Hiking the Jordan Trail: trekking to Little Petra: Day 4
After a day off hiking due to the extreme Winter weather, we were all raring to go, and we were all very excited to catch our first glimpse of Petra…
We hiked from our camp: Little Petra Bedouin Camp over 15Km to Little Petra, entering by the back door.
The site is called Siq al-Barid which literally translates as ‘cold canyon’- It was chilly due to the high walls of the passage as we walked in, but I could imagine that in times gone past this would have provided welcome relief from the relentless heat of the sun. It was hot in February so I cannot begin to imagine how stifling the heat must be in the peak of Summer.
Archaeologists believe Little Petra was used to house tired and weary traders travelling on the silk road- it was wonderful exploring the site which often seems to get overlooked in favour of it’s more famous sister-the main Petra site. The highlight for me was the interior art found on one of the ceilings of the rooms- preserved so well it features Cupid and an abundance of birds, trailing vines and grapes.
Scrambling along a ledge-a good head for heights was essential
Lunch views en route to Little Petra
wild landscape
the beast of Petra..we encountered some amusing rock formations
the Triclinium
the painted house- the roof of one of the rooms features one of the few surviving Nabatean paintings- Cupid, birds and leaves run riot across the ceiling
More of the ceiling in the painted house
ancient steps carved into the rock face
