I have wanted to go to Petra for over 15 years ever since a friend showed me some stunning photos of their visit including the iconic shot of the first sight of the Treasury as you emerge from the natural cleft – the Sik- that leads to the centre of this 2,000 year old city. I was not disappointed although because our visit was at around noon with the sun full on the Treasury façade I’m not sure my photos measure up to those of my friend but you can be the judge this time.
So where is Aqaba? Jordan’s only port, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, a part of the Red Sea extending northwards between Sinai to the east and the Arabian peninsular to the west (See map). Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as the country’s only seaport from which its only natural resource phosphate can be exported. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort with access to the rich coral reefs and exotic fish of the Red Sea and as the gateway to one of the finest archaeological sites in the Middle East, Petra. The great monuments of this Nabataean ‘rose red city’, half as old as time itself were hewn from the sandstone rock over 2000 years ago but only rediscovered again in 1912.
No comments:
Post a Comment