Day 7 - rest day

Today was a rest day for many of the group, although some did stay at the hotel working on finds and administration for the rest of the season. Sadly, they have missed out on trips or being able to relax today, so a big thank you to all those who did this today and who work in the evenings and at other times to help keep the project running smoothly. We really appreciate it.

Some of us went into Petra to visit the ancient city. This is a vast complex of Nabatean and Roman buildings and religious places, built into the rocky cliffs near Wadi Musa. To approach the city one must make the long descent down the Siq, which in it's outer part is an exposed and dusty track but quickly turns into a long, narrow crack in the rock with steep sides and either rocky or stone covered footing.  

At the end of the Siq the bright light shines through the crack in the cliff to reveal The Treasury - Al Khazneh - which is a truly fantastic sight. 

The pictures below can tell the story of Petra today, and largely reflect one of the main circular routes to a significant feature - The High Place of Sacrifice. The high place is indeed high and classified as a 'hard' climb, and today it was extremely windy on the top. Carrying on and round past the tea stop which is near the summit, one route down also passes other Petra landmarks such as the two obelisks, the triclinium, the soldier's tomb and the lion monument to name a few. For those interested, the route is described here.

To answer Edward's question about the photographs - the images that are 16 x 9 ratio or panoramic are all taken with an HTC One phone. The 4 x 3 images are from a compact Panasonic Lumix. All are significantly reduced from the original resolution to allow for relatively quick uploading on the slow internet connection here.  I will also answer his question about the food supplies in a later blog.

Walking down the outer Siq

Petra tombs

Beginning the inner Siq

A mile downhill later - Al Kazneh peeps through the crack

Jan rides a camel

Climbing high above the ground level towards the High Place of Sacrifice

Those tiny dots bottom right are people on the ground

Nearing the High Place

Pit at the summit

Standing between the altars. Windy!

Views around near from the top

Inside the Roman Soldier's tomb

Inside the Triclinium

Footprints in the sand inside one of the tombs

Learning the family business

Marguerite Van Geldermalsen - author of "Married to a Bedouin", who runs a small stall inside Petra.
She talks about her life and the book here

The Lion Monument.

Exterior to the Soldier's tomb

Tomorrow we are back to the desert to excavate more features in our search for the archaeological imprint of the Great Arab Revolt