We made it! We finished our approximately 85 km trek from Dana to Petra, and started our exploration of Petra itself.
We slept well at the 7 Wonder Camp last night. It was nice having a permanent cabin to sleep in, so we didn’t have to worry about the wind or sand coming in. After breakfast we did a slightly later start than usual at 0800, and started hiking around to the back entrance to Petra. This walk, instead of taking you through the main gate of Petra, brings you first to the Monastery, or Ad-Deir, which is one of the most impressive of the buildings/carvings.
To get there, we had to cross some fields of sand, used to grow barley when it rains, and then climb up and down through a series or stairs and narrow walkways along the sides of the mountains. Once there, it is very impressive to see, and the three guys (John, Étienne, Scott) climbed up to a lookout to get a better view.
From the Monastery we climbed down about 800 steps to the main area of Petra, site of the Colonnades Street, the Church, and the main attractions. We did a tour overlooking most of the sites (but went into the Church), and then went to check out the Tombs before stopping for lunch.
After lunch we walked around the Tombs into a very narrow canyon that connects to the main gate for Petra. The canyon was quite fun, except that the dryness got to my nose, which started to bleed quite heavily about half way through. After a maybe ten minute pause while Chantal handed me toilet paper and I covered a small section of ground with blood, we continued on.
Once at the main gate we walked to Wadi Musa, the town immediately next to Petra, and to our hotel. We all joined back together (after showers, of course) for some beers to celebrate being officially complete the hike.
Tomorrow we spend the morning in Petra exploring, and then head to Wadi Rum.
-John
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