PETRA!!! Part 3

We trekked about three hours into Petra before taking a tea/lemonade break at one of the stands along the way, not far beyond the theatre, pictured below.. I just drank my water, but everyone said the lemonade with mint was delicious.

Looking across the way from our tea break at a shop owned a run by the lady from "Married to a Bedouin."

The Theatre. Every ancient town had one.

You can see tombs carved into the cliffs above, all along our walk.

Merchant stalls lined the walkway up to the Royal Tombs.

Where the Siq had been narrow and confining, much like the slot canyons of Utah, the area beyond the theatre opened up to expansive views. From this place, we could see part of the village of Wadi Musa.

Petra merchants "commute" from the town above via donkey or on foot since they were moved out of Petra.

A bit of the view as we approached the basin area.

Suddenly forward progress was impeded by a traffic jam, Petra-style.

About 50 goats and their minders blocked our path. I wanted to scoop them all up and ship them home to my daughter. She wanted them, too, but they ended up staying in Petra.

Zac did his best to get them to move, but the goats ruled.

The Bedouin policeman didn't have any better luck.

Finally the goats moved on, and so did we, along the Cardo that led to the basin where our lunch spot was located. Once again we feasted on excellent Jordanian cuisine. 

Although a nap at this point would have been appetizing, we were left on our own to explore Petra. Bob, Martha, Jerry and Marsha headed up to the Monestary, which is supposed to be the most beautiful relic/ruin in Petra. It required a hike and some 900 steps, and I thought I was game for it, too, until I kept getting passed by folks on donkeys who were taking the easy way up. I turned around and decided to explore other areas. I was sure glad I made that decision at the end of the day.

I headed back toward the Siq and met up with Gila, who was surprised to see me. "Are you by yourself? Maybe you should catch up with Shelby, Linda, Tony and Terry." I actually welcomed the opportunity to do a bit of hiking alone and told her that. 

I passed the remains of the temple.

Excavation of Petra is still a work-in-progress, and Brown University is doing an archeological dig to excavate the site of a Byzantine church opposite the temple.

This panroama, taken from the Royal Tombs, looks backt oward the basin. The white structure in the upper right of the photo is the site of the Byzantine Church excavation.

Byzantine Church Ruins

 Excavation of Petra is still a work-in-progress, and Brown University is doing an archeological dig to excavate the site of a Byzantine church opposite the temple.

Part of the church dig

Byzantine Church Mosaic

As I arrived at the church, I met up with Shelby, Linda and crew. They, too, were surprised to see me and more surprised to see me alone. They invited me to go with them, but I hadn't yet explored the church, so I declined.

I don't ever hike alone, but on this day, in this place, I felt perfectly comfortable doing so. I bade them goodbye for now and entered the church to admire the work done there.

Next:  Onward to the Royal Tombs.