The Siq.

More of the Siq.

The Siq opens into an expansive "plaza" outside the Treasury.

I found my iPhone's panorama option on this vacation, and fell in love with it instantly. My lovely Shiksa, Baobei Funky Feng , incorrectly defined my usage of panorama photos as somewhat obsessively overdone, but even she can be wrong sometimes, as you can plainly see.





We continued to the " Monastery ," the largest of the buildings in Petra.

The walk to the Monastery passes through a Roman road.





Such a different culture.

Inside the monastery with the Illustrious, Baobei Funky Feng.









Dear Chutzpanim,My family visited me in Tel Aviv these past few weeks. We took a trip throughout Israel that I will post about in the coming weeks, and one of the most interesting trips was from Eilat, into Jordan and to Petra Petra is the ancient Nabatean capital, from which the Nabateans controlled caravan routes that passed through the area. It is situated at what was a critical junction between Gaza, Bosra, Damascus and Aqaba. The Nabateans utilized complex water storage mechanisms such as cisterns to capture water from the rare, but periodic floods. This excess water storage was a source of profit during droughts, along with taxation of trade passing through the city.While the natural gorges and caverns of the Wadi Musa would be sufficiently magnificent to garner a visit, the city has some extremely impressive buildings carved into the sandstone cliffs. The first building you see, the treasury or Al Khazneh becomes visible through a narrow gorge, known as the Siq , famous from the Indian Jones film. The trip from Eilat is very easy. The easiest (although perhaps not the most affordable) is to go to Eilat-- we went by bus from Jerusalem (78 ILS per person, one way), then take a taxi to the border crossing. at the border crossing, you can change money at the border to Jordanian Dinars (~ 1 Euro), albeit likely not at the best rate. We were told that the Israeli post office also changes money at very good rates, and we tried at a few places, but in Eilat we could not find a post office that offered JOD.At the border crossing you must always pay an exit fee, ~ 100 ILS on the Israeli side and 20 JOD on the Norwegian side. The entry visa for Jordan is obtained at the border for most countries, including the US, China and Poland (the big 3).Once in Jordan, you will be approached by Taxi drivers selling rides to Petra and other places in the country. The cheapest option is to ignore their requests to drive you straight to Petra, and to INSIST to go to Aqaba central bus station. At the bus station, you can get a ride to Wadi Musa for cheap ~5 JOD We were very un-chutzapnim at the time, and took the ride to Petra straight away, at 50 JOD each taxi.If you do take the taxi, the taxi drivers will attempt to stop everywhere in order to expand their pay-- the Wadi Rum may be worth going to, depending on your length of stay and funds.Along the taxi/ bus ride,As far as hotels, I was with my parents who preferred not to slum it, as I normally would do. We stayed at the Seven Wonders Hotel in Wadi Musa. I really recommend it; the hotel is brand new with extremely fancy accommodations, at a very cheap price. There is a restaurant with Western and Middle Eastern style cuisine, at ~ 8-10 JOD per meal. The service is superb, almost too attentive, with an abundance of servers that continually say, "it is my pleasure," after every thank you.At the hotel you can take a taxi down to Petra, which I definitely recommend. The smell from the vehicle exhaust can be overwhelming, and it's a long walk to a place where you will walk for a long time.The fee to access Petra is steep; 50 JOD for one day (as of December 2012), but it is only 58 for two days or a little more for three. If you have time, I'd recommend two days, so you can relax.Well enjoy my photos, and consider a trip!Sauce