All told we walked 5 plus miles in Petra so the blog will deal with Petra in separate posts. This first one is the walk to the beginning of the Al Siq and the first pass through the Al Siq. The passage was crated during an earthquake that caused the crack, shifted the sides laterally and gave wind and water access to open up the passage further. It is a 1.2 km long canyon that takes about 44 minutes to walk.
After the trash we saw in the desert it was great to see this sign
Here the transformation from rounded hills to cave dwellings to ornately carves stone works can be seen
An early cave dwelling on the left and a finely carved facade on the right
The three genies are the large blocks of stone
They are memorials for people bu they are call the genies because thy make whistling sounds in the wind which makes folks think of spirits
This is called the obelisk tomb. One obelisk for each of the four people memorialized
Some tombs were improvised during times when there large numbers of causalities as in after a disaster.
Some Roman centurions out for a stroll
Not a very disciplined formation
A tunnel to divert the water when the rains are too intense
The entrance
There used to be an arch here
In the center of the picture the remains of a stone arch can be seen
The channel for water is carved all along the sides of the path
the left side had the original channel for the water and the right had the Roman version
The Leips are heading in
and loving it
More dams are put up to control the flow of storm runoff
Our guide Bassil busy answering questions
These paving stones were uncovered in 1998 during the removal of the sand path
In many places the two sides of the walls look as they would fit together like a puzzle. This opening was created by and earthquake. The walls are so high, 260 feet but separated by only a few yards
The sandstone is pink and the city is called the rose city by some
The Al Siq opens up in some places and here the cliff face is held in place my massive steel cables
A niche with the remains of a stature carved inside
This would normally be the high season with 1000's of people walking through here
Stairs cut into the stone and two entrances
A shrine to Ilat the main god represented as a figure with square eyes that can see everything and no mouth as he listens only
The square eyes
This looks almost like a ladle for water
Some side cracks are tiny
An elephant rock
Large rocks blocking a side wadi
This sheets of sandstone
It is narrowing down
Some of the closest passageway, only 10 feet wide at its narrowest
As the passage twists and turns the light brightens and dims
Sunlight shows the rose color
More niches
More Nabataean writing
A niche symbolizing circumcision
Nabataeaen script
A camel driver
The camel hooves on the bottom and the outlines of the camels above
The front hooves
The back hooves
From behind
Getting tight again
Greek graffiti
The calcium build up on the pipes is a white line
Turing the corner into another sunny spot
The puzzle pieces
Old stairs and a new dam to control the water from this side wadi
Peeking out from the gloom
Is the Treasury our next post
