The Siq

It doesn't take long for Amanda and I to get fed up. We're at the head of the Siq, and here's the problem with press trips: people want to talk to you. And these people have been talking for a while, and about half the facts they're offering up are wrong.

Finally, Amanda simply walks up to them. "We can look this stuff up later. Ed and I are going to go on ahead."

Amanda is very cool (amandacastleman.com).

The Siq is that narrow slot canyon that leads to Petra. At certain points, it seems the walls are so close you can reach out to either side, but from every point, the canyon towers overhead, the sandstone dripping improbable shades of pink. Along the way are a couple minor attractions, tombs, stuff carved out of the rocks, but the point of the Siq is that all of its twists and curves lead to--

quite suddenly, I'm looking up at the top of the canyon and a straight line appears.

Petra.

It's nearly an hour before the rest of the group catches up to us.

Which means they missed the camels kissinng. They missed being alone inside the Treasury. They missed that albeit slightly delusional feeling of coming on a place like it was brand new and had never been seen before.

Mostly, they missed the surprise.