afternoon light facades of petra tombs 1989

3 Nights Alone Under the Stars of Petra

Jordan - 1989

Everyone knows Petra, and so many sponsored bloggers have over-done it in recent years (night photos of candles and other tourist crap) so there’s no travel advice here. Rather, I’ll show ‘What Petra used to be like’ with some scanned film photos from the late 1980s.

Back in 1989… I simply walked into the entrance of Petra, Jordan, paid my fee, and wandered in with a sleeping bag under arm.

The famous “treasury” in 1989 – quiet, apart from a lone Bedouin. (Note: the size of the doorway compared to a human! No night candle displays then).

Despite a sign saying: No overnight stays. No camping. No one stopped me.

MRP age 23, outside my cave, well-away from the main areas where I slept 3 nights in Petra in 1989.

I spent 3 nights sleeping in a small cave / tomb away from the main areas. Leaving my backpack there, while I explored Petra by day.

The Siq or the narrow, twisting ravine entrance into Petra.

My bed was a mattress of squat, deep-rooted bushes – that I couldn’t pull out but sawed-thru the stems with my Swiss Army knife.

The clumped heap on the stone cave floor was quite comfortable.

The steep climb to “The Monastery” tomb, up gullies and mountain paths.

All my meals comprised processed cheese with tomatoes and tinned tuna in Arabic flat bread I carried with me.

Supplemented by sweet, hot tea – “shay” offered by local Bedouin (who still lived within the ruins).

The famous “Monastery” tomb – high above the valley of Wadi Musa, Petra. (Note: A few – tiny – people on the rock near the foot of the tomb).

afternoon light facades of petra tombs 1989 — Bedouin passing beyond the “Roman Arches”; looking at the main cluster of tombs within Petra.

Local lad with dead fox, Petra, near my hide-away.

Colorful rock patterns on rocks near my hide-away in Petra.

Stormy skies over Petra bought light rain one afternoon.

Travels in Jordan – 1989