The magic of coloured stone
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
221
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Wadi Musa,
Jordan
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
For day two we had a special plan. Yesterday I forbid Travis from going to the Royal Tombs because then the special plan would be stupid, and (surprisingly) he obeyed. Our special plan led us through an old wadi that the Nabateans used to divert floodwater from the siq. It was a grand adventure.
Before walking down to the siq and through the Nabatean tunnel, we had to go find the "eagle monument." We searched, Travis scampered everywhere, and I finally pointed out that that thing over in that rock doesn't look like an eagle, but it does look deliberate
the wadi for a great trekking adventure
. Travis and I explored and he announced that I was probably right, but that it didn't look like much of anything. You can't even tell there's anything remotely special about the rock in the photo, so it was a slightly disappointing side trip. The trail we walked down was the wadi. Steep rocks rose on either side of us, pressing us between them and sometimes protecting us from the sun, already scorching at 9 a.m. We walked a good distance simply admiring the rocks and flowers before we came to the adventurous part. It was at this point that Travis once again decided to add information he'd previously left out - we'd have to make a few 2 meter vertical scrambles. They turned out to be fun, and at one someone had put a strap and written "pull here" on it. At a glance it made it look like the rock it was wrapped around would fall on you if you tugged it, but really there would have been no harm. We chuckled. The wadi ended in a t-junction, and it was at this point that we saw why it would be a dangerous hike if there was any rain. Unlike the wadi, strewn with pebbles and small stones, this path was still being cut by water and had not yet reached all the way through the stone. The swirls that the water had cut through the rock were an awesome hike, but they would be deadly in the event of a flash flood.
Eventually we emerged from the wadi into...tombs
Nabatean tunnel
. We thought they might be what's known as the "Christian Tombs," but we weren't sure. I followed Travis around a bit, but mostly I would sit down and enjoy the view while he scampered. Don't know why he had to poke his head into every single tomb. I suppose he just didn't want to miss one single thing. This was a theme at Petra, but it was worth the extra exploration more often than not. Besides, we had three days. What's the hurry?After lunch we made our way to the Royal Tombs. The first (and farthest from the treasury) was built for the Roman governor by his son. It's the only tomb they can positively identify as belonging to this particular man because of the Roman inscription above the door. Like all the fancy tombs carved out of the multi-colored rose stone, it's pretty. We moved on to the Palace Tomb, which was not a tomb at all but is thought to have been a public building. It's the largest and most recent of the Petra structures, and time's been pretty good to it. Not so with the Corintian and Silk Tombs. The Corinthian Tomb appears to have melted slightly at the top, but the pilasters on its lower level still have beautiful curling flowers carved into them. Same goes for the Silk Tomb, but the melting effect just adds to the beautiful color patterns for which the tomb is famous. Finally there's the behemoth Urn Tomb. It was built ridiculously high up for a king who really thought highly of himself, and it's incredibly tall. The majesty of these buildings, cut directly into the stone and staying put for thousands of years, and the beautiful colors of the sandstone are the points of attraction. Except that the insides are cut into the same rock and may have sweet swirl patterns, the insides of the structures are not interesting or even decorated.
When we'd finished with our exploration on and above the Royal Tombs, we decided to make the hike above the Treasury
long tunnel
. The path runs behind the Royal Tombs and up through the mountain. Here and there we had a sweeping view of the ruined city or the Street of Facades. At one point a herd of goats came scuttling down the slope and one stopped just next to Travis, completely unafraid but sort of wondering what he was doing there. At the top we got a bit confused, but then Travis found the trail markers (a thing that only a true trekker could do, because they were trail markers like backpackers use - rock piles, not like signs) and we continued onward. We ended up on a cliff. As we tried to set up the tripod for a photo Travis decided that either one of us would fall off the cliff or I would drop the camera off the cliff, so he became a great cranky pants, which made me a cranky pants, which made the hike a little less fun. So, just so you know, you can get awesome photos, but it's not particularly safe. After our descent we decided to call it a day. It was a slow day, but really excellent fun. And of course on the way out we stopped for the requisite look at the Treasury and made our way into the shade of the siq.
Erin
