رحلة إلى الأردن: Petra!

On Thursday we had a half day of classes and then left for our second program-sponsored trip. This time, we went to Petra and Aqaba, and we had a great time! The trip to Petra took about 5 hours, so we didn't get there until 5:00 in the afternoon. (We actually stayed in a town called Wadi Musa, right next to Petra.) That night, we just had some dinner and hung out by the hotel pool, which overlooked some pretty cool rock formations. On Friday morning, we woke up at 5:30 and made our way to Petra. In short, Petra was phenomenal! It was amazing to see such massive structures hewn into the sides of mountains all over the place. For those unfamiliar with Petra, it is a city built by the Nabataeans around the 6th century BC, and was later annexed by Rome (I think around 100 AD). The whole city was carved right into the side of the mountains, like the pueblo villages in New Mexico and Arizona. The scale and detail of the structures were simply incredible, and the city sprawled over a huge area. I took us about close to 2 hours just to walk from one end of the city to the other! The far end was situated high up in the mountains, so we had to hike a bit to get there, but when we did we got to enjoy a fantastic view.

Two fun facts about Petra:

1. In 2006 (I think), Petra was voted one of the 7 "new" wonders of the world. I guess people decided that since only the Pyramids of Giza remained of the original 7 wonders of the ancient world, it was time to choose some new ones, and Petra made the list.

2. Parts of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were shot in Petra. See this link (don't mind the spanish subtitles, haha!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7sQQg7MFNw

Now, some pictures:

On the Siq - the trail leading up to Petra

The Treasury - this is the site to see at Petra

The theater - carved right into the mountains. It's hard to see all the rows in this picture, but this place used to seat 7,000 people!

Starting our hike up to the top...

The Monastery - this thing was MASSIVE!

So, naturally, I had to climb it!! That little figure at the top, just to the right of the center column is me! Don't worry, there were some stairs for most of the way!

Taking in the views

A cool chameleon

There was also a church built later by the Byzantines. Most of the floor was still covered in beautiful mosaics.

The Royal Tombs

After Petra, we drove to our hotel that was situated right on the Gulf of Aqaba, which is the part of the Red Sea. The hotel we stayed in was beyond ridiculous. It was very luxurious...just look at the view from my room!