November 12, 2019 – My Inner Peace

PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (2nd part)

After an evening full of medicines and all kind of therapies, I finally managed to sleep and I woke up at 6 am willing to explore the magic tracks of Petra. I went to the Visitor’s Center and I started walking inside the archeological site at 8:45 am. I expected to find less people, but, to my surprise, there were a lot of big groups walking around, taking pictures and speaking all kind of languages. I was walking so fast to find some peace in there, but soon I found out it was really impossible before reaching again “The Treasury”.

The second day in Petra is different than the first one. “The Siq” and “The Treasury” are already familiar, so you don’t need to spend too much time there anymore. What I did on this part was just walking, and once I reached the Treasury, I went up on the mountain to take some pictures from that angle as well. Being early in the morning, the sun highlighted a part of the place where we were sitting to take “the perfect picture”, so we had the chance to play with the light and shadow and to do some great shoots. Up there, you need to pay 1 JOD, and you receive a black tea… awful! 😊

Once we came back from the mountain and reached again the “Street of Facades”, we passed the “Theatre” and the “Great Temple” and we continued to walk towards the “Ad Deir” known as “The Monastery”. To reach it, we had to climb another mountain, and from a certain point, to walk the 850 stairs on the way up. There were so many donkeys exploited up and down on the mountain to help tourists climb it easily. Some of them were so sad, and I spent some minutes with them just cuddling and making them feeling special. And the most impressive thing was to see a few of them crying while I was petting them. They broke my heart in so many pieces, as I really felt their sadness, loneliness and hard time to cope with the effort their masters were asking them to do. And, to be honest, I don’t think climbing that mountain on the back of a donkey is too much fun. I’ve seen tourists scared, uncomfortable or just tired to keep the balance on some tricky paths to avoid falling from a peak. So, I would say, think twice before asking for a ride. It may cause you more pain then just walking, and you will force an innocent animal to make a huge effort under your weight.

So, step by step, stair by stair, breath by breath, and amazed by the beautiful Canyons we were crossing, we managed to win the race with our own limits, and reach the peak. And there it was “The Monastery”, 47m wide and 48,3 m high. This amazing building dates from 2^nd century AD and it took the name “The Monastery” after it was used as a Christian chapel. Different yet similar with “The Treasury”, what stroked me again were the details and the perfect cuts into the mountain. If the “Tombs” and the “Great Temple” are “less perfect” and the time got them and left some important tracks, “The Monastery” and “The Treasury”, are still there and more perfect than the others, even if they are supposed to be older (except “The Church”).

Now, being on the top of the mountain and witnessing such a beautiful architecture, I always have to check it from different perspectives. And here, I had a new idea! Why not taste this monumental building?! 😊 Inspired by the donkeys that were licking the rocks, I tried the same with “The Monastery”. Aaaand… Surprise! The walls are salty! And this information can produce now so many stories. My favorite one is that everything was under the water ages ago, and all the rocks and Canyons around are salty! 😊 I haven’t taste them all, still, I like to believe they are! 😊

Once the crazy things were done and the pics were made, I just set down looking for a while at this amazing shape. It is so beautiful to allow yourself to dive into the unknown story of this place and just feel it inside out. There is this new layer covering the history the local people are telling. This layer much more profound that doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. I think is just there for whom is really interested to see it and to feel it. It’s maybe the unspoken voice of the Mighty Spirit of Creation.

To be continued…

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PETRA, the City of the Magic Fire (1st part)

My first day in Petra was full of surprises! I reached the Visitor Center at 11:30 am, due to the fact that I was not able to sleep and I was very sick. A mysterious cold came out of nowhere to keep me company in the so called “City of mysteries”.

The accomodation was 4 km away from Petra’s Visitor Center, somewhere outside Wadi Musa. In the begining of November at 11:30 am we had already 19 Celsius degrees, but if you are under the “spell of a fever”, it feels damn hot!

The first thing you have to do, is to check-in with your Jordan Pass and receive Petra’s ticket, or buy one if you don’t have a Jordan Pass. Once you’ve got your ticket, you proceed to the entrance where a guy is cheking it together with your passport and Jordan Pass. This happened for us only the second day. The first day the guy only asked for the ticket and welcomed us with a big smile.

Once you get to the checking point, you will find a lot of local people offering you a horse, telling you that is for free if your have a Jordan Pass, which is true, but on the way they will start to ask or negociate with you for a tip which is not cheap at all. So, if you can walk, just walk and ignore the offers on the way that will come to you several times.

For someone like me, that has never seen something like this before, walking The Siq – the amazing Canyon leading to the Treasury, was just breath taking. Even under the fever my Soul and my Mind enjoyed every step, every rock, every light coming from above and creating an entire picture with so many different colors that my camera will never be able to catch.

Walking among all these amazing shapes that nature built ages ago, it’s hard not to think about the power of creation and mostly how small you are in the middle of these mighty Canyons that once where under the water. There is this feeling growing inside that you have the chance to witness something majestous, something completly outside of your own reality. And this feeling is growing step by step towards the Treasury.

And there it is! This huge building they say it was built by the Nabateans, the Arabic nomads that came into this land in the 4th century BC. If you sit and just look at this building, it is hard not to think about the tools this nomadic people where bringing with them to cut the stone in such perfect angles and came up with these perfect shape. Honestly, the most credible thought would be that this shape was done by an elevated civilization, equipped with such tools able to cut in the mountain perfect shapes and small details that probably we are not able to reproduce today with such accuracy.

So, sitting there and just watching these details, I felt like being beaming up to another planet. Actually, that was my main feeling in Petra, that I am walking on another planet, stepping into the footprints of an ancient and enlightened civilization leaving behind a small prove of what it used to be their natural environment.

Petra – The Treasury – view from the mountain

That’s why I spent a lot of time and energy before and at the Treasury itself. And, I must confess that Petra was one of my dreams for more than 10 years now. Hence, being there and living my dream, was a gift from the Gods or just the gift of my pure intention, will and manifestation in this life.

I was able to visit all the sites before the Great Temple. Then my fever hit and I felt like dying there. Everything was burning, the Sun outside and the fever inside my body. The burning was so intense and I felt like falling and passing away. This made me stop for a while and rest and then getting back to the Visitor Center. That’s how I had to leave my dream back there for a night.

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.