admin September 5th, 2007
Here’s a great image of a pale rosefinch, taken among the ruins at Petra and posted on this travel photo of the day site. Of course, there are probably better ways of getting noticed than appearing in rose pink plumage in the rose pink city of Petra. But maybe that’s the point.
Keen bird-watchers heading for Jordan should take a look at this informative site.
admin July 6th, 2007
Gareth Scurlock made the trip to Jordan recently for the Times. You can now read his various adventures in eco-tourism camps, Petra and Wadi Rum on the Times Online website.
His description of the plight of the Dead Sea is interesting; so too his trip to the Dana Nature Reserve. And of course he found Petra particularly moving.
It’s a 90-minute early morning drive to Petra, where the entrance is as affecting as the monuments, tombs and temples themselves. The walk down through the Siq, a narrow gorge that at places is only a couple of metres wide, is nearly a mile long. The vertical cliffs used to be joined, now wrought apart by earthquakes and other natural forces. The bright red hues of weathered sandstone hint at the majesty ahead.
For most people, the image that typifies the Red Rose City is that of the Treasury, carved out of the same vertical cliffs as those that line the Siq. Emerging from the gorge, the massive, ornate wall is revealed gradually and is awe-inspiring even if you’ve seen the picture hundreds of times.
admin July 2nd, 2007
To return to the idea of a taking a different route to Petra, there was an excellent article in the Observer yesterday where the author explored the growing trend of ecotourism in Jordan, on a trip organised by www.petramoon.com into some of the lesser known wadis.
Over-nighting in desert lodges run by Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the group followed old caravan routes, encountering Jordanian wildlife and some stunning scenery along the way.
Our accommodation was at another RSCN reserve, Ajloun, and we slept in safari-style tented lodges surrounded by pistachio, carob and ilex trees. That night all I could hear was the occasional shriek of an owl then, at dawn, the call to prayer from a village mosque. As the morning mist lifted, we walked through terraced olive groves and pasture thick with wildflowers to the Byzantine church of Mar Elyas, supposed birthplace of the prophet Elijah, on a lonely limestone hilltop.
They had originally planned to avoid Petra but couldn’t resist.
…the lure of the rose-red city was too great. Joining a night-time excursion, we walked along the famous Siq, our way lit by hundreds of candles. Sitting on kilims in the moonlight, we listened in awe as a Bedouin played a mournful tune on his reed pipe, the strains echoing round the wall and wafting up to the stars.
admin June 27th, 2007
Just as there are many ways to crack a nut (hint: some of us favour dynamite), so there are many different ways to get to Petra. Jeremy Seal, writing in the Sunday Times found a very round about route to the rose red city, involving a desert trek, Bedouin trails and camping out under the stars in newly-created eco-lodges.
This is unrivalled walking, and not only for the dizzying views of the mountains and the Wadi Araba far below. Immersion in the local history, culture and geology is providing us with an illuminating context for the city we’re approaching. You can’t miss the fact that we’re closing upon Petra: it is sneak-previewed in the ancient rock-cut water channel that leads us one morning to the ruins of the village it once served, and in the colours and shapes of the surreal eroded sandstone that overhangs our path like molten wax or fresh tears.
You can retrace Jeremy’s steps on a Gorges amd Petra trek with Walks Worldwide.
