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yon with the walls sometimes almost touching overhead us. At a turn,
we suddenly saw the Treasury, a beautiful temple front carved in the red
rock. A ½ mile later, we emerged into a valley about a mile or so wide
and we rode across it to the opposite side, the end of the trail. Here was
a small hotel behind an ancient stone building. Richard and I chose to
sleep in tents, but there are a few hotel rooms and also caves which are
divided by plywood partitions into rooms (after the wind howling and
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next two nights).
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valley, including to a ruined Crusader fort at the top of a mountain rug-
ged hiking. In the afternoon, we hiked in another section of the valley
through lesser caves and an occasional carved front in the rock.
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behind the guide in all the climbs.
The weather was perfect warm but not hot, and cool but not
cold at night. We took sleeping bags with us and slept in them.
The next day we hiked further up the canyon it was more and
more like Zions. In the afternoon we climbed in one canyon and saw
a Crusaders cross carved in the rock, still in good condition. We hiked
to the very top of the mountain and saw a beautiful temple front carved
in the rock perhaps 150 feet high. It was beautifully done and these
people had artistic ability and architectural sense.
Petra has a rather complicated history. I mailed you a copy of the
write-up which can explain it better than I can. We even rode over a Ro-
man paved road for over a block as we rode into the valley. I recognized
what it was and called to Richard, Sit up straight you are riding where
Roman Legionnaires rode!
We hiked around the morning of the third day and then started
back. We arrived in Ras Tanura at 4:30 in the morning and I wasnt
sleepy, so I didnt sleep before putting in a day at work. I was tired that
night, you can bet.
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