European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 01, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A guide describes the ins and outs of Petra to two tourists from Australia 20th Century discovers desert s lost City by James Hudson Moore or. The 2,400-year-Aid City of Petra lost and forgotten. Carved out of Sandstone in the sweltering jordanian desert is today slowly being rediscovered. A Trade Center that had at one time More than 30,000 inhabitants Petra was a Hub along the spice route Here Arab phoenician Indian and even chinese merchants walked made contacts and traded goods coming from India to Arabia such As Gold Silver and precious gems spices incense and myrrh. A. 1__ later roman soldiers built colonnaded roads an Amphitheater and temples. Earthquakes ravaged Petra. For two centuries it was All but deserted and Contact was lost to the Western world. Today 20th-Century tourists from All Over the Globe look in wonder at Petra one of the strangest and most Awe inspiring cities on Earth. The City s tombs and temples Amphitheater and watercourses houses and government buildings were carved out of the soft Sandstone. It almost looks As if a race of giant artists carefully sculpted these buildings when the Earth was Young and soft the Sandstone Here weathered by centuries of wind rain earthquakes and watercourses adds a wild assortment of reds pinks mauve yellows and even blues and Black. Deep fissures Skinny snaking canyons _ unexpected surprises of Small Man made temples Ami altars Are everywhere. The buildings situated so that the exteriors have been protected from the wind and rain for 2,000-plus years still show off their perfect right angles and straight lines. The craftsmanship would be the Pride of any builder today if you could find one that could build something to last for 2,400  you saw Indiana Jones and the last crusade then you caught a Quick glimpse of Petra. The exterior scenes near the end of the movie show a building where the old crusader has been living for centuries guarding the holy grail. That building known As the Treasury is the most famous Best preserved and most photographed building of this magnificent settlement. Most visitors will Tell you they Felt As if they had gone through a time Tunnel Back thousands of years when they first saw Petra. In fact you have to go through a Tunnel like Gorge to enter Petra which Only adds to the Sandstone City s mysterious Ness. Getting to Petra today still in t easy but it s Worth the Effort Wadi Musa Valley of Moses the nearest town has fewer than 400 hotel rooms although the jordanian government is in the process of assisting in. The building of More. Visitors usually come from the capital of Amman about four hours drive North or Aqaba on the red sea about two hours South. Once you arrive at the visitor s Gate of Petra and pay 5 jordanian dinars about $15you Tih have about 45 minutes of walking or 35 minutes by horseback which will Cost another few Dinar through the so Gorge to get Toth City. The six itself is eerie and at times the Rock Walls close in to within a few feet of each other sometimes the height of these sheer Walls reaches some 300 feet above you. The sky is blotted out there is no Sun no sky nothing. It s very quiet with perhaps a few horses hooves Here and there or some muffled voices. You begin to feel very very Small. Then quite suddenly Yolk roundly Bend and there it is a massive -130-foot High by almost 100-foot-wide wonder the Treasury meticulously carved out of the  your journey through the so the sudden appearance of this facade and the Overall quiet you re not about to doubt that an ancient crusader is still there. In fact it would t Surprise you to see an entire Garrison of crusaders there seeing Indiana Jones himself would t even make you blink. The doorway is 30 feet High and the urn atop the Treasury is almost that. It was called the Treasury by the bedouins centuries ago because they believed that an egyptian Pha Rajeff whom they mistakenly thought had built Petra fad left All his wealth inside the urn. They never risked opening the urn however perhaps believing it to be bad Luck from the Treasury the Canyon that Petra occupies continued on Page 8 stripes Magazine september 1, 1994