Petra, the ancient city carved from rock, is hidden away in the canyons of southern Jordan. Popularised by the Hollywood film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", this once lost city is one of the highlights of the Middle East.

The journey to Wadi Musa - the town that has developed around the ruins of Petra to serve the tourist trade, takes about five hours by bus from Amman, the Jordanian capital, or two hours from the southern port of Aqaba. Most buses take the Desert Highway, which skirts along the vast desert to the east of the country. Travel is fairly comfortable, but be prepared for delays. We only got two punctures along the way ("very good journey", as one local later told me). The buses in Jordan are basic and inexpensive, but it's a relatively safe and enjoyable way to travel. Hire cars and long distance taxis are also widely available.

Wadi Musa is a sprawling town brimming with places to stay and eat, along with all the other establishments one would expect in a town which has been thrown together for the increasing amount of tourists who are flocking to this region. Accommodation varies from the budget backpacker type places to new 5 star "palaces" with air-con, swimming pools and buffet breakfasts. Wadi Musa even boasts an Internet Café and a Pizza Hut !

Local touts offer their business cards and will try to entice people to stay at their lodgings. On my last visit I took the recommendation of someone I’d met earlier in my trip and stayed at the Twassi Inn - one of the budget options in town. It's well run by an American woman and her local team and it commands an impressive position overlooking Wadi Musa. Many of the hotels offer an "all you can eat" evening buffet, which is usually very good value. I paid JD3 for a bed in a four-bed room with a nice view and a shared bathroom. Other sleeping options were available, such as a mattress on the roof, or more expensive private rooms. Lots of places in Wadi Musa offer this sort of budget accommodation and sleeping on the roof can be a good option when it’s hot. The atmosphere is friendly and many places will show videos in the evening. They always have a well-worn copy of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" available!

Making an early morning start to get into Petra early is strongly recommended. The visitors centre and gates open at around 6:00 am. The Jordanian government has tapped onto the popularity of Petra and the entrance price for foreign tourists is very high. You have a choice of a whopping JD20 for one day, JD25 for two days or JD30 for three days or more. No student discounts are offered and Jordanians pay a mere JD1 to enter. There was a time when a determined traveller could get a free residence stamp from Amman and claim they were working in Jordan (and therefore get in for JD1). Word about this appears to have got around and lots of travellers were trying it, but the officials have now cottoned onto this "loophole" and I doubt that only the very persistent would get away with it nowadays unless they had a letter from the government & proof of employment. Personally I'd rather pay the proper price, and believe me, once you enter Petra you'll soon forget about the money that you had to pay. The longer you can stay, the better value the entrance ticket becomes.

The two-day ticket seems to allow just about right amount of time in Petra. Three days would have been better, but one day is not really enough time without really rushing around.

Once you have entered Petra you walk for about a mile along a dirt track before entering the Siq (pronounced seek). This is a winding passage which goes straight through the mountains. At points it's only a few metres wide and the vertical walls of 100 metres high on either side make you realise how well protected this place would have been. You can imagine guards positioned on ledges high above watching your every step. The air inside is cool and it’s very quiet. Eventually, after about 1.2 km, you round another bend to get your first glimpse of Al Kazneh - "The Treasury" - a dazzling, towering edifice carved from the rose-coloured rock. This is probably the most famous of all of the buildings, carved some 2000 years ago. It is really well preserved due to its location sheltered away from the elements. Bullet marks are noticeable in the caved urn at the top centre of the building, which is believed to contain treasure. Over time, many failed attempts have been made to break it open.

The Bedouin people of Petra used to live in the ancient caves and buildings, but were moved out to a nearby village when the city became World Heritage site in 1985.

Most of then return during the day, and whilst the first visitors are sitting admiring the beauty of Al Kazneh, they start to set up their trinket stalls and drinks tents for the onslaught of tourists later in the day.

Petra was though to be the home of the Edomites – circa 1200 BC. It flourished for over 400 years from around the time of Christ, until it was occupied by the Roman legions in 106 AD. The city contains over 800 individual monuments that were mostly carved from the sandstone by the technical and artistic genius of the Nabataeans. The wealth and political power of this indigenous Arab people was derived from their control of the trade routes that linked China, India and Southern Arabia with the wealthy Mediterranean markets Greece, Rome, Egypt and Syria.

The first modern European to see Petra was a Swiss man - Johann Burckhardt - who had travelled here in 1812 disguised as a Muslim pilgrim.

The first day is best spent walking to the further away places in Petra - specifically El Deir (the Monastery). This involves a fairly steep walk - although anyone with a reasonable level of fitness should be able to get there, which at a steady pace shouldn't take more than an hour. If you don't fancy walking there are plenty of locals offering rides on their poor old donkeys for around JD7.

The first part or the walk takes you through the main part of the city, which is surrounded by many wonderful looking buildings - both original and Roman additions - places you should return to explore later. You will soon begin to realise just how important an early start is, as only a handful of tourists and backpackers enter the city before 8:00 am. Apart from the Bedouin starting to arrive by foot or on their donkeys, it can be quite a serene setting. The other advantage of starting early is the temperature. Even during the winter months of October to February, the thermometer will quite easily creep above 30 ° C.

As you pass through the main part of the city you will start to climb up well-worn ancient steps along the route towards El Deir. Along the way are many interesting caves and small buildings, including the Lion Tomb, which is a small carved building set in a gully. The two weather beaten lions, which give it its name, sit at the base of the monument. Along the way you are rewarded with some breathtaking views.

The Monastery is an awesome sight. At 50m wide and 45m high it is massive, and you really get to appreciate its size when someone stands in the huge doorway. As with most buildings in Petra, the inside is very plain – just a square room. Opposite El Deir is a very well placed cave with a few seats and a few locals selling very tempting cold drinks. A good place to sit and take it all in. It is possible to climb around the back of the Monastery and onto the urn on top, although this is quite a dangerous climb. This temple, or tomb would have been an important pilgrimage site in it’s day, and even from the 4^th Century during the Christian Byzantine era, it was used as a monastery, hence it’s name.

After spending some time here it is easy to walk further West to the edge of the mountains. With Wadi Arabia 1500m below and views over to Israel in the West and Wadi Musa in the East it was quite spectacular. To the Southwest is the peak of Mt Hor, which is topped by a visible small white dome, which marks the traditional site of the tomb of Aaron - the brother of Moses.

Local Bedouin men serve sweet cardamom tea and play traditional tunes on their flutes while you admire the fantastic views.

Back down in Petra, by 11:00 a.m. the package tour buses have started to arrive en-mass and the entire place is soon swarming with people. The area around the Treasury is by far the most popular and many people only make it this far after the walk through the Siq as the heat rises and the sun intensifies. It seems that a lot of package-tourists visit Petra for only a few hours – which is good news for those willing to spend a bit of time here. Many of the older or less agile people visiting Petra ride around on horses or in get pulled along in horse-drawn carts. In my opinion the afternoons are best spent in a café or restaurant in Wadi Musa sipping tea or maybe enjoying a well-deserved cold beer. The gates close at dusk.

Completing the longer walks on the first day allows you to explore the closer monuments on the second day. The only challenging walk is to visit the "High Place of Sacrifice", which is near to the Siq. The route is steep and dramatic along more well-worn steps and takes about one hour. Once you reach the top, which is over 1000 m above sea level, the rock has been visibly flattened out to make a platform for sacrifices, complete with gullies to allow the blood to run out! There are two large eerie looking obelisks, and the remains of buildings and fountains can be seen. The views are excellent, especially early in the morning with the sun behind you.

Back down in the main "street" of Petra, there are many things to observe and explore. Most of the buildings are tombs and they range from tiny insignificant looking caves to huge intricately carved monuments. Probably the most impressive collection of these are the Royal Tombs, with the Urn Tomb being the biggest of all – easily on the same scale as El Deir (The Monastery). The designs of the tombs vary, as does the amount of damage from the elements. The colouring of the rock is sometimes brilliant – bright reds, yellows and orange with streaks of grey and black forming many beautiful patterns. Some tombs appear to have very Roman features on them, indicating that they are probably more recent additions.

You could spend days wandering around, exploring and taking photographs, but bear in mind there are around five hundred tombs in Petra. It’s advisable to get a guidebook or the free map and basic guide available in Wadi Musa, and do your homework before entering.

Occasionally the Bedouin have set up tents to serve hot and cold drinks as well as souvenirs, bits of rock, "antiques", postcards and the local speciality - small bottles containing many different coloured layers of Petra sand. There are also plenty of locals willing to take you on horse or camel rides, for a moderate fee. Be prepared to bargain hard for everything and don’t accept the first price.

In the heart of Petra is a colonnaded street. This would have once been a bustling Roman marketplace with shops and houses. Some of the columns are still in good condition. The 8000 seat amphitheatre, cut from the rock, is also thought to have been built by the Romans, but may have been cut by the Nabataeans themselves. There are storerooms under the stage floor and a slot where a curtain would once have been lowered at the start of performances.

An extra day or two in Petra will allow you to take things at a slower pace. This could be a wise thing in the summer months from May to September, when temperatures can reach well above 40 ° C.

The walk to Mr Hor to visit Aaron’s Tomb takes about six hours and is a very hard climb, best accompanied by a local guide. Enquiries about this should be made at the visitors centre.

 Jordan is one of the safest and easiest countries to travel in the region and represents a destination that is both easy to visit and good value for money.

A visit to Petra is a magnificent experience and is a "must see" for any visitor to the Middle East – a journey through time you’ll never forget.

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