Treasuring the viewpoint

by Nina Teiwes (Netherlands)

A leap into the unknown Jordan

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Three trails down, one more to go. It was a set goal I've had from the minute I entered Petra early this morning. Since then, seven hours have passed. In those seven hours I've climbed a numerous amount of stairs to reach the High Place of Sacrifice on the summit of the Jebel Madbah mountain, descended back down the Wadi Farasa trail and tackled the over 800 steps to admire the legendary Monastery. It was finally time to hike up to the Treasury viewpoint via the Al-Khubtha trail. In preparation I took out my sunscreen as the sun had been beating down on me all day, I covered up my long blonde hair with my new handwoven camel-hair headscarf and I bought a big bottle of water. Passing the many souvenir stalls and the stunning façades of the Royal Tombs carved in the high, red coloured cliffs, the crowds started to thin out as I was nearing the start of the Al-Khubtha trail. As I follow the sign beside the Palace Tomb that tells me to take a right turn, I am greeted by even more steps and I take a deep breath before I take on the last physical challenge of the day. I am about twenty minutes in, breathing heavily, sweating and thinking about how bad my stamina is for a twenthy-three year old when I notice something moving at the very steep cliff on my left. Climbing the very steep cliff, which at that point is bathing in sunshine and bouncing off a beautiful golden glow, are eight mountain goats. I'm from the Netherlands, a country whose name literally means 'lower countries', so the mountains, let alone the mountain goats are a rare sight for me. I can not believe I am actually looking at those wonderful creatures defying gravity. After taking a short rest and being mesmerized by the mountain goats I continue my journey to the Treasury viewpoint. The steps are getting more uneven and steep at this point and I occasionally pass a donkey or lizard. I reach a point overlooking the Roman Theater and sit down to take in another glorious view. ''Salaam-Alaikum'', I hear behind me. I turn around and see a guy who looks to be around the same age as me, sitting on a donkey. He jumps off of his donkey and sits down next to me. We get to talking and he asks me about the things I've done and seen so far that day. ''You see that mountain over there?'' he says pointing at one of the many incredible, tall red mountains, ''that's the High Place of Sacrifice. That's the mountain you climbed this morning.'' He proceeds to point out more sights and as I tell him about my encounter with the mountain goats he swings over the edge and yells out ''I'm a mountain goat!'' which echoes throughout the entire canyon. He sits back down and we talk a while longer about him growing up in and around Petra before we say our goodbyes and I get back on track. The further and higher up the mountain I get, the vaguer the steps get. I reach the top of the mountain, only to find out the path stops there. Slightly confused I look around to figure out where to go next. All that's in front of me is wilderness and the only way to go is downhill. I decide to make my way down, stumbling around big and small rocks scattered everywhere and dodging sharp branches sticking out of the ground. Making my way through the rough landscape I reach a Bedouin tent on the edge of the cliff and go in. I'm greeted by a man who offers me a cup of tea and tells me I've made it. My legs are tingling from all the climbing I've done throughout the day and I settle down on one of the many pillows. I look out on the Treasury down below me, a huge crowd in front of it all trying to take the best picture and I think about how lucky I am. Up here, I have the Treasury all to myself.