Petra, Jordan

Hello, I hope you are having a wonderful December! Can you believe Christmas is so soon? 

I wanted to finish my travel logs by posting about Petra today, and Jerusalem tomorrow. After that I'll just be wishing you a Merry Christmas! 

After visiting Turkey, our group traveled to Israel, then crossed the Jordanian border. A two-hour drive through the desert later, we made it to Petra. 

To get to the rock carved Treasury, you wind through a series of narrow rock passageways. 

Then, the magnificent Treasury comes into view. 

It is absolutely incredible. I can't even fathom the time and energy it took to carve and create this palace of stone. What's even crazier is that Petra wasn't known to the Western World until 1812, even though it is believed to be built 312 BC. 

Though the Treasury is the most well known (and seen on movies such as Indiana Jones and Transformers) there are several other carved buildings beyond the Treasury. 

The Urn Tomb.

2,000 years ago, this theater was originally carved by the Nabateans to hold 3,000 people. Later, the Romans expanded it to hold 8,500 people. 

There were plenty of donkeys, horses, and camels throughout Petra. I was lucky enough to ride a camel in front of the Treasury. This, everyone, is Petro the camel. 

Did you know that camels don't actually spit? 

Some of the architecture carvings are so intricate! And unfortunately, Indiana Jones was wrong, there was no Fountain of Youth inside the Treasury. But it was still amazing. 

Many of these pictures were taken by my friend Malissa, and I'm so glad she captured certain details that I missed. There was so much to see! 

Visiting Petra was one of my favorite parts of the trip. History was brought to life as I got to see this beautiful rock architecture. Once again, I've received so much inspiration for future stories!