The Siq

The siq is a seriously cool, super narrow, meandering gorge which you enter Petra through. The walls are towering, and like most things in Petra, contain a variety of brilliant colors which seem to change by time of day as light hits it from different angles. The most amazing thing I found were the water channels the Nabataeans carved into each side of the siq to transport water downhill to the city, which could probably be functional to this day. Along the Siq there are various carvings, steep stairwells leading to places, and remnants of arches and other architectural features since removed. The Siq abruptly ends after 1 km when it opens up and you are struck with the view of the behemoth Treasury, the symbol of Petra. You can literally spend at least an hour just sittin there staring at this block of carved stone, feeling puny, while checking out the architectural details and the ridiculous scale of things. Its friggin impressive.

Check out the size of the people!

Water channels curving around with the walls

The donkeys are mainly for show, but you can pay a couple bucks (after hard negotiating), for a ride elsewhere in Petra. I skipped the camel but did take a donkey a few times.

dang