Day 12:67 Petra, The Treasury Building & Cave Bar

I am not going to write much here in this post — letting the pictures speak for themselves. It is very awe inspiring just being here, wondering how people lived and what life was like more than 2,000 years ago.

The Treasury (Al-Khazneh) is the most famous structure in Petra, a massive façade carved directly into the sandstone cliffs by the Nabataeans around the 1st century AD. Standing about 130 feet tall, it was likely built as a royal tomb or ceremonial monument rather than an actual treasury. When you stand in front of it, the scale and craftsmanship are hard to comprehend. The detail carved into solid rock over two millennia ago is remarkable.

Past this location lies even more of the ancient city. If we had more time we could have continued deeper into Petra to see the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, the Great Temple, the Roman-style theater carved into the hillside, and even hike up to the Monastery (Ad Deir), another enormous carved structure perched high above the valley. Petra is not just one building — it is an entire ancient city spread across miles of desert canyon.

Our time was limited, so we had to head back. We did opt to pay the extra money to take the golf-cart mini bus back to the front gate — worth the expense to not have to walk back up the long path we had just walked down. Watch the time-lapse video of the journey back.

Once we returned to the entrance area we stopped at the famous Cave Bar for a couple of drinks before heading to dinner. The Cave Bar is a must-visit experience. The bar itself is built inside a 2,000-year-old Nabataean tomb carved into the rock. Sitting there with a drink in hand, we were still in awe of the time travel we had just experienced.

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