4 Day Petra Bedouin Culture Tour: Option # 1

Siq Al Barid (Little Petra) - Al Beidha – Petra - Wadi Musa - Al Hussien Bin Talal University

Day 1

Queen Alia International Airport - Siq Al Barid (Little Petra) - Al Beidha

Welcome to Jordan!

We will meet and assist you at Queen Alia international Airport (QAIA). Then transfer the group to Siq Al Barid (Little Petra), a suburb of the main ancient city.

Little Petra provides an atmospheric summary of Nabataean architecture.

The area was once a caravanserai stop for the capital and comes complete with its own mini-Siq, a 350 meter fissure in the rock crammed with tombs, triclinums, water channels, and cisterns.

It is still easy to imagine the sounds and smells of the old days when traders, caravan masters and drovers lived and traded here.

We will drive a short distance on to Al Beidha , or 'the white one' on account of the color of its rock.

Al Beidha contains the remains of a Neolithic site, dating back to 7,500 BC which makes it one of the earliest known co-operative villages on earth.

Mediterranean trees such as Oak, Juniper, Carob, and Pistachio thrive in this small sandy valley.

Then we will go camping in Al Beidha where we arrange the traditional, freshly prepared, Jordanian dinner provided by our genial Bedouin hosts and spending a very nice night there.

Local Bedouin tribes have now inhabited this area for a number of generations.

Then you are invited to share mint tea or cardamon coffee sitting by the fire under a starry desert sky, will have an experience not to be forgotten.

Day 2

Al Beidha - Petra

After having the breakfast we will take the group from Al Beidha to hike up the back road of Petra to begin our tour.

We will begin from an alternative hiking route to see the Monastery in Petra (one of the greatest temples inside Petra), spend some time resting and seeing the great natural views of Wadi Araba and Wadi Namala.

Today we will take a full-day tour of Petra , the rose-red city half as old as time which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Petra is a city which was carved out of the Sharah Mountains by the Nabataeans.

There are hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings as well as obelisks, temples, sacrificial altars, colonnaded streets, and high above, overlooking the valley, is the impressive (Al Deir ) Monastery, reached up a flight of 800 stone stairs.

They were an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2,000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice, and other trade routes that linked China, India, and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome.

Petra fell into obscurity for hundreds of years, its location and very existence kept a closely guarded secret by the local Bedouin, before being re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Burkhardt in 1812.

We will enter the city through the Siq, a narrow gorge over a kilometer in length, flanked on either side by soaring, 80 meter high cliffs to be confronted by Al Khazneh (The Treasury), Petra's most elaborate monument. Local legend has it that the rock-cut Treasury once held the gifts of Queen Sheba to Solomon.

As you enter the Petra valley you will be overwhelmed by the natural beauty of the place and its outstanding architectural achievements.

We will return to our hotel in Petra for dinner and overnight.

Day 3

Wadi Musa

After having breakfast in the hotel we will take to meet a group of families to know the nature of life in Jordan and have a unique experience learning the following Bedouin traditions.

How do the owners of cattle and horses live?

How to ride horses and handle them?

How to deal with Arabic horses?

What is the way of grazing and herding with sheep?

How is the traditional Jordanian cooking in their house different from their own?

How is the relationship between neighbors?

We will have the group get an up close and personal experience with accommodating two persons with local families.

Day 4

Wadi Musa – Al Hussien Bin Talal University – Queen Alia International Airport or Borders or Wadi Rum

In the morning, we will participate with families in preparing the breakfast meal.

We will try to get to know how the community prepares themselves for their work either as a business man, government career, etc. and knowing the habits of the traditional life in this area.

Then we will be transporting you to Al-Hussien Bin Talal University to meet Sami Al Hasant who will tell us about the history of Jordan and tourism.

We will also learn some more information about the Nabataeans and the history of Jordan.

After this great experience in Petra your group will go to Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) or borders with a farewell for your departure.

Otherwise we will take you to the bus station for your transfer to Wadi Rum for the rest of the tour of Jordan.