July 10, 2009

• Road to Jordan: The Red Rose City

  Morning dawned, and our group of brave explorers ventured down the same route we had taken the previous night to enter the fabled Red Rose City in the light of the morning sun
   
  Well in advance of the entrance to the city proper stands this tomb. Like the rest of Petra, it is carved straight out of the cliff itself. In fact, Petra means "rock" greek.
  
  The entrance to Petra requires a 3kilometer (1.5 mile) walk through the Siq, a narrow, naturally formed sandstone canyon whose walls tower above you. See how tiny we are?
  
  The sheer scale of the surroundings is indescribable. It is unreal enough that nature created this pathway, but to think that there is a city hidden at the end of it? And those sharply defined horizontal lines you see toward the bottom of the cliff? Those are man made irrigation channels to carry water all the way to the city. Every house in Petra had running water thanks to the Nabateans irrigational talents, and it was that skill that made their desert city an oasis, and eventually, one of the 7 new wonders of the world
  
  From one angle, this rock appears to be a fish, swimming happily in the Siq
  
  Until you walk in front and realize it is, in fact, an elephant on a neverending caravan
  
  Speaking of caravans, a close inspection of the cliff will reveal a man leading a camel to the city. A universal signpost perhaps? Can you tell him how to get to Sesame Street?
  
  
  Just up ahead, and obscured in the harsh glare of the morning sun, the final bend before the entrance to ancient Petra
  
  Welcome to Petra, The Red Rose City of the ancients.
  
  The Road to Jordan has been long and arduous, but Indiana Josh and Short Round have persevered through countless trials to reach this point, to behold this wonder of the world. Come explore it with us, and see what mysteries we can uncover along the way...
  
  That narrow crevice is where the Siq exits into Petra proper...hard to believe a modern city lies on the far side, isnt it?
  
  The treasury, carved top down straight from the cliffs, and made famous as the resting place of the holy grail in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, is the first building that greets your eyes upon entrance to the city.
  
  If Indiana Jones can find a grail with hokey 90's special effects, there's no reason Indiana Josh shouldnt be able to track one down in the REAL city. Let's gather up my trusty pack animal and set out to explore!
  
  How many of you were expecting a picture of Short Round when I referenced my pack animal? Shame on you, he is my sidekick and used mainly as a decoy for danger, not a beast of burden.
  
  Petra is a city of the dead crammed to overflowing with the living. The majority of the edificies you espy in the succeeding pictures are mausoleums and charnel houses. And since the method of construction in ancient Petra was to carve from the top down, there are countless more tombs hidden beneath the entire city, waiting to be uncovered by future generations
  
  Let's take a look inside one shall we?
  
  Who knows what evils could lurk within these tombs?
  
  It's quiet as a crypt in here...and why are all these graves open?
  
  OH NOES! THE MUMMY HAS FINALLY TRACKED ME DOWN!

  Heh, just kidding, folks, no need to worry. Indiana Josh is not so easily defeated, especially not by anything with zombielike properties. Let's get out of this tomb and up to higher ground , shall we?
  

  
  
  Short Round and I made it up the cliffs with minimal danger and found a cave leading further into the mountain
  
  A Pleasant Peaceful Petra Panorama
  
  From the top of the hill, we could see clear to the coliseum, the first structure we had seen in the city NOT built for the dead. Carved out of the mountain like everything else in Petra, it could supposedly accomadate 7000 people. Dont think it is big enough...take a good look at how high up we are..see the tiny camels and people? Yeah, it's that big
  
  The steps above led to an area called the temple, at the end of the market street
  
  We continued on our way, climbing ever higher
  
  Not every resident could afford fancy tombs such as those we saw earlier...some just cut holes into the rock and tossed their dead into the DIY catacombs. However, the sandstone of Petra was not only handy for burial purposes, it also contained a variety of colors
  
  Being students of the waste not, want not school of thought, the Nabateans took these natural rock pigments and made makeup from them. Cant imagine how that would look? Hey Short Round, c'mere a sec...
  
  Doesnt that yellow eyeshadow just scream elegance?

  Leaving behind the caves, off in the distance we spied the three grandest tombs of Petra
  
  
  
  However, we decided to continue our journey onward and upward to the monastery,  before returning to the dwellings of the dead.

  Join us next time as we climb the 800 steps to the monastery and unlock one of mankinds greatest treasures...

  • 1:53 am
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