The Royal Tombs in the Rose Red City...

...and so to Petra.
No guide book can possibly prepare you for this. Firstly the narrow, blissfully cool (and previously subject to catastrophic and fatal flash floods) Siq - the entry to Petra - and then the first glimpse of the Treasury, probably a Nabatean tomb of vast proportions, followed by more and more buildings. Some, like the Treasury, are carved out of the rock, others like the temples are constructed with blocks of stone. What a breathtaking vista!

Petra is a large area that takes a long time and a lot of stamina to explore. There are high places of worship and sacrifice, Byzantine churches with (more) mosaic floors, smaller tombs, colonnaded streets, temples, theatres and facilities for channeling and storing water.

Hidden by mountains on most sides and by the narrow Siq, Petra is naturally well protected, no wonder it remained 'undiscovered' for so long.

Earliest remains date from about 300BCE but subsequent cultures also recognised the benefits of the site. Until about 30 years ago Petra was the home of some members of a Bedu tribe who made use of the old caves and tombs some excavated by hand some by natural erosion. They kept goats and sold trinkets to tourists. There was no running water or electricity, and life must have been hard, but imagine waking up to this view daily!