The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) has listed Petra as “one of the 40 places you have to see before you die,” and indeed we agree.

Petra is a city that was lost for centuries until its discovery by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. It is a city that inspired many a poet, John William Burgon being no different. Petra inspired him to write, “it seems no work of Man's creative hand, by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned; But from the rock as if by magic grown, eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!” The rocks seem to have a mind of their own, and you can sense something enchanting as you walk down the rock-lined corridor to the magnificence that awaits you.

On this day, a special guide will take you along the same route many have travelled before and you will feel as if you’ve journeyed into another world. You get to explore a city carved into stone, walk through a dim, narrow gorge called The Siq, (a holy path filled with old and ancient relics of gods); a sophisticated water system has been placed on both sides of the gorge. Much more will be revealed to you as you walk until you reach The Treasury. And just like Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, you will be mesmerised by what you see.

A whole city, carved from stone, will open up before you once you leave The Treasury. Everything is built from the rock face—houses, theatres, tombs, and facades. As the sun casts its rays onto these places and you watch other tourists stroll along discovering the hidden secrets of Petra, you will understand what life must have been like for the people living here—tranquil, bustling, and exquisite.

Things to consider:

Best way to explore the immense area of Wadi Rum is while in the back of an old 4x4 truck. To discover a landscape that was once described by the British officer T. E. Lawrence as, 'vast, echoing and Godlike.' This description wonderfully summarises the Wadi Rum experience.

You will notice how the mountains of rock just seem to melt under the sun’s energy, and the tracks of camels, foxes, and wild dogs sprinkled on the wind-swept sand. The incredible silence will engulf you, making you feel like part of the landscape around you.

Later, you will be taken to one of the highest points in all of Wadi Rum to witness a spectacular sunset. Abu-Yosef our Bedouin guide will prepare us some more Bedouin tea, right in the desert sand, and leave us to watch the descending sun. As we welcome the moon, a whole new view of the landscape around you emerges and as the darkness creeps in, the sky lights up with millions of stars to cast a silvery light upon the entire world. 

Wadi rum entrance fee: 5 Jordanian dinars.