Petra

This has been one of the best weeks so far. The beginning of this week went by painfully slow. I heard back from Kenyon College on Wednesday, which felt like forever, since I have been waiting for over a month and a half now. I was extremely nervous awaiting my reply, and finally on Wednesday at about midnight, when the Junior Fellows were all hanging out at a teachers apartment on campus my mom called with good news, I got my acceptance letter from Kenyon, which is my first choice! Getting the news put me in the best mood the rest of the week. The work week was the same as usual, lot's of busy work during the day, and boredom on the campus at night.

Besides my acceptance to Kenyon, the other thing that helped make my week perfect was my trip to Petra on Friday. It costs 50 JD to get into Petra without a residency card, and 1 JD with one, which I don’t have, but luckily the guards do not actually look at the picture on the card, so I was able to borrow one from another Junior Fellow here who was not going on the trip. It was almost a 3 hour drive to Petra down long roads surrounded my dry land. We finally arrived to the town outside of Petra, and got our first glimpse of the mountains. They are large, rocky, jagged and of a reddish brown color. The town however filled with palms, and large willow like trees that seemed like ones out of a Dr. Seuss book. After negotiating with the guards about prices, we were on our way to the entrance of Petra. Before to getting to the entrance, the road is lined with ruins, almost teasing tourists before they got to the city. 

The way into Petra is a single road about 6 meters wide, and the beginning of the canyon starts out at about 6 meters tall. Slowly the path twists and turns deeper into the red mountains, occasionally opening up into larger spaces, and sometimes closing to become only 3 meters wide. The mountain walls get taller and taller, weaving in and out, jutting out from the sides and above you, sometimes blocking the sun as if Petra is slowly capturing you in its spell. Horse drawn wagons raced by me on the eroded cobble stone floors, almost hitting the walls that were once lavishly carved with heroic imagery now fading into the red stone. Then, all in once, after about a half hour of walking, you get a small glimpse of the Treasury through the canyon walls. Jagged walls on either side frame a portion of the structure, and soon the path opens up into a large area dominated by the Treasury towering over you in all of its glory. I stood breathless. Tall corinthian columns, faded bas-relief, and a striking portico carved into the mountain made for one of the most overwhelmingly beautiful sights I have ever seen. After staring for a while, I was told to keep moving from friends because time was short, and we needed to trek our way up the 

The path to Petra

mountain to the monastery. 

On our way to the mountain we past countless facades craved into mountains, and walked by the ruins of a Roman temple on road that was once lined by columns. We began walking up the countless steps sculpted into the mountain, past Bedouins, merchants, donkeys, and tourists. After about an hour of walking up the mountain, we reached level ground, walked down a few steps and onto a large plateau in front of the monastery. The structure was less ornate then the Treasury, but equally imposing. We were able to climb inside the door, into the single room carved on the inside. It was a large, square room, with a large now plain arch mirroring the entrance that must have served as an altar. After a few minutes we jumped out of the room, and looked up to a sign on a higher mountain that read “Best View in Petra” so we made our way up that mountain, and up the tiny steps onto the peak. It was very windy at the top as we peered down at the monastery, and up at the mountains encompassing us. After absorbing all that there was to see, we journeyed down the mountain, taking the same path we took up. 

At the bottom of the mountain I was able to fulfill one of my goals I had made for the day - riding a camel. I climbed onto the saddle got as comfortable as one can on a camel, and the camel proceeded to lean forward, then back as it got its legs out from under it, and then all the way up, the ride was great. After meeting back up at the Treasury we walked back through the canyon, as the teacher on the trip explained different things about the Nabateans and Petra. I boarded the bus, and headed back to King’s, exhausted, and bewitched by Petra’s beauty. 

First view of the Treasury

 

The Monastery

From the top of the Mountain

The Monastery from the top of the