PETRA OH PETRA
The ancient city of Petra is located between the Dead Sea and Aqaba in Jordan, lies about 250 km from the capital, Amman. I was informed that to reach the ancient city, visitors need to travel either on foot or by horse-back or camel-back (I think camel-back will be more interesting) through a 1.5 km narrow winding valley called Siq. I've seen many pictures of Petra. MashaAllah, it's really amazing. I should go there one day. According to the Travel-Library.com, Petra is open to public from 6 am to 6 pm and costs about 15 to 20 Jordanian Dinar per tour per person (for non-Jordanian). Hey that is about RM75-100, well that's too cheap for Bill Gates but pretty expensive for me. But this will not stop me from coming to this place. Petra.. here I come..! But before that let's cast our votes...
Why I choose PETRA...
I'm not Jordanian. But being a Malaysian doesn't mean that I'm not aware of such magnificent monuments constructed outside my country, particularly those historical and ancient ones. One thing about Petra is the history. Some archeologists believed that Petra has been inhabited from prehistoric times and became the capital of Nabatean Arabs, who carved tombs, temples and buildings out of solid rock. Petra, perhaps can be considered as a sister ancient city to Meda'in Saleh, which is located in the North part of Saudi Arabia (check this out - http://nabataea.net/medain.html). Very very historical too. As a Muslim I learned that the stonework of Petra could probably the sign of the people of Thamud, who inhabited the mountainous region between Hejaz and Palestine thousands of years ago during the era of Prophet Saleh. From here I learned also, no matter how smart the society is, if they don't obey Allah, they'll be destroyed.
My Four Wonders
If I were asked to name the world wonders, Petra will be one of them as well as Meda'in Saleh. So far these are my best four, i.e.
[1] The Great Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
[2] Petra (Jordan)
[3] Meda'in Saleh (Saudi Arabia)
[4] The Great Wall (China)
Note: Meda'in Saleh is currently not in the list. I can understand that Saudi Government is always very strict about things especially with regards to Islamic rules and social codes. So keeping Meda'in Saleh a low profile perhaps better for them for social reasons.
Remember the New Seven Wonders of The World will be announced during the official declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007. I'm so excited and can't wait any longer! I hope Petra will be one of them. If you still don't cast your vote, please do so at www.new7wonders.com.
