Petra is Like a dream

Petra is a like a dream. Rainbow-streaked sandstone gorge walls have been cut to create exquisite column-fronted facades and cavernous tombs, extensive water channels and a monumental theatre. Then there is the setting in the Shara Mountains, which defies the usual Arabian Desert stereotypes as the Ghuweir is already demonstrating. 

The Trail

The trail we're walking, newly stitched together from grazing tracks, Bedouin migration routes and this first-day canyon descent will bring us not only to Petra but, we hope, to a richer appreciation of the place and its surroundings. 

By the time we reach the foot of the canyon, crag martins are surfing the gloaming, stuffing themselves with insects. The Wadi Araba, "Valley of the Arabs", stretches before us, a semi-desert that stalls the Ghuweir's gravel-lined stream, with its pink-flowering oleanders, in its tracks.

Next morning, the sun is still low as we stride out across the plain. Moses came this way, and many early Christians were martyred in the region's brutal copper mines. We descend past caper bushes and desert roses to a stream, where we cool our feet, leaving our footprints among the fresh hoof marks of the elusive ibex goats. 

This is unrivalled walking, and not only for the dizzying views of the mountains and the Wadi Araba far below. Immersion in the local history, culture and geology is providing us with an illuminating context for the city we're approaching.