Unveiling the secrets of Petra

Vast stacks of sandstone loom over the arid valley of Wadi Musa like giant handfuls of sun-baked clay. But even in this parched landscape, there are places where the sun casts no light. Walls 200 metres high keep the Siq permanently cast in shadow – it’s as though the long, narrow canyon passes through the dark heart of the mountain itself. Utterly silent at dawn, there is not even a bird’s chirrup to accompany solitary footsteps along its patchwork floor of rock and sand. Soon, the senses adjust to their deprivation – the plodding becomes rhythmic, the soundlessness ordinary. Occasionally there’s a clue of what’s to come: a lone fig tree, fragments of ceramic pipes which once channelled water, a relief carving of a camel caravan – so weathered that only hooves and feet remain.

In spite of being in a constant state of excavation since 1920, Petra still impresses thousands of visitors each day.