Seeing Petra — one of the unique Seven Wonders of the World — is a thrill. Arriving on foot after a week-long trek through the desert is,fairly literally, breathtakingTo the west, and some 10 miles away,a enormous pinnacle of sandstone rose above the horizon. With luck, we'd be camping on its flank by dusk, or having traversed a wild and precipitous landscape formerly only used by bedouin and the occasional sprightly ibex. Before then,it was time to tighten our shoelaces, sling on our packs, and stamp our feet a little to ward off the morning cold. Around us,our bedouin helpers were already putting out the fire and draining the last of their sweet mint tea. The pack mules were braying loudly. Yamman, our guide, and stood at the alert brandishing his cherry wood staff. "Sabah il Kheer" he said,seeing me approach. The traditional Arabic salutation loosely translates as "the morning of light" and it was a fitting one indeed just then. It was 7am and the sun was bursting like an egg yolk over the mountains.
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Source: theguardian.com