It was 1.15pm and very hot. It had been easy walking down hill all the way so the uphill plod in the heat proved to be trying especially with hoards of Germans flowing down the Sik seemingly 10 abreast! A horse was paid for as part of the ticket but experience had shown that these animals are a bit flighty and you would certainly not be insured!! The alternative was one of the buggies (See photo) that for a price would carry you from the Treasury back to the gate. These were safer but a rough ride even with rubber tyres and rudimentary springs since the unexpected rains I mentioned had washed away the sandy surface and left it as rough shale strewn with small boulders. Work was underway to repair the pathway but this of course can only be done after hours. So it was not only bumpy for the buggy occupants but hard work underfoot for ‘Shanks Pony’ as well!!
I felt very sorry for one small horse dragging a buggy with a 20 stone plus, horribly obese gentleman as the whole of his blubbery body lurched up and down – it was a revolting sight!!
The buggies were a little bit of menace in the Sik too since going down hill the horses found it very difficult to brake the buggies, their hooves slithering on the smooth stones of the original Nabataean road that has been exposed in a number of places. The horses would race by, eyes wide and nostrils flared whilst you flattened yourself against the walls!
Apart from one lady who had to have some assistance in the heat we all got back to the bus safely after a fascinating visit and ‘a dream come true’ for me.
I will have to go back to see the rest but in five years time they expect to have excavated don 5 metres at the lower section of the Sik by the Treasury to the original Nabataean level. Over the whole site this is a massive task but what riches remain to be uncovered in this still mysterious city?
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