Adventure Jordan: Petra Through the Back Door [Video]

Catch up with the Trekking the Planet team as they cover their time in Jordan. In this video, you will see the Dead Sea, gaze on the Treasury in Petra and witness the timeless Wadi Rum. You will also learn about local food, traditional music and the history of this ancient land.

Guide Services provided by Adventure Jordan.

Pulse el botón de reproducción y después el botón CC anterior para seleccionar los subtítulos en español. Spanish Translation by: Cristina Luz García Gutiérrez (cristinaluzgarcia@gmail.com).

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Transcript
0:22 Located in the Middle East and bordering Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Jordan is about
0:27 the size of the U.S. state of Indiana. Jordan is known for its political stability,
0:32 an excellent healthcare system and a strong focus on education.
0:37 When researching Jordan, we stumbled across an article written by National Geographic
0:40 about Adventure Jordan – a local company known for its route along Bedouin trails to
0:45 Petra. We were intrigued.
0:52 Our itinerary started in Amman, the capital. We traveled south to the Dead Sea. At 1,388
0:58 feet (or 423 meters) below sea level, the shore of the Dead Sea has the lowest land
1:03 elevation on Earth. We went swimming here to see firsthand the
1:07 effect of the high salt content. No life preserver needed here!
1:12 We left early the next morning to begin the four-day trek to Petra.
1:16 We hiked with our guide Yamaan, along ridges and down deep canyons.
1:23 The ancient Bedouin trails that we followed became narrow and faint.
1:27 At night, we camped near a spring. As we walked, Yamaan provided us with background
1:34 of the area. He pointed out ancient buildings and other
1:45 artifacts dating back to the Edomite period. The continual elevation gain and loss made
1:56 it some of the most difficult trekking of our entire journey but we found that the beauty
2:00 of the area combined with the remote feeling more than compensated for it.
2:06 We saw no other people during these two days as we traversed these mountains.
2:14 After three days of trekking, we reached Little Petra.
2:17 This area is believed to be an ancient suburb of Petra, accommodating caravans en route
2:22 to the nearby city. We found buildings here carved into sandstone,
2:28 similar to Petra, which likely functioned as restaurants and hotels.
2:36 One of the buildings, the Painted Biclinium, contained some painted fresco remains dating
2:40 from the 1st century A.D. After our excursion to Little Petra, we were
2:46 all the more excited about our visit to Petra the next day.
2:51 Most people enter Petra from the east. But, we took a route along the mountains that marked
2:55 the western boundary of Petra. In the process, we passed the remains of a
2:59 Neolithic village dating back to 6,000 BC – that’s 8,000 years old!
3:05 We then continued to gain elevation, as we got closer to our goal.
3:09 Our jaws dropped when we first gazed upon the rock facade of The Monastery.
3:13 This is the largest building in Petra, at 167 feet (51 meters) tall and 154 feet (47
3:24 meters) wide. Dating back as far as the 4th century B.C.,
3:29 Petra remained unknown to the Western World until 1812.
3:32 Within the city, the Nabataean people carved buildings into the sheer rock face.
3:39 More than 500 building facades still survive today, with many of them carved as tombs.
3:44 Most buildings date from between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D.
3:52 The Treasury is the structure that most people see first as they enter the site from the
3:55 main east entrance. Because we hiked in from the west, we reached
3:59 The Treasury last in the late afternoon, after the crowds had left.
4:03 Viewing the 130 foot (39.5 meters) high facade, in the late afternoon light was an amazing
4:08 experience. After a morning hike and some shopping, we
4:12 left Petra by car the next afternoon. We drove about 90 minutes south to the desert
4:18 of Wadi Rum, one of the largest valleys in Jordan.
4:25 Wadi Rum is comprised of a series of mountain formations and canyons.
4:28 It is a protected area that is sparsely populated with Bedouin tribes.
4:33 The 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed on located here.
4:37 At the Visitors Center, we transferred to a waiting pickup truck which drove us 30 minutes
4:41 on twisting sand tracks deep onto the protected area.
4:45 We stopped at a Bedouin camp that night and enjoyed a traditional campfire meal.
4:50 We were the alone with our guide in this remote camp.
4:54 We spent the next day exploring Wadi Rum in three different ways.
4:57 First, we took an early morning camel ride for about one hour.
5:01 As we moved slowly along we could appreciate the vastness of this desert as well as Petroglyphs
5:05 that dot the canyon walls. Our camels were met by a pickup truck and
5:10 we continued on a drive through the most scenic portions of this UNESCO world heritage site.
5:14 Here, great vistas opened up and we saw places where the sand changed from white to red.
5:20 Finally, we took a scenic one-hour hike through a canyon before eating lunch at a viewpoint
5:24 and then returning back to camp. Along the way we saw very few people and came
5:29 away with a feeling of the remoteness of this place.
5:32 We felt privileged to experience both Petra and Wadi Rum on our journey and learn a little
5:37 bit more about them both.