The stunning Siq is just a tease of what’s to come. It leads to one of Petra’s most famous monuments, Al Khazneh, the Treasury. The 1st century temple is cut into the sandstone rock face of a 130-ft cliff. It’s thought to be a tomb and legends say treasures were hidden here. Look for the bullet holes in the façade made by local Bedouin tribes that hoped to dislodge riches from the second-level urn. There were only a handful of people when we arrived at 8:30 am in January. Our guide said during high season there could be hundreds.

The beauty of the whole historic site can no be described with words. It’s beauty, history, enigmatic nature are beyond imagination. Right now it is the perfect moment to visit due to fewer tourists, with the advantage of being able to take good pictures with the sites almost entirely for yourself. Plan on visiting really early in the morning, we started at 7am. We stayed until 6pm and we had an awesome and memorable day. However, here are some tips to take into consideration when visiting: 1- because of COVID, tourists are scarce and it has been a hard year for people who offer their services there, and for that reason, more than ever, they are trying to take advantage of tourists, which is upsetting. So my advice is DONT BUY ANYTHING there: almost everything (if not all) is made in China, if the cost is 1 Jordanian dinar, they will try to scam you saying that a poor lady with disabilities made it and they will try to squeeze you for 200. Don’t fall for that. You really don’t need anything that they sell there, unless it’s water. 2- they will invite you to their tents (places of business) offer you tea and even food for free but they will then try to sell you some overpriced junk. Just be careful it happened to us, and it dampens the experience of the site, so avoid going through that. 3- if you want to go to the Monastery via donkey, make sure you arrange the price beforehand. Round trip should be 10 dinars. They charged me 20 and demanded a tip. So I payed 45 for me and my daughter and our tour guide later confirmed we had paid too much. It is a very disappointing feeling to believe they are nice people only to realize they have scammed you, it is not a nice feeling. So my recommendation: visit, enjoy, agree beforehand on service prices but research what you should expect to pay ahead and don’t buy anything you don’t need and don’t believe any of their sob stories, they are lies (confirmed by our tour guide). Apart from these bad experiences, Petra is absolutely fascinating and a must see.

The Treasury "Al-Khazneh" is definitely the icon of Petra. Traveling through the slot canyon gorge known as "The Siq", the visitor will emerge from this 1.2 km approach where the immense and intricately carved facade of The Treasury is ultimately revealed. Far more expansive than imaginable, I gasped in disbelief and awe upon my initial glimpse. Unfortunately, but wisely, the interior "cave" of this rose colored sandstone edifice has been blocked off to access in more recent years. Yes; it is worth the travel and expense to experience this New 7th Wonder of the World.