[travel] The other Petra
Apr. 7th, 2009 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mattbellThe main sights of Petra in the middle of the day, when crowded with tour groups, are still quite impressive. However, Petra is far better experienced without the hordes... then you can let your imagination come alive with the grandeur of this ancient city.
Getting an empty Petra is surprisingly easy.
It turns out the lesser known sights of Petra, and there are hundreds, are almost never crowded. In addition, we discovered that, contrary to what the tour books say, the best time to visit Petra's main sights is in the late afternoon. They're *empty* after 4pm.
The temples were carved out of stunningly gorgeous rock.
The rocks themselves were beautiful.
On the second day, we took the alternate entrance (against the sign's advice), which turned out to be an increasingly difficult ravine. The difficulty had a nice challenge ramp, like any good video game. Pitfalls, followed by ponds, followed by pitfalls with ponds.
We got to some funny little micro-petra toward the end of the ravine.
Also, that's Claire, a lovely Brit I met inside Petra. We spent a couple of days exploring and then took a trip out to the Dead Sea together.
Inside the main temple (the Treasury)
At night they light up the Treasury and perform a concert: (long exposure)
First person squasher perspective (only one other tourist in the whole treasury!)
Surprise foliage:
Tombs with a view:
And finally, my best Lion King impression:
Getting an empty Petra is surprisingly easy.
It turns out the lesser known sights of Petra, and there are hundreds, are almost never crowded. In addition, we discovered that, contrary to what the tour books say, the best time to visit Petra's main sights is in the late afternoon. They're *empty* after 4pm.
The temples were carved out of stunningly gorgeous rock.
The rocks themselves were beautiful.
On the second day, we took the alternate entrance (against the sign's advice), which turned out to be an increasingly difficult ravine. The difficulty had a nice challenge ramp, like any good video game. Pitfalls, followed by ponds, followed by pitfalls with ponds.
We got to some funny little micro-petra toward the end of the ravine.
Also, that's Claire, a lovely Brit I met inside Petra. We spent a couple of days exploring and then took a trip out to the Dead Sea together.
Inside the main temple (the Treasury)
At night they light up the Treasury and perform a concert: (long exposure)
First person squasher perspective (only one other tourist in the whole treasury!)
Surprise foliage:
Tombs with a view:
And finally, my best Lion King impression:
