A tip I have about this place — 1 year ago
“THE ROSE RED CITY HALF AS OLD AS TIME”
We went on an ‘organised’ trip from Aquaba. It was a couple of hours in a private taxi with a driver who had mastered about 36 words of English which led to very stitled conversation.
When we arrived at Petra our organised tour included a private guide. We weren’t offered a choice but the young man we got (who told us he was a medical student) spoke reasonable English and was sufficiently knowledgable. So the tip is, make sure you can understand your guide before setting off.
Petra itself is an amazing place. Unlike modern cities, where buidlings are close together and there is some degree of planning and organisation, Petra is very an-hoc. There were buildings and cave dwellings, there were houses with no space between and areas with no buildings at all. There are open spaces and narrow defiles. After two hours we were abandoned by the guide (you only get two hours paid for) about a mile from the entrance. There was still a huge amount to do. There were view points to climb up to, public buildings to explore and further reaches of the city to discover. It could easily have taken a couple of days to make a worthwhile visit. We had a couple of hours. It was December, it was grey, it was drizzling and it was cold. If you go in the winter be prepared to wrap up warmly! We went back to the entrance and found a restaurant serving hot food and prepared ourselves for another two hours of 36 word conversation. If it hadn’t been for Petra it would have been an awful day.
