This was my last morning in Petra, and Lonely Planet said I should visit very early and see the sun sliding down the front of the Treasury in the early morning. As I said in my earlier post, the Treasury is actually a tomb, but got its name from a legend that an Egyptian pharaoh had hidden his treasure there. I got up early, had a quick breakfast and was at the entrance to the Siq at 7am. Even though this was my sixth time traversing the Siq, the early morning walk down into Petra was very pleasant without the big groups of tourists or the horses. When I arrived, the Treasury was in shadow, so I went to admire Petra’s huge theatre in full morning sunlight before returning to grab one of the few benches facing the Treasury, and watched as the direct sunlight slowed slipped down its façade, successively highlighting different elements of its decoration – plinths, columns, human figures and finally the entrance itself.

After 30 minutes the whole front of the Treasury basked in brilliant light and I decided it was time to go.

I returned to the hotel and packed my bags for my next destination, Wadi Rum, an area of desert at the border with Saudi Arabia made famous in the west as the base of Lawrence of Arabia when he was helping the local Arabs fight their Turkish occupiers during WW I. I arrived early at the Visitors’ Centre at the park entrance and calculated that I had time to do the interesting-looking short hike described in Lonely Planet as easy and not needing a guide.
I headed off in the afternoon sun towards a striking rocky outcrop names the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, in honour of Lawrence’s book.

There wasn’t a marked trail so I followed the boot prints of other trekkers in the sand. This strategy worked until I got to the rocks, where I had to search hard for the correct route through the boulders. The path led into a gorge – the footprints had disappeared but occasionally little piles of stones left by other walkers suggested that I was going the right way. It was hard work for a little teddy bear scrambling over the big rocks, and the local flies – who had never tasted teddy bear before – were very annoying. After 90 minutes hard trekking in the sun I was doubting Lonely Planet’s advice and also worried I might have gone the wrong way.

My efforts were finally rewarded however when I clambered up yet another narrow gorge and a grandiose vista of the desert opened up, with sharp rocky mountains rising vertically from a sandy plain.

I found myself on top of a dune of brilliant red sand, which was easy to slide down, but then a little further on I had to climb up a different dune, and that was really hard work. Every step forward either my little legs would sink in up to my waist, or the sand would give way and I would slide back two steps.

Also I still wasn’t sure I was going the right way, but trusted the footprints in the sand that had now reappeared. I finally made it to the top of the dune and was relieved to see that by staying in the sand I could probably navigate around the massive Pillars of Wisdom and back to the Visitor Centre. I was quite relieved when the latter finally came back into view and even more so when I regained the comfort of my car. The walk had taken me about three hours, much longer than I expected.

I drove on into the national park to Wadi Rum village to meet Saleem, the owner of the camp where I was staying. There I parked my car and jumped into his 4×4 pick up truck for the ride to his camp site. There are lots of Bedouin camp sites in Wadi Rum where tourists can stay. Mine – the Wadi Rum Quiet Village – was at the foot of a tall cliff, with a great view into the Wadi Rum plain. I was very pleasantly surprised by my tent – big, comfortable and very clean. I was even more amazed that the camp had wifi and solar electricity.

I arrived just as the  sun was setting and the staff has stated up a nice camp-fire where people could relax and drink tea. Soon dinner was served with a big choice of salads and the ubiquitous chicken and rice. The restaurant tent was very comfortable and the food excellent.

After dinner I sat by the fire and enjoyed listening to one of the Bedouin playing the Oud (an instrument like a lute).

Finally the increasing cold of the night desert drove me to my tent where I slept soundly under their thick blankets

After the physical exertions of the last two days I had a lie-in and wrote my blog in the morning. Today’s plan was to use the “back door” to Petra at Umm Sayoun village, an option described in Lonely Planet and confirmed by hotel reception who booked me a taxi. However on arrival, the staff at the park entrance said that this route was exit only. Fortunately there was a local guide hanging around who offered to take me in through a different back entrance a mile further along the road. Although this all sounded a bit suspicious I accepted his offer, and was pleasantly surprised that this other route was not only open, but also involved a scenic walk.

Initially the way was flat and went through the desert, next we went along a path that clung to the side of a spectacular canyon. Occasionally along the way there were little Bedouin camps offering tea or selling souvenirs, but I was the only tourist on the path.

After 90 minutes we made one last steep climb and the top of the Monastery came into view.

This is arguably Petra’s most impressive building- like the Treasury, it is a former royal tomb cut into the mountain, but is much larger than the other tombs in Petra. It was at the Monastery that I finally met other tourists, who had all made the 3-4 hour trek from Petra’s main entrance.

From the Monastery there was a long walk down to the centre of Petra, where there is a colonnaded street and huge ruined temple.

From here I found the other end of the path I tried to walk yesterday. It led up, past yet more tombs (the most famous being the Roman Soldier’s Tomb) and then rose steeply to the top of the mountain at the south edge of Petra. Along the way there were several more Bedouin tent/cafes offering tea. They were mostly staffed by young Bedouin men, most of whom had long dark hair, goatee beards and used eye liner – looking much like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. I finally arrived at the “High Place of Sacrifice”, a flat area right on top of the mountain, where in ancient times the priests would sacrifice to long-forgotten gods. Here I had tea with one of the Bedouin Johnny Depp look-alikes and enjoyed an amazing view of the royal tombs below as the sun dipped lower on the horizon.

Before the sun set completely I scrambled down the last part of the path and arrived back at the Treasury for the 2km walk back up the Siq.
Even though things didn’t quite go to plan, I was very pleased of my idea to enter Petra by an unusual route, since it offered some of the best mountain scenery I’d seen in Jordan and saved 2 hours walking to reach the Monastery – something my tired little legs really appreciated. To celebrate, on arriving back in Wadi Musa, I treated myself to a cold alcoholic beer in the Cave Bar (located in a cave 2000 years old), with a fellow walker that I had met along the way.