Since there were not much people choosing this route, so I was very cautious that I won’t go the wrong direction. However I found that the way was quite easy to find because when you walked not far away there must be a road side stall, very simple one, and selling souvenirs. Don’t worry, you won’t miss the way.
When I kept going down, in fact I was going to the other side of the hill. From there I saw tombs. The biggest one was the Soldiers’ tombs.
After the tombs there was a Garden Hall, I saw water features in front of the hall. A water reserve was built next to it. It’d even got an adjustable water outlet for the auto irrigation system. It was built 2000 years ago! All chambers like that, if I said ‘built’, I‘d rather say craved. I went into the garden hall; I found that I was inside a speaker box. Then I took out my harmonica. I played Spring Dream on Plain. The sound was transmitted to the whole garden. This sense was recorded.
Then I went back to where I climbed up hill. That was the first part of the hill hiking. When I went down to the street, I went on to see sights in more details. Local kids were following you selling pictures, pan flaps or postcards. Sometimes they asked for money. This recalled my memory that when I was a small kid, I saw elder girls and boys did the same thing to the Kwai Lo visitors or the US navy in Wanchai area. In HK they yelled one dollar, one dollar. In here they yelled one JD, one JD. See, we all came across this.
It’s lunch time, I ordered an sandwich, a fresh lemon juice and a coffee. It costed 7 JD to have this. I took a rest and did some study ready for the afternoon programme.
Half an hour rest was good enough to recharge myself. So I went on the rest on the street. It was the Roman temple and the Qasr an-Bint. 1st century AD, the Romans annexed Nabataeans as part of the Roman Empire . So they built in Roman style. I saw stack up columns, arches. However the city was destroyed in about 350 AD, probably because of a massive earthquake, or some sorts of climate change, or change of the trade route.
The high light of the afternoon was going up to the monastery. There was another 45 mins up hill to go there. This time I took a donkey to get there. This was the first time I was on a donkey’s back. It was quite ok when it was on level roads. When it was climbing up hill, it was not easy to sit on properly. The donkey was so strong that it could walk on steps, very steep roads or even on rocks. I had to hold onto the handle very tightly in order to sit on safely. Sometimes the donkey would walk along the edge of the cliff. Thanks God it didn’t slip, otherwise it would be a big big big trouble.
Riding on donkey’s back and going up hill, my words, definitely not a pleasant experience.
After jumping off from the donkey, I walked about 20 mins to the Monetary. It was one of the biggest monuments in this area. It was a huge thing. Then I went to the 2 view points to look down the surrounding mountains and deserts.
As I was going down hill, It was raining slightly. I went down hill with no problem.
When I went back to the entrance of Petra it was 4:30. I took a taxi and went back to the hostel.
After cleaning up myself and having a little rest, I went for my dinner. This time I tried another restaurant. I ordered a half chicken, rice and a coke. It was quite nice. It was quite a long time that I haven’t had rice. This dinner costed me 5JD. It’s cheap!
I am thinking of changing my plan a little bit. If possible, I will go to Amman tomorrow, instead of going there day after. If I can make it I will leave Petra tomorrow afternoon.
I will tell you later.
Cya.
Top The Roman temple
Middle Studying at lunch time
Bottom The theatre
As usual I woke up early in the morning. Having breakfast at the hostel then the boss of the hostel took me to Petra by his own car. It took only 5 mins to there for it was only 2km away.
It was still early, there were not much visitors around. I entered the gate to Petra with yesterday’s ticket. This time I looked at all sights very carefully because I’ve done some homework last night. So I could tell, of course roughly only, the stories behind most of the sights. The main different between the route of today and
yesterday’s, was that, before I reach the theatre, this time I turn south up the hill. Then I followed the steps kept going up and up and up to the High Place of Sacrifices. It took a good 45 mins to get there. From there I looked down to where I came from, the view was so nice. 2000 years ago the Nabataeans took their animals up there, as sacrifices for the heaven or their god. It makes sense that to communicate with the heaven; the best location should be the highest spot at the mountain.
On the way I saw many ‘seniors’ around. Most of them are in groups. They were quite well prepared. They are all equipped with things like hats, backpacks and hiking sticks and are dressed like hikers.
And I also saw groups of Japanese seniors walking around. As usual they were very disciplined. I also saw another group of Japanese seniors that they gathered in front of the theatre and sang beautifully. I reckon they are some sorts of choirs.
After reaching the top of the mountain, I turned north and went down hill. It took another 45 mins to do this. Since there were not much people choosing this route, so I was very cautious that I won’t go the wrong direction. However I found that the way was quite easy to find because when you walked not far away there must be a road side stall, very simple one, and selling souvenirs. Don’t worry, you won’t miss the way.
When I kept going down, in fact I was going to the other side of the hill. From there I saw tombs. The biggest one was the Soldiers’ tombs.
After the tombs there was a Garden Hall, I saw water features in front of the hall. A water reserve was built next to it. It’d even got an adjustable water outlet for the auto irrigation system. It was built 2000 years ago! All chambers like that, if I said ‘built’, I‘d rather say craved. I went into the garden hall; I found that I was inside a speaker box. Then I took out my harmonica. I played Spring Dream on Plain. The sound was transmitted to the whole garden. This sense was recorded.
Then I went back to where I climbed up hill. That was the first part of the hill hiking. When I went down to the street, I went on to see sights in more details. Local kids were following you selling pictures, pan flaps or postcards. Sometimes they asked for money. This recalled my memory that when I was a small kid, I saw elder girls and boys did the same thing to the Kwai Lo visitors or the US navy in Wanchai area. In HK they yelled one dollar, one dollar. In here they yelled one JD, one JD. See, we all came across this.
It’s lunch time, I ordered an sandwich, a fresh lemon juice and a coffee. It costed 7 JD to have this. I took a rest and did some study ready for the afternoon programme.
Half an hour rest was good enough to recharge myself. So I went on the rest on the street. It was the Roman temple and the Qasr an-Bint. 1st century AD, the Romans annexed Nabataeans as part of the Roman Empire . So they built in Roman style. I saw stack up columns, arches. However the city was destroyed in about 350 AD, probably because of a massive earthquake, or some sorts of climate change, or change of the trade route.
The high light of the afternoon was going up to the monastery. There was another 45 mins up hill to go there. This time I took a donkey to get there. This was the first time I was on a donkey’s back. It was quite ok when it was on level roads. When it was climbing up hill, it was not easy to sit on properly. The donkey was so strong that it could walk on steps, very steep roads or even on rocks. I had to hold onto the handle very tightly in order to sit on safely. Sometimes the donkey would walk along the edge of the cliff. Thanks God it didn’t slip, otherwise it would be a big big big trouble.
Riding on donkey’s back and going up hill, my words, definitely not a pleasant experience.
After jumping off from the donkey, I walked about 20 mins to the Monetary. It was one of the biggest monuments in this area. It was a huge thing. Then I went to the 2 view points to look down the surrounding mountains and deserts.
As I was going down hill, It was raining slightly. I went down hill with no problem.
When I went back to the entrance of Petra it was 4:30. I took a taxi and went back to the hostel.
After cleaning up myself and having a little rest, I went for my dinner. This time I tried another restaurant. I ordered a half chicken, rice and a coke. It was quite nice. It was quite a long time that I haven’t had rice. This dinner costed me 5JD. It’s cheap!
I am thinking of changing my plan a little bit. If possible, I will go to Amman tomorrow, instead of going there day after. If I can make it I will leave Petra tomorrow afternoon.
I will tell you later.
Cya.
Top The Roman temple
Middle Studying at lunch time
Bottom The theatre
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