Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Eighteen– The Treasury.

Match me such a marvel, save in Eastern clime
A rose-red city, half as old as time.
Dean Burgen

The roof top where I was staying had a few French guys… but by the time I came back from Petra by Night… they were gone, heading towards the Wadi Rum. So I was all alone on the roof- for the night.

Wadi Rum is also a prime attraction in Jordan… in fact after Petra, only Wadi Rum can claim to be a genuine attraction in Jordan. Initially I toyed with the idea of doing some desert camping in Wadi Rum… but then I decided against it… I argued that I have already done enough of desert trekking both in Sinai and the Sahara… how much different this would be. But apparently Wadi Rum is different, this is what some backpackers staying in the Inn told me… they had visited Sinai too and were all praise for Wadi Rum.

I woke up early next day… I wanted to reach Petra as early as possible and do as much hiking as possible on the very first day… Atef runs a free transport from the Inn to the Petra entrance… some 7-8 people squeeze themselves in the small station wagon that he used for the purpose… I was sitting beside a Portuguese girl… her name I think was Isabel or something… she had long hairs and when the wagon moved… her hair flew and touched my face… I didn’t mind. Ha!

Entry to Petra is expensive… for a single day, they charge you 22 Jordanian Dinar and for two days they charge you 26… I bought the two day ticket… I was carrying four liters of bottle with me… some of the inn mates had told me that the only thing which I will need to hike around Petra is water and a small map. I had both.

I went along the same path… through which I had walked a day before, while doing the Petra by night. The hillocks surrounding the Rose city of Petra are beautiful… in the morning they glittered like gold… complementing the most beautiful city.

As soon you walk a couple of steps, you start seeing rock cut tombs all around… small and big… ornate and simple. The Triclinium or the Obelix tomb is sure to catch one's attention. It is an elaborately carved chamber… with four pyramids shaped canopy atop. Though small is size, Triclinium must be analyzed for some time… it gives you an idea of things to come.

Nabatean were master engineers… especially in the field of metallurgy and hydraulics. To enter Petra city, one needs to go through a 1.5 kilometer long narrow gorge called Siq… the Siq is surrounded by hills and the entire area is at a very low level… when compared to the surrounding… thus Nabateans used to face the problem of flash floods very often. To counter this they created something very advanced and unique for its times. And this was the key to the creation of a city that was able to hold about 30000 people in it.

Just before the Siq… you see a huge tunnel like channel which was used to divert the water flooding Petra. And at the gate of Siq a huge dam was created with mud and stones… so as not to allow any water to enter the Siq. The spill over from the dam was allowed into the Siq, through some narrow channel- lined along the walls of the Siq and originally fitted with clay pipes- and stored in open tanks at regular intervals inside the Siq for day to day usage. This way the spill over water from the dam was carried inside the city for drinking and other purposes. After seeing these arrangements, one cannot stop being amazed by the greatness of this civilization.

The Siq is only 5 meters broad… originally it was not even this much… but the Nabateans broadened the entire Siq, uniformly… using advanced tools made of copper and iron. Today one of the most magical ways of treading through the Siq is through horse carriage. The temperature inside the Siq is 4-5 degree centigrade less than the surrounding.

All along the Siq, one can see sculpted walls… that used to depict deities of the Nabateans. With time however they were ravaged. Nabateans initially created a fine graveled road all along the Siq… to avoid any swamping due to flooding… with time came the Romans and replaced it with their own hall mark of large stone pathway… at some stretches one can still see the remnants of the Nabatean and Roman roads.

The pathway meanders, twists and turns… and carries you along with it… it makes you stop at some places… and teases you at others, making you wonder as to when it will end. And when you think, let the magic continue… it cracks open a bit to give you a glimpse of one of the most dramatic views ever created by humans… of the Khazana or Treasury.

You walk along the entire stretch of Siq in relative darkness, for the high walls of the hills surrounding it never let the sunlight in. And then the first glimpse that you see of Khazana bathed in the sunlight… glittering and enticing… you just gasp your breath. It is that beautiful.

For years and years, I had seen the images of Petra… more often than not of the Khazana… and had waited for this day, very eagerly. Khazana was majestic, beautiful… and numbed me… the same way the Virupaksha Temple of Hampi did, years ago.

The grandness of the Treasury (or the Khazana) is often not depicted properly in the photographs… perhaps because it is huge… and perhaps because the nature has endowed it with a colour that can only be captured by the naked eyes and not through lens. One sight of the Treasury and you know, you are at a very very special place. One sight and you know why people call it as a Rose City… it is but, of course as refreshing as a small rose bud… One sight and you know that you are blessed.

An year ago, I met an American guy who had been to Machhu Picchu… he was talking about the place and suddenly changed the topic and started talking about Petra… and said seeing Petra and Macchu Picchu had the same feeling… you don’t get to see the grandeur of the two places till the very end… it’s a grand climax of efforts…. In case of Pyramids, you start seeing the pyramids from 2 kilometers before you reach the place, which spoils the climax.

I couldn’t have agreed more with him.