Petra has been at the top of my travel "musts" ever since I saw Indiana Jones when I was a kid. I finally got the chance to visit this past January and it was so much more incredible than I imagined it to be! I'm not going to talk about what you should see while you're there - I spent a full day wandering around and wished I had more time - but I do want to offer a suggestion. It rarely ever rains, but you may want to look into the weather if you're traveling to Petra in January. The three days we were there were foggy and rainy, which made it a quite different experience than I was expecting! I still loved every minute of it, and kind of enjoyed that it wasn't the typical experience, but most people there didn't have any rain gear and, trust me, the wind really blows hard in there when it gets going! Rain or no rain, it's an amazing place, and definitely one of my favorite places I've ever visited! If you do find yourself there when it's cold or wet I highly recommend following up the visit with a trip to one of the Turkish baths in town. It's a good way to get warmed up! :)

Petra or the rock-carved rose-red city ( Nabatean Architecture). The Nabateans came from Yemen to Jordan ; they were good traders and sculptors. They had their own way in storing water in secret enclosed area to avoid drought.

We walk through a long narrow pink gorge or “Sik” (1 km long and 3 or 4 km wide). The rocks are tall and steep sided that they won’t allow the sun to penetrate. While we were walking in the shade, we wondered “what the point of this entire long walk”. Then the guide asked us to close our eyes and proceed. When we opened our eyes we gasped. Amid the desert we see The Treasury carved in the rocks and glowing in the dazzling sun. At the top there’s an urn, it’s believed that it was full of diamond and gold from here comes the name Treasury. No wonder that Petra has been nominated as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

I'm Jewish and have been to Israel a couple of times now, but had never traveled to Jordan since I, like many others, was a bit frightened by the idea of traveling through an arab country, especially as a Jew. But last time I was in Israel I got rid of those ridiculous preconceptions of Arab countries and I headed to Petra with a friend of mine. WOW! I've seen many of the wonders of the world and Petra is one of the most astounding feats of art and architecture that I have witnessed. I highly recommend people visit Petra and plan on spending a few hours walking around and taking it all in. Really incredible.

Petra is so amazing that I went and took all the info from Wikipedia... This is the most exciting place I have visited beside Jerusalem. And one place I dream of going back to. I was there in 1997 with Zola Levitt.

Petra From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: one-navigation , search This article is about the Jordanian site of Petra. For other uses, see Petra (disambiguation) . Coordinates : 30°19′43″N 35°26′31″E  /  30.32861°N 35.44194°E  / 30.32861; 35.44194 Petra * UNESCO World Heritage Site State Party Jordan Type Cultural Criteria i, iii, iv Reference 326 Region ** redirect-Arab States Inscription history Inscription 1985 (9th Session ) * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO. Petra (from URU $e-eh-{la}[-li].KI in Akkadian, "petra-πέτρα", cleft in the rock in Greek ; Arabic : البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ ) is an archaeological site in the Arabah , Ma'an Governorate, Jordan , lying on the slope of Mount Hor WebsterNinthNewCollege-0" title="- [ 1 ] in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba . It is renowned for its cut_architecture" title="Rock-cut architecture" class="mw-redirect-rock-cut architecture . Petra is also one of the new wonders of the world . The redirect-Nabateans constructed it as their capital city around 100 BCE. 1" title="- [ 2 ] The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt . It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a redirect-Newdigate prize -winning sonnet by John William Burgon . UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage." unesco-2" title="- [ 3 ] In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site .

One of the few places I'm definitly going to visit again. Walking between the high rocks on the path leading to the treasury I wondered after a while were I was. Just then I turned a corner and saw the treasury standing aglow in the morning light. One of the best sights in my life. I spend 2,5 days here wandering around the places. There is this big open place full of temples and other buildings, excavations still ongoing. You can also go up in the mountains to discover other pearls. The roads are really well indicated and on a normal day you can just follow the stream of people. Go early in the morning so you can see most of the big sites before the tourbusses arrive. My advice take a map with you not to plan your tour but to put everything in perspective. The place is so huge. I also had a great time with the bedouins. My friend and I got talking to a couple of them and they invited us over for tea at their home and in the evening took me out for a night time BBQ under the stars, with a view over Petra. Amazing dinner. These were really open minded friendly people who are proud of their history and they have so many interesting stories and details to tell.