|
Petra was the second excursion which we took in Taba and included a short boat trip over the Red Sea to Jordan. For this trip we ordered breakfast boxes from the hotel to guarantee that we wouldn't starve during the long journey. After we crossed the Red Sea we had a couple of hours on a bus over some mountains to Petra. As we entered the area surrounding Petra we were accosted by an army of locals peddling donkey and horse rides to take us down the main track from the visitor centre to the start of the city. As we were about to enter the cobbled path between the mountains and into the city our tour group witnessed how these people abuse their animals. A donkey drawn carriage was coming up out of the city and carrying two fat old people along with the driver. The donkey was obviously finding it difficult to walk and eventually stopped half way up the steep path; the local guy then proceeded to hit the animal to try to make it go further, the donkey tried and tried but just couldn't do it. In the end one of the old people got off the carriage and the donkey was able to slowly advance up the hill. To aid torturing the animal the Jordanian guy was pulling on a string attached to a ring through the donkeys' nose. It was really a disgusting show and it seems that the people here are indifferent to the animals suffering. I can only imagine how much worse it must get in summer for these animals. As we walked through the mountain path to the city there were lots of channels which navigated the entire length of the path to carry fresh water from the mountains to the city. These channels are long since disused and pretty much destroyed, but in some places there was still evidence of a few tubular pipes made of clay. The tombs at Petra are all very grand on the outside but when you go inside are a real disappointment... nothing like in Indiana Jones. Typically they have a large facia and then just a small cubic cavern behind the entrance which no decoration other than the patterns in the rock. In one of the larger tombs there was a group of Germans singing what sounded like Christian songs... There is a video below with a little bit of their singing in. The highlight of this tour was possibly where we were inside of the city and instead of following the path around; our tour guide took us off the beaten track and up one of the mountains. The mountain track took us past lots of small tombs, a recently dead goat and finally to a central point with a view of much of the city. As with the Jerusalem trip, one day just isn't enough time, even if you trek around the site. On the way back we had a long walk past all of the tombs and then a long walk up hill and out of city and back past the visitor centre. The walk was exhausting as it was all uphill and even though we passed many people offering us camel / donkey rides back to the visitor centre... out of principle we refused : - ) We walked this journey in February which is essentially their winter; in summer I think the donkey ride back would be the only option.
|
