World wonder of Petra in Jordan

Finally. Finally I had the luxury to tick off yet another sight on my bucket list. Nothing less than the world wonder of Petra in Jordan. It was rather a special day that Friday in October when we traveled from Amman to Petra about three hours drive South of the capital of Jordan. For the first time in a while it was pouring rain and the spectacular lightening strikes were seen all over the sky. Who could have thought it would be raining in the desert? We made our way to Petra and checked in at the fast track counter where Jordan pass holders got their ticket to the ancient ruins and off we went.

Walking around in Petra

At first it looked extremely touristy. A bunch of shops catering everything a tourist needs. Well I bought a Palestina scarf to keep some cold out. I was honestly planning for sun and 25+ degrees so my packing consisted of shorts and tees. Fail. The first two hours it was raining and thundering so we had to run in between various cliffs to protect us against the rain. The first kilometer of the trail welcomed with magic mountains at both sides and if you were up for horse backriding you could go for a 500 meters ride along the walking path. At this stage I thought this would not be something very special. Like Maccu Pichu. It was absolutely great but overrated and could been better if it was not so extremely tourist oriented.

But I was so wrong. After yet another kilometers of walking it was better than I could ever had expected. One of the most fascinating places I been to. Just walking around in the beautiful landscape thinking about the 30 000 people that had their homes and daily life at this place before an earthquake destroyed it all was something extra.

It felt like walking around in an Indiana Jones movie, and it wasn’t a wrong thought because they actually made the above mentioned movie there.

So many wow experience that day. I wish I knew it was as big as it were. Thought that four hours at this place would be enough and more than that but there were loads of trails to walk at and if I would ever get back or recommend someone to go I would strongly advice to bring a backpack with overnight gear and walk to the other side of the trail, sleep there and walk back the other day.

Three kilometers from the starting point we reached the Treasure chamber. Guess that this is the most iconic spot of Petra. All guided groups stopped here and you could walk up to various spots and take photos. But in order to reach those spots you needed a local guide.

What the people attending tours did not see was the best part. About 500 meters walking further down the trail the former city center of Petra were located. I really loved that place. We spent a lot of time here exploring. How many pictures I made you don’t want to know. It was many.

The surrounding mountains, how beautiful aren’t they? Lucky those people that lived in Petra and woke up with this view every single day.

This was one of the best sightseeing days in a long, long time for me. If you ever considered going to Petra – do it! In my opinion the best UNESCO world wonder site I been to. The only one remaining at my list is Chitchen Itza in Mexico but it seems so boring and although I been to Mexico several times I always skipped that out since I am not really interested in that place but guess I have to go next time. Can’t live with one of the seven world wonders explored.

/ Pernilla filling up her passion passport