December 27, 2003 — Mudeif Productions

*One among many spectacular architectural details in Petra.*

*“Trinkets” doesn’t do justice to the wares being sold throughout the park.*

*The iconic opening in the cliffs gives way to Petra’s breathtaking Treasury.*

We packed our lunches for the day, then the four of us walked to the entrance gate for Petra. Periodic students at Birzeit University, we showed our student IDs at the park ticket counter. Jonathan presented his teacher ID from the AAUJ. Veronique had no such ID, but the ticket seller made it clear he would take just about any old ID as a student ID, so Veronique found the closest thing she had: a library card from the French Cultural Center in Jerusalem. He shrugged and gave us our discounted tickets, and we began the long and glorious hike.

We had gotten a late start, so there was no way we would get all the way to the monastery today. No problem. We would simply take our time today and head out again tomorrow.

*The massive rock faces made for a great carving surface here.*

*Stopping for lunch among Petra’s cliffs.*

We walked the long, dusty roads of the ancient Nabatean city, fascinated by the smallest little turn in the road and the carvings and niches along the way. Little did we know how unimpressive all that would be by comparison. We turned a bend in the siq (the narrow crevice carved deep into the earth, more astonishing than anything we saw in our visit to Zion National Park), the magnificent Treasury opened up before us. An immense structure carved out of the harsh rock face, this served as the entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail in the Indiana Jones movie of the same name.

We made it only a little further past the Treasury, stopping to admire the coliseum and wandering around in some of the nooks and crannies in the stone mountainsides along the main stretch, which afforded magnificent views seemingly only for us. We ate a European backpacker-style lunch and sang songs and improvised in the echoes of these man-made caves.

*The Treasury of Petra. Indiana Jones crusader not included.*

*Another incredible detail along the way in Petra.*

We made it back to the hotel before sunset, eating ravenously in the nearby town of Wadi Mousa. We tried to use the sauna that made our hotel such a pleasing thought in the first place, but discovered that they required an additional five dinars (around $8) a piece! Oh, well. We'll make good use of the room's tub.