Petra by Night

One reason I wanted to stay in Petra for two days was so that I could experience Petra by Night. On a few nights every week, they open up the path to the Treasury and have a show for visitors. I was able to plan my Jordan trip so that I could have my overnight in Petra on a night when they were doing the program.

It was such a cool experience! I’m very happy I did it.

After Petra closes for the day, they issue tickets for you to come back (not crazy cheap – it was about $30US/17JOD). When you come back, you walk along the path to the Treasury – only the whole way is lit up with candles (electric of course).

There are thousands of candles guiding your way from the path through the Siq, and then when the Siq opens, there are a few hundred candles all around the Treasury.

They have you sit on these mats and then serve a cup of Bedouin tea. It was sweet sage tea, and it was so tasty! It was piping hot, so I even felt fine drinking it (you could tell the water had really reached a full boil).

They start a show with a Bedouin flute playing in the dark while the Treasury is lit only by the candles. It’s so silent and fun, and then I looked up at the stars. The stars were just incredible. There were thousands of them (many more than I can see at home), and I’m not sure if those were more breathtaking or the Treasury! The combination, however, I have no words for the wonder.

They continue the show with Bedouin singing, and then light the Treasury with different colored lights. The program lasts maybe 30 minutes, and it’s completely worth it! I did hate all the people taking pictures with their cell phones – the constant flashes and flashlights from their phones took a bit away from the experience.

I took my camera and my tripod, and I was excited to take pictures – I also took my prime lens, as that’s better in the dark. I forgot to take into account how close everything is within the walls of the canyon – I was a bit too far zoomed in! But then I started taking pictures of the stars, so that was fun too. They didn’t turn out super well, but still fun, and it was fun light coming off the show.

After the show, you can hang out for a bit and then start the walk back – I started fairly quickly after the show ended, just because I was very ready to go to bed.

It was a night I’ll never forget – it was truly surreal!