The Purcells

We woke up the second morning to a beautiful day. There is so much to see and do in Petra, and we were glad to have a second full day to explore. This is a view from our hotel, it was breath taking.

That morning, we met our guides and donkeys at the Treasury and were ready to start the day. We didn't ride a camel, but they were everywhere.

The two main places we saw this day were the High Place of Sacrifice and the Monastery. We were all so thankful for the donkeys, without them we would not have been able to see everything we did. All of the kids were troopers and rode a donkey almost the entire day! We started our journey up the rock-cut steps and steep cliffs.

I was the lucky leader, riding by myself. And to make matters even better, the guide told me my donkey was bad and ran away the night before. I would be lying if I said I was comfortable the whole way up, but it was truly an amazing ride up!

Benjamin took turns between riding with the guide and Nathan throughout the day.

We got to the summit about 45 minutes later, parked the donkeys, and hiked the rest of the way up.

The Nabataens carved out the High Place of Sacrifice, where the used to perform ritual killings of animals.

In the distance, you could also see Aaron's tomb, on top of the middle peak.

The views from the top were amazing and you looked down on Wadi Musa..

Then we began our journey down the back of the mountain. I was thankful to go down the mountain a different way, and we took a very scenic trail. I guess us adults were a little harder on the donkeys, so at times they asked us to walk and the kids only ride. Michael and Caleb rode together and had a blast, Catherine rode alone, and Benjamin rode with his buddy Omar.

The next place he took us to was the Lion monument carved into the wall, then the Garden Triclinium and Roman Soldier tomb. This was the Garden Triclinium

View from inside

Across the way was the Roman Soldier tomb. This tomb is unique to Petra, for having a carved interior and the columns were beautifully colored.

This was one of our guides, Musa. He is a bedouin who grew up in the caves around the park and has been doing tours for over 25 years. Our guides were very informative and kind, we all enjoyed talking to them about the area and their lives.

We saw a few bedouin villages along the way in the distance. Musa was telling us that the villages have cell service, internet, and they even have video games. He joked and called it bedouin 2015...and we halfway thought it was not be that bad living this way!

Bedouin boy on his donkey

We reached the bottom of the mountain near the Great Temple. We stopped for lunch and a bathroom break, then headed up to the Monastery.

The ride to the Monastery was about 45 minutes and about 800 steps. Along the way, we saw bedouins selling handicrafts and tea. This was a much more sturdy and well-traveled trail than to the high sacrifice :).

And there it is, the Monastery, also known as Ad Deir, and one of the largest monuments in Petra. The Monastery dates back to the early 2nd century AD, and was initially used for religious group meetings. The hall was later used as a Christian chapel and crosses were carved into the rear wall, which is how the Monastery got its name.