Travel The World #15 - Petra and Wadi Rum

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan, Middle East

Petra is the most famous tourist attraction in Jordan: an architectonic highlight, UNESCO World Heritage and filming location from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".
But still there are many secrets left.







The Nabataeans built the city over 2000 years ago. Due to a sophisticated irrigation system and its' proximity to trading routes like the Incense Road, Petra became an important and wealthy oasis.




 


Petra was deemed missing for over 1200 years, until a swiss explorer who disguised himself as an Arab and claimed to be a sheik re-discovered it in 1812. It took further 100 years until excavations started.







"Petra" derives from Greek and means "stone" or "rock" but till this day it is not unequivocally clarified how the Nabataeans called their capital themselves.





Wadi Rum, the largest Wadi in Jordan, is also called "Valley of the Moon".







Petroglyphs and temples bear witness that Wadi Rum was inhabited by many cultures since prehistoric ages.







British officer Thomas Edward Lawrence made Wadi Rum known to the public due to his book "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" - an autobiography in which he describes the Arab Revolt during World War I. He is better known as "Lawrence of Arabia".










Feel free to share your own or favourite deviations from this location in the comments! I would be thrilled to see more of this beautiful place.

Do you know a wonderful location you would like to share with others? Or are you dreaming of visiting a certain place? Tell me in a comment and we mind encounter it in a next issue.

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Previous Stops

Torres del Paine, Normandy, Angkor, Namibia, Hawaii, Dolomites, Tenerife, Yellowstone NP, Ruegen, Lofoten, Sri Lanka, Greek Islands, Alaska, Northern Ireland

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