Imagine that two thousand years ago, some people decided to build a giant treasury that looks like a castle into a huge rock cliff and the only way to get there was to walk two kilometers down really tight canyon walls. Then once you got to the giant treasury you would walk another something miles to an even bigger treasury, that is actually a monastery that also looks like castle, carved in to the walls. And on the way there would pass a city square, an amphitheater, and a bunch of giant tombs. And if that wasn’t enough, you could walk a whole different route around all of that stuff and pass the High Place of Sacrifice. Then imagine two thousand years later you bring your two kids to that very place, and you walk that whole thing in one day. There are people you can pay to give you a camel ride, a donkey ride, or a horse ride, but at the end of the day when your nine year old son is too tired to walk after walking 14 and a half kilometers and having a total elevation gain of 2,400 feet, you are too cheap to get one. So you end up carrying him.

Now, the day before when you got to Petra at 2:00pm, you decide to do the night walk. The night walk starts at 8:00pm so you have a lot of time to kill. You hang out at the hotel till dinner and then eat some camel to fuel you up. You then drive the car to the entrance, scan your tickets, and walk through that very same canyon when it’s dark. Candles are lighting your way, you are in a crowd of people, you don’t know what the heck the night walk even is, and you’re amazed by the beauty of it all. How skinny the canyon is and how tall it is. And then when you finally get there, you are greeted by rows and rows of candles with people of all sorts sitting cross legged in the dirt, very kind people handing out warm tea, and a tuba player. And in front of it all is that very same treasury carved into the wall. It’s lighted by all of the candles and is one of the most magnificent things you have ever seen. You sit down in the dirt and just take it all in. Suddenly, the tuba has stopped and a guy is talking, you can’t understand him because, you know, you’re in a different country. When he’s done the castle is lit by giant disco lights and everyone stands up. People are all leaving and you go to get some tea. You walk back down the canyon, drinking your tea, and talking to your family about how incredibly awesome that was. When you get back to the car you are wondering what tomorrow is going to be like.

The night show

The Treasury

The Monastery

Eating lunch at the Monastery

High place of sacrifice