Let's carve a city!
so this past weekend we took a trip to Petra. it was amazing!! such a cool place full of history. and pictures don't do it justice.
Petra is an old city that's about a 2 hour drive south of Madaba, where we are staying.
Petra is also the area around which the Garden of Eden is said to have been located.
As you drive up to Petra, you can see a mountain called Mount Hor where there is now a memorial in honor of Aaron. Aaron, from the Bible is said to have been laid to rest here and i think i got a picture of the correct mountain. (one on the left) Deuteronomy 34.
so, we got to Petra about mid-day on Friday and entered the city. there's so much to see and you basically just pick a trail that you want to follow to the spot you want to see. before you get to the place where all the trails split up, everyone has to walk thru this 'gorge'--i'm not sure what else to call it. but you are surrounded on both sides by incredible mountains made of sandstone. the sandstone is mostly a red or orange color, but as you explore the city further, there are gorgeous shades of blue and purple and yellow and white. the city is centuries old (not sure what century BC) and there are magnificent carvings in all the sandstone, everywhere you look. most of these carvings are empty tombs and/or places of worship. the people who built Petra never actually lived inside, rather they lived outside the city 'limits' and traveled in and out. anyway, when walking, you pass thru the gorge and come to the famous place where Indiana Jones was filmed! it's call the Treasury. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, if you watch it, has a significant part taking place at this Treasury--take a look:
From there we took a trail up to a place called the Monastery. the walk was LONG and there were 800 stairs up to the Monastery but it was well worth the hike! the Monastery is 5 stories high (how did people carve such things back in the day?!) and you can see how tiny i look next to it.
From here we took another little trail to the 'end of the world'!! we saw signs for this and were completely curious to see what the end of this trail would contain...well you got to the top of a ridge and man, it might as well have been the edge of earth. it was incredible. again, pictures can do it justice but look anyway:
from this view you can see into Israel. (i'm not sure in which direction tho.)
an amazing day with amazing views. i also did some haggling with the local vendors and got a good deal on a couple fun things :) i also drank like 3 liters of water. it was hot.
Petra is an old city that's about a 2 hour drive south of Madaba, where we are staying.
Petra is also the area around which the Garden of Eden is said to have been located.
As you drive up to Petra, you can see a mountain called Mount Hor where there is now a memorial in honor of Aaron. Aaron, from the Bible is said to have been laid to rest here and i think i got a picture of the correct mountain. (one on the left) Deuteronomy 34.
so, we got to Petra about mid-day on Friday and entered the city. there's so much to see and you basically just pick a trail that you want to follow to the spot you want to see. before you get to the place where all the trails split up, everyone has to walk thru this 'gorge'--i'm not sure what else to call it. but you are surrounded on both sides by incredible mountains made of sandstone. the sandstone is mostly a red or orange color, but as you explore the city further, there are gorgeous shades of blue and purple and yellow and white. the city is centuries old (not sure what century BC) and there are magnificent carvings in all the sandstone, everywhere you look. most of these carvings are empty tombs and/or places of worship. the people who built Petra never actually lived inside, rather they lived outside the city 'limits' and traveled in and out. anyway, when walking, you pass thru the gorge and come to the famous place where Indiana Jones was filmed! it's call the Treasury. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, if you watch it, has a significant part taking place at this Treasury--take a look:
From there we took a trail up to a place called the Monastery. the walk was LONG and there were 800 stairs up to the Monastery but it was well worth the hike! the Monastery is 5 stories high (how did people carve such things back in the day?!) and you can see how tiny i look next to it.
From here we took another little trail to the 'end of the world'!! we saw signs for this and were completely curious to see what the end of this trail would contain...well you got to the top of a ridge and man, it might as well have been the edge of earth. it was incredible. again, pictures can do it justice but look anyway:
from this view you can see into Israel. (i'm not sure in which direction tho.)
an amazing day with amazing views. i also did some haggling with the local vendors and got a good deal on a couple fun things :) i also drank like 3 liters of water. it was hot.
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