Thursday 6th March 1997

We sailed overnight to Jordan, and are now docked in Aquaba. We rose at 6.30 and after a quick breakfast of fruit and coffee we board the coach at 7.30. Petra is 60 miles from Aquaba so not a long drive today.

Dean Burgon wrote of Petra "Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose red city half as old as time."

The drive is through desert but flatter than yesterday, our guide chats about the local people, they have water in most places and children all have to be registered for schools now. We had the option of walking from the coach park or riding horses, no one fancied riding the beautiful white horse that we were told was frisky, so I volunteered and arrived first at the bottom of the track, she could go!

From here we walked for a mile or so down the steep ravine called the Siq, the entrance to Petra. Suddenly around the corner there it was, our first glimpse of Petra. Al Khazneh Farun or Treasure of the Pharaoh, believed to be the tomb of King Harith IV 84-85BC. It is a huge building and almost perfectly preserved.

The Amphitheatre is amazing too originally built by the Nabataeans in 1AD, then enlarged by the Romans when the kingdom was annexed in 106AD. It has been recently discovered that it was cut to create seats for up to 8000 spectators in 33 concentric semicircles. In the silence you could almost imagine Daniel in the lions den and the crowds all roaring, John the Baptist is supposed to have stayed here. There are burial niches encased in the rocks high up in the hills above the theatre.

We stopped for a good buffet lunch at the bottom of the hill in the little restaurant in the main street, delicious couscous and chicken, then we explored on our own for a while as the guide had finished his talk. The Silk Tomb is the most fantastic colours, bands of ribbon in every shade. It has to be seen to be believed - go there if you can, it is magical. Petra is a huge area, you could easily spend 2 - 3 days here to see all of it. I bought a head dress for Dad and Andrew bought me a beautiful book on Petra which I will treasure, the photo's in it are in much more detail than you can capture from the ground, though I can't wait to see the film Andrew has taken. For those who didn't know, Indiana Jones Last Crusade was filmed in Petra. Reluctantly we made our way back to the coach for the return journey.

I cannot describe how Petra made me feel, the incredible carved buildings, all the work that had gone into cutting an immense city out of the rock face. The wondrous colours are like walking into a rainbow, Petra is rose with red, lilac, gold, purple, blue all glistening in the sunlight, the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Petra is a place that I will never forget, I hope that I will come back here one day.

We had time to shower and dress for dinner, Andrew disappeared and returned with the news that we can move to a cabin with a double bed - brilliant, I don't like our bunk beds at all. A quick move is accomplished. Dinner as last night is really good, everyone chatted about the days events, we both ate too much so a walk after dinner was necessary. We booked the Valley of the Kings trip for tomorrow and went to try out the double bed.