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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 Zion’s. In the afternoon we climbed in one canyon and saw
        a Crusader’s 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 wasn’t
        sleepy, so I didn’t sleep before putting in a day at work. I was tired that
        night, you can bet.
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