Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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The cultivated areas across the hillsides, valleys and roadsides increased the closer we got
to Petra.
The shape and location of the fields were intriguing. There was no broad acre farming.
Rocks had been cleared and there had been some ploughing. But the location, size and shape
of each field were unique. Some were no more than an acre shaped like a boomerang. Oth-
ers may have been three or four acres in some other tortured shape. The farmers obviously
knew what was fertile and what was not and that, together with the rocky outcrops, dictated
the agricultural mosaic.
The Amra Palace hotel was crowded and the facilities basic, but it was close by the Petra
site. The shower didn't work and the bed was a little lumpy - but overall it was acceptable.
There was a small altercation at dinner when some pushy French sought to jump the queue
and were challenged with some loud voices and a little pushing and shoving. To top it off
there was a major brawl between two large cats during dinner on the terrace. These were
serious animals and there was no quarter given until somebody booted them into space.
On the night we arrived, an opportunity came up to see the Treasury by moonlight or star-
light or candlelight or all three. Whatever it was we took up the offer and proceeded to the
jump-off point that took us down, a broad but stony track, to the beginning of the 1.25 kilo-
metre long chasm known as the Siq. Holding small torches, and with several hundred others,
we shuffled down the chasm toward the partly illuminated site.
There is no doubt the Treasury is one of the most publicised archaeological sites in the world
and when we emerged from the Siq and saw its full splendour we could only agree.
The entertainment didn't do the place justice. A group of locals played one-string instru-
ments and sang in a monotone, supported by several other mediocre musical items. The
ground was hard and the gathering was becoming restless, but we survived and got back to
the hotel. It was a long few hours and somewhat of an anticlimax. The real thing was going
to be the following day. And that was the case.
