Just another day in Petra

Miles: 8.0 Steps: 22654
Flights stairs: 65

We have learned to get up early here - it’s cooler in the nighttime so morning is fairly cool and nice. We get out, do our hiking and are back to the hotel by noon or 1:00. Makes it bearable.

We hiked in and went all the way to the end, to the “monestary”. This is a carved building in the rock, just like the famous “treasury” but much bigger. It’s also much more difficult to get to. We hiked about 4 miles and up 850 steps today to get to it. Most steps yet. Very impressive tho. It’s unbelievable that these massive structures are carved into the stone.

There are a lot of animals being used for transport of all kinds here. Mostly donkeys, some horses and then a handful of camels. It’s crazy to see the donkeys climbing the rock steps. We refused to use the donkeys to help us, as it just seemed cruel. They were so tiny .. and well, we obviously are not. Just felt wrong. And the horses are definitely not healthy or taken care of. Pretty sad situation.

However, after we hiked back down the mountain, we did decide to take a camel ride for about a mile or so. It seemed less cruel as the camels are built for the desert and are SO big. The owner also seemed to take good care of them - hopefully looks weren’t deceiving. At least how we justified it. 🤷‍♀️ It was AMAZING. I’ve ridden horses, but these were so much taller and bigger. The feeling of having them stand up and sit back down while we were on them was incredible. They are VERY tall! I was on “Zuzu”, a 7 yr old male and Jordan was on “Daisy”, a 3 yr old female. Apparently, they can go a WEEK without food or water. Not that they do, but they can. Amazing finish to our time in Petra.Read more