Old Village Resort

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Hotel overview

With Petra reachable within 1.5 miles, The Old Village Hotel & Resort is situated overlooking the Shahara Mountains, home to the fabled UNESCO world heritage site of the rose-red city of Petra. Each room offers the usual hotel comforts, but these rooms are furnished to reflect the history and culture of the area and showcase local handicraft skills. Throughout the resort you'll find seating areas where guests can relax and enjoy a refreshing cup of mint tea or Arabic coffee whilst enjoying the view over the terraces and catching the spectacular sunset over the mountains. The spacious restaurant set around a courtyard, offers an international a la carte with some local Jordanian features - from mansaf to knafeh. The resort is one of only a handful of hotels in Petra who have an indoor swimming pool, so you can swim year round. Finally, their sauna is the perfect place for some relaxation after a busy day exploring Petra.

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Quirky excursions

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Excursion

Little Petra

Little Petra is about five kilometres from the main site and believed to be a retreat for the rich Nabataeans of Petra. It is almost like a scale model of the main city, complete with a short, narrow canyon, or Siq, to enter through, opening out into a wider valley with tombs and ritual dining areas carved into the rock. There are some remarkable cave paintings in the Hellenistic tradition, and if you continue through to the end of the site, a narrow path takes you out to a ledge with great views over the surrounding mountains and canyons. Little Petra is a fascinating addition to a visit to Petra and is also the starting point for the back entrance to Petra over the mountains.

Excursion

Exploring Petra on Your Own

Assuming you have done the extended Petra tour, you'll have a good idea of the layout of the city and are ready to get off the beaten track a bit. If you've just finished the tour, then straight ahead of you, you will see steps leading ominously steeply into the mountains. It's a tough climb, taking anything from 15-45 minutes depending how fit you are, but it is absolutely worth it. You climb out onto a plateau which drops off dizzyingly into the rift valley, home of the Dead Sea, and your views stretch far into Israel, and take in Aaron's tomb, a white dot atop a distant peak. But there is just as much drama behind you, where The Monastery Tomb rivals The Treasury for sheer scale and the way it imposes itself on the landscape.

Excursion

Dining with a local family in Petra

What better way to have a truly local experience than dining in a local home. Receiving guests brings great honour in the Jordanian culture and you will experience the genuine warmth and welcome that your host bestows on you. Eating in Petra with a local family will allow you to taste the love and pride that Jordanian food is cooked with, not only filling your stomachs but also your hearts. Your local English speaking host will accompany you to the location of your evening experience. On arrival, you will meet your host family and sit down with the family, eating until you think you are full. When eating in Petra, ‘Al-ḥamdu lillāh’ is a phrase you will want to remember, as saying this when your host is insisting you eat yet another serving will save your very satisfied stomach. You will be met with the response of ‘Sahtein’ (to your health) from your host. Of course, eating in Jordan is not complete without a cup of local tea.

Excursion

Extended Petra Tour

Your guided Petra tour takes you from the gates of the site down the 800-metre path to the start of the Siq Canyon, past the first small, intricate examples of Nabataean tomb construction. You then enter the 1.2 kilometre Siq, which is so much more than just the access point to the hidden city. Geologically it is hugely impressive, with the towering sandstone walls rising high above you; in places the canyon is so narrow the walls almost seem to touch. All along the Siq are altars and carvings in the rock, and in places, the original cobbled paving has been excavated as well. Evidence also remains of the intricate drainage systems the Nabataeans used to convey water into the city. As you approach the end of the Siq, the excitement mounts as you wait for that first famous glimpse of The Treasury tomb, a narrow sliver visible, framed by the mouth of the canyon. No matter how many times you have seen it on film and in photographs, it still doesn't disappoint. The Treasury is one of the most impressive tombs in the city, the detailed carving and relief climbing most of the way up the vast rock wall. It's the perfect place for your guide to explain some of the principles of Nabataean architecture before you continue on into the city itself. After passing along the Street of Facades, the facades being several imposing tombs, you come to the amphitheatre. Built in the Roman style by the Nabataeans, it takes advantage of a natural bowl in the rock, into which the seating has been carved. As you continue, you move into a large, open area sandwiched between the two mountain barriers that kept Petra hidden from the world for so long. This flat section is the heart of the Roman city, where you will find their triumphal arch, paved street and temples. Your tour finishes at the foot of the vast Qasr El-Bint temple, itself dwarfed by the mountain it nestles against. After refreshing yourself with a drink at the restaurant found nearby, you can continue to explore at your leisure.

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