Petra: I Came…I Climbed…I Conquered!

One of the 7 Wonders of the World...Petra was an amazing journey and more challenging than I bargained for!

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The Treasury @ Petra

So after my 2 days spent in Amman, I took a 2.5-hour car ride to the desert of Wadi Rumi for my next adventure to explore one of the 7 Wonders of the World...Petra. I set up shop at the Bubble Lux Hotel, one of the few spots where you can go "glamping" as they call it. It was a pretty good experience, considering I'm not big on the whole outdoor camping vibe lol. The entire compound was clean, and comfortable(by camping standards), and the catered food was fantastic.

I arrived on a rainy day in Wadi Rumi with the next day being set up for my big adventure to Petra. I mention the rain because ironically enough, it had not rained in almost 2 years according to my tour guide. And when it does rain, it causes flooding in the area and shuts everything down. Luckily for me, the rain let up that night and the next day was dry enough to proceed as planned.

So when you hear about Petra and see footage on TV, Movies, or Magazines, you always see what they call the Treasury. Once you enter the complex, it's about a 20-30 minute walk. You will pass a lot of tombs and rocks that were naturally formed into cool shapes like elephants, birds, and even faces before you get to the Treasury. As you approach the Treasury, you'll go through a narrow chasm and then you finally get to the big payoff!

Now there is more to Petra than just the Treasury. If you really want to challenge yourself you can go another 2 miles and head to the Monastery that was uncovered many years ago as well. I was aware that the Monastery was a larger version of the Treasury...however, what I was not aware of was that it is located on top of a mountain! Now I have done Machu Picchu...climbed the stairs at El Peñol in Colombia...and more recently climbed the stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe earlier this year...nothing compared to this experience. Once you get to the base of the mountain there are 800 + steps to get to the top. What they don't tell you is that it takes rock climbing skills to get there! There is a cheat code of sorts however lol. There are donkeys you can ride all the way to the top and back down for $40 bucks. Personally, I took the challenge to climb the whole way up and back down. My knees paid for it at the end of the day, but I'm proud I did it!

Out of all the 7 Wonders of the World I have visited thus far, this was by far the most challenging and satisfying of them all. Five down, two more to go...on to the next one!