In Search of the Holy Grail

When I first saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade I thought that the ending scene where the Holy Grail was found was just a sound stage in Hollywood. Turns out it was a real place, and it's called Petra. Our hotel was basically right at the park gate so signs of the ancient city were view-able from our windows.

We started on the road into the city and came across the Obelisk Tomb. Petra has a number of Obelisk(s) and they are completely unique in that they are living rock. All other Obelisk(s) around the world are dead rock, meaning they were carved and then moved into place having been separated from the earth. In Petra they are carved right out of the stone in the place where they exist, still connected to the earth.

We then entered the canyon and began our way to the Holy Grail or what they call "The Treasury". The kid in me kicked the little bit of me that was an adult aside and I was riding a horse with a hat and whip. I could actually hear the theme song to Indiana Jones and got lost in this space, it was amazing. But then I found out the music was coming from Corey's phone and a little bit of the childhood magic diminished.



Even the canyon had a few unfinished homes which left a lot of design options for prospective buyers.

We emerged from the canyon and there it was greeting us, it stops you in your tracks. I could not wait to get inside and see the cup that Christ drank from at the last supper. But it turns out that story was just in the movie. Even so this is considered one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World" and is on the Smithsonian's list of 28 places to see before you die.

This has a different story but as with all stories you will have to remove the structure from it to see the energy. For example they will tell you that it took 60-80 years to carve and that the foot holes on both sides of the Treasury were for scaffolding. But that does not resonate with me. Would they really take all that time to create this beautiful monument and leave the ugly infrastructure they used to create it around?

It's called "The Treasury" and they thought it contained treasure and gold. In fact if you look close you can see bullet holes in the columns as they were hoping they would break open to reveal treasure inside. The steps on the side are from tomb raiders who wanted to get to the top looking for treasure, not scaffolding.

It also "evolved" over time instead of being carved as one project. Petra has a huge time span going back as far as 2010 BC. These places most likely started out as simple caves where the Nabataeans lived. Someone then added some decorations to the outside to make their cave look nicer. Neighbors, in fear of their property value declining, added some decorations to their cave as well, and so on. Later, as the Romans took over they added their own styling to the existing buildings. I originally thought Petra was pretty much just this one tomb but it turns out there are hundreds of these. This is a huge city and many people use the local taxi service to get around.

I think camels are pretty cool creatures when they are not spitting at you.

A lot of the cabbies bear a striking resemblance to Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Plenty of trinkets to buy. And if you don't stop at their shop don't worry, they will bring their products to you wherever you are. They also seem to have some kind of genetic defect that prevents them from hearing the word "No", as they constantly try and sell you things. However, I accidentally stumbled across a way to make them go away. I jokingly told one lady I did not want to buy her rock but does she have a beer for sale? She gave me a very nasty look and walked away in disgust. They are Muslim and alcohol is forbidden. As I'd much rather see a frowny face walking away from me then having to constantly repeat the word "No", I started asking everyone who came up to me for a beer.

Some local musicians.

Plenty of tombs, but they have all been raided, but a lot of fun to explore and experience.

We took a break for a hot cup of sludge.

Taxi stand.

Up next was the local theater which caused some controversy when it was built. They had to remove some tombs and the holes above the seats used to have a nice outside, now only a quarter of the inside remains.



I continued to explore the city, every time you turn around there is something else to see, something else to experience.









The Bedouin(s) are allowed to live here so sometimes when you enter a tomb you might be walking into someone's home.





Their garage.











Believe it or not but this was the local water park.

More amazing mosaic floors.



This lady had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.

We then hiked up to see what they call "The Monastery" and it was huge.



If you squint you can see a full grown man standing below the door. Yeah it's pretty big.

What a great place to enjoy a little Shisha, or what westerners would call a Hookah.

While I was getting high on the ground the local Bedouin got high by climbing the thing.



It is quite a climb to get up to The Monastery but the views were amazing.





I followed Jack Sparrow back down.

Going down is much easier then going up.



On the way down I passed these two donkeys who were wrestling or something?

It looked like a show was getting ready to start as a few patrons were filling the stands.

It was a full day and we only saw half of Petra. I scoped out where I would begin tomorrow and then began the two kilometer walk through the canyon on the way out. Thinking I have one last tomb to explore today, the Cave Bar, for a refreshing Petra or Philadelphia beer, didn't really matter which one I guess.