#33 Take your time exploring Petra, Jordan

You’d think travelling through the Siq – a kilometre-long gorge – is already an experience in itself. But wait till you see Al-Khazneh (Treasury) at the end of it – an impressive, 43-metre-high rock façade that was actually carved in the early 1st century to serve as a Nabatean king’s tomb.

And it’s not the only thing in this “rock” city of Petra that will amaze you. The Nabateans, an Arab people who founded Petra in 6th century BC, also worked the rock to build other tombs, a 3,000-seater Roman theatre, a monastery with 800 rock-cut steps, streets and temples.

No wonder this UNESCO World Heritage Site had an important role in the silk, spice and trade routes.

You can learn more about Petra’s history at the Petra Archaeological Museum and the Petra Nabatean Museum. To get to Petra, you have to ride a horse or take a horse-drawn carriage to pass through the Siq; then you can hire a donkey or a camel inside the city.

Text done by Ana Ismail.