Jordan > Farewell to Petra

We walk back into Petra as early as eight o’clock. The sky is overcast, though patches of blue occasionally break through. It’s uncertain what the day will bring, but it would be wonderful to see Petra bathed in sunlight today. The Treasury is illuminated by the sun between nine and eleven in the morning. As we make our way through the Siq, the sun begins to shine—a beautiful play of colors unfolds. When we reach the end of the gorge, the view of the Treasury is once again breathtaking. The sun just touches the top of the façade. It’s still very quiet, and I easily manage to take a photo without any tourists in the frame. We decide to order coffee and sit on a terrace, waiting for the sunlight to descend further onto the Treasury. After about half an hour, the scene is perfect—though now it’s impossible to capture a picture without people. We continue deeper into Petra and take the steps beside the theater leading up to the High Place of Sacrifice. After a few hundred steps, we reach the top of the rock.

Jordan - The rockhewn Corinthian Tomb

First, we view the two obelisks, then walk to the actual High Place of Sacrifice. From here, there’s a stunning panorama over Petra. As we make our way back down, one of the vendors calls after us, shouting that we should take the other path because it’s more beautiful. However, we don’t have much time and aren’t sure how long the alternative route would take. So, we descend the same way and leave Petra again through the Siq. At the hotel, all luggage is ready for our desert trip. I’ve divided my belongings—one bag for the next two days, and the rest will go directly to Aqaba. Some fellow travelers have arranged falafel for lunch. They took a taxi into Wadi Musa to buy it for the group. It tastes great. Once everything is packed, we depart around one o’clock toward the Wadi Rum desert. It’s not far; after just over an hour, we arrive in Rum Village. Here, the luggage for the desert is loaded into a Jeep, while we begin our walk to the campsite. The sun is shining, but fortunately it’s not too hot. Walking in the desert is quite challenging—each step sinks into the sand, making it hard to speed up to catch the group. The lighter walkers clearly have an advantage. Still, the desert landscape is stunning. As the afternoon progresses, the lowering sun casts long, dramatic shadows across the sand. After nearly two hours of walking, we reach the campsite—a large Bedouin tent sheltered against the rocks. As always, we’re greeted with tea. With a small group, we walk back a short distance to watch the sunset. We arrive just in time on the wide plain, but the sunset isn’t spectacular; the sun disappears behind the rocks before the orange glow spreads across the sky. Meanwhile, others have gathered wood for the campfire, and dinner is being prepared. We enjoy soup and a buffet—it’s impressive how such a delicious meal can be cooked here in the desert. The warmth of the fire feels wonderful, reflected off the rock wall behind us. We decide to sleep outside by the fire—after all, we’re only in Wadi Rum once. This way, we can gaze at the magnificent starry sky above the desert. Since the temperature can drop close to freezing at night, I burrow deep into my sleeping bag and keep some extra clothes ready. Before long, I drift off to sleep.