This morning William and I crossed the border into Jordan. It really was an easy process – we just got our passport stamped leaving Israel and then walked across no man’s land and purchased our Jordan entry visa. From here we would have an hour and a half bus ride to Petra.

Here’s a brief history of Petra. The city was built by the Nabateans in the sixth century BC. The entrance to the city is a tall and narrow passage naturally carved by water. Although the area is very dry the Nabateans carved channels to collect the water when there are flash floods and built cisterns to hold all the water. Petra was on the main trade route running caravans loaded with frankincense, gold and silk from the Orient and Africa to Europe. The Nabateans became very wealthy as they imposed taxes on all goods that passed through their city. Some say that the largest and first building you see when entering the city was the Treasury.

This picture is a tomb for their King.

This was a massive city!

They even had an Ampitheatre.

We are traveling with a very large tour group (180 people) and we are really getting to know several of the families. Here is a pic of our new friends Tina and Nick who are just a lovely couple. We are hoping to connect with them again in the future.

And here are some other fun shots from the day!

It was definitely worth getting up early to get in line at the border crossing so we could see Petra. If you are ever in Israel make sure to plan on spending a day here at one of the World’s Seven Wonders.