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While the temps in the daytime here in the desert are in the mid 20s, the night time temp falls to around 10 so we rug up this morning for our visit to the Petra archaeological site. We even lend out some of our winter gear to others in our group who didn't bring warm clothes - we could do a roaring trade here as there seems to be quite a few people staying here who didn't know the desert is cold in the winter.
As we walk into the site of ancient Petra, which has recently been declared one of the modern wonders of the world, we are accosted by donkey and camel drivers all offering to take us there, even horse drawn chariots. There are sellers by the side of the road all offering the same things and wanting way too much money for their stuff which I neither want or need. But they do take no for an answer unlike the Egyptians. The first half of the walk into the site reminds us very much of a mix of Stanley Chasm near Alice Springs and the Bungle Bungles with strange rock formations and colours. This was the original caravan trade route from Damascus in Syria to Aqaba in the south of Jordan. We see many tombs and monuments carved into the colourful rocks with the highlight being the Treasury at the end of the 1.2km entry walk where hundreds of people stand and marvel at this extraordinary monument. Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade was filmed here along with a handful of other movies. We have some free time now so we decide to trek to the Monastery which is on top of the rock mountain, with about 800 steps to reach it. The first part is very sandy but then we start to climb up the colourful steps. More Bedouin sellers are at every turn as we weave our way upward. Finally we are rewarded by the sight of the Monastery which is just a huge facade in front of a large cavern which was used as a temple. We see other tracks and signs to "The view" so we follow them up and up and end up at the "end of the world" view which I'm sure was exactly that to these primitive people. What a great spot for our banana sandwich lunch. We've had lunch in some amazing places and this one is right up there with them all.
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