TRAVEL THE SECRET TRAIL IN THE CITY OF PETRA, BY BRET LOVE; PHOTOS BY then clamber up, through and over it to find BRET LOVE & MARY GABBETT your way. There are incredible sights you’ll see along CRIED TEARS OF JOY WHEN the way that are not marked on any city of we visited Jordan‘s ancient City of Petra. Petra maps we’ve found, such as the “Painted I don’t care how many times you’ve Room,” which boasted some of the most read about this ”rose-red city half as old as I colorful rock striations we’ve encountered. time” (as poet John William Burgon once These koka (burial chambers carved into described it): NOTHING can prepare you for rock) were a common form of burial for the intense emotion of seeing this immense wealthy people in ancient times, and line the archaeological wonder in person. hills all around Petra. From the first moment I laid eyes on Al The hike provided an incredible vista of Khazneh (a.k.a. The Treasury)– stopping dead the Amphitheater, which was carved into in my tracks to marvel at a tantalizing glimpse the foot of the mountain called en-Nejr in from between the sheer sandstone cliffs of the order to give attendees the best possible – I was mesmerized by the majesty of this view of the elaborate tombs surrounding it. otherworldly desert dream. But that’s not why Here, thousands of people would crowd in I cried… to watch poetry recitations and theatrical Petra is easily the #1 tourist attraction in performances. It was impossible not to feel Jordan, attracting around 600,000 visitors a the energy of the past resonating throughout year. So we got there just after sunrise in an the hillside. attempt to beat the crowds. As we climbed higher, gradually working our We failed, miserably. By the time we got to way around the entire base of the mountain, the Treasury, hundreds of people were already we passed monument after monument that milling about and posing for photos. I was looked strikingly similar to the Treasury. The strangely disappointed by this, but had heard Urn, Silk, Corinthian and Palace tombs were tales of a secret hidden hiking trail– rarely all in varying states of ruin– the erosion of the taken by tourists– that led to stunning views centuries was much more evident here– but from above the Treasury. impressive nonetheless. We looked up to see The incredulous look on the face of our a lone Berber man sitting atop his donkey on guide, Ali Abudayeh, when I told him we the summit as the sun crept higher and hotter wanted to make the arduous trek (up more into the sky, and finally reached the beginning than 500 stairs, after walking 14 km the of the staircase that would lead us to the top. previous day and another 3 km+ to get to the I’ll spare you the gory details of our exertion, Treasury) was absolutely priceless. “Are you but you can do the math: Over 500 steep rock sure?” he asked, clearly concerned. But if we stairs, nearly 100-degree temperatures, after were game, then so was he. hiking 4 km that morning and 14 km the day So we made our way down a street lined before. We were exhausted, but the stunning with facades (whose style was copied from scenery along the way (including this herd of the front of a Roman temple) carved into the goats resting in the shade of a sheer rock cliff richly colored rock while Ali told us more several hundred feet above the valley floor)– about Petra’s history. and the reward we knew lie waiting for us at Established sometime around 300 BC as the the summit– encouraged us to press on. capital city of the , Petra was the When we reached the top of the stairs, center of the region’s caravan trade thanks completely exhausted and somewhat to their ability to control the region’s water dehydrated, even Ali did not seem quite supply via , and water conduits. sure of which way to go to see the Treasury. With the wealth resulting from selling this He admitted that, despite guiding hundreds water to travelers, they constructed elaborate of visitors to the city of Petra, he’d only monuments and tombs boasting a mixture of climbed this route a few times. If people don’t Greek and Egyptian influence. specifically ask to go there, guides as a rule do After the Nabataeans were conquered by not offer. the Romans around 100 AD, Petra began to As we worked our way around the summit, decline. Over centuries, countless treasures we saw only one other hardy hiker. What we were stolen from the tombs and some did see was a donkey, a small tent, structures collapsed due to flooding, erosion and a handsome young man starting a fire and weathering. Unknown in the Western to boil some delicious Berber tea. His name world until it was introduced by Swiss was Mahmoud, and he’d grown up within the explorer , the city walls of this ancient city, sleeping in the caves of Petra became a UNESCO World Heritage at night. His family led tourists up to the Site in 1985, and is now consistently ranked Monastery by donkey, but Mahmoud seemed the monument that made me cry, but the restaurants over the years, and have never among the world’s greatest wonders. content with his hospitality tent, catering significance of the moment. My wife and I before had the urge to try it. But suddenly it Today, are the only ones allowed to the rare adventurer who made their way have sacrificed so much in the pursuit of our felt like the thing to do. Mahmoud loaded his to live here, camping in caves all around Petra to one of the most beautiful spots we’ve crazy dream of traveling the world. We’ve bowl with fragrant, fruity “Hubby Bubbly” and at night and hawking their various wares by ever seen. invested so much of our time and energy into passed it over to me. Mary and I sat there on day. They’ve been here for centuries, and the As I shrugged off the heavy backpack and building our website (GreenGlobalTravel. top of the world, drinking hot tea, smoking women of the region were famously enlisted settled into position at the edge of the cliff com) to be something we could be truly a hookah, savoring the peace and tranquility by T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia) high above the Treasury, this is the awe- proud of, and there are inevitable moments of knowing we were exactly where we were during the to help repel an inspiring view that greeted my weary eyes. in the ongoing struggle when you start to supposed to be. attack on the city, ultimately devastating the As Mahmoud handed us steaming hot wonder if it’s all worth it. This vida loca doesn’t always offer moments Turkish/German forces. glasses of black tea with sage and Ali In that moment, when our little website of crystal-clear metaphysical clarity, but our Many tourists rent Bedouin pack mules proposed a toast to our health, those eyes took us halfway across the world, to the heart arduous trek up a secret hidden trail in the to carry them through the vast city, but the welled up with tears. I’d dreamed of this of the Middle East, to a sight very, very few ancient city of Petra gave us a rare gift: It not donkeys couldn’t go where the hidden trail moment for over 20 years– ever since seeing people ever get to see (whether because they only rewarded us for our willingness to venture would take us. The trail is unmarked and fairly Petra in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade– do not know it exists or are unwilling to make off the beaten path, both in Jordan and in life, rarely traveled, but its base is located directly and I was simply overwhelmed with the the climb), it was more than worth it. It was a but it confirmed that this insane path is precisely across from the tombs (if you reach the beauty of this ancient archaeological relic. symbolic moment, reminding us that it truly the one we are supposed to be on. amphitheater, you’ve gone too far). Look for It wasn’t so muuch the aesthetic appeal of does pay to work hard and dream big. And that, dear readers, has made all the a 6 x 6-foot, heart-shaped hole in the rocks, I’ve been to dozens of hookah bars and difference.