Oct 15 – Camel Ride and Little Petra

Paul and Tara headed out quite early for a sunrise camel ride.  Mary has had enough camel rides to last a lifetime so she slept in.  They were out well over and hour and a half.  And both seemed to enjoy the ride.  There was the usual (or unusual) beautiful Wadi Rum scenery…

and camels. 

*************************************

Video of getting off camels
*************************************

They had a sunrise…

and a break.

Tara documenting the day. 

Mary saw them as they were returning to camp and took a few photos. 

      *************************************
More Camel Ride
*************************************

A couple of photos of the camp in the early morning.

After breakfast it was back in the car for the drive to Petra. 

There was a brief stop to see the train that we had seen robbed the day before.

We also stopped at the Al Rajif Wind Farm…

complete with “vicious” guard puppy.

Just outside of the town of Petra we stopped at an overlook to gaze down at Petra.  This was the “Second Best” view in the world.  The viewpoint next door advertised itself as the “best” view in the world.  A little of competition there.

We could see glimpses of some of the structures in Petra…most near the entrance.

We saw a rock shaped like an elephant.

And stopped at a Nabatean Cistern.  It was absolutely amazing.  They had chiseled out a series of huge chambers deep into the mountain and then chiseled some diversion channels into the sides of the mountain to funnel water into the cistern. 

Nearby we also saw the Al Imti ancient wine press…a series of basins chiseled out of the stone.  They would press the grapes in one depression and the juices would flow into others downstream.  Most interesting.

Just down the road was the entrance to Little Petra (al Beida).  Mary had a headache so took a seat at an nearby shop (and slept almost the entire time the others were exploring). 

Little Petra was also built by the Nabataean’s (probably around 1^st century AD).  Archaeologist think it was a suburb of Petra meant to house visiting traders on the Silk Road. 

The walk revealed many stone facades…

and rocks.

They viewed the Triclinium (with bench seats on three sides)...

and the Painted Biclinium (a dining room) that had well preserved wall paintings that are almost 2000 years old. 

And very narrow trails.

There were also some artisans and souvenir shops in the valley

      *************************************
More Little Petra
*************************************

Once everyone was back to the parking lot we headed out to the town of Petra.  Our hotel is the Old Village Resort.  

Fruit Bar.

Apparently the entire village was relocated into more modern houses up the hill and the village was converted into a charming, upscale resort with indoor and outdoor pool and great views of the valley.