The beauty of the “As Siq”, commonly referred to as “The Siq”, needs its own blog post; such is its beauty. And we had been able to appreciate it even more because we saw it transition from a gorge with a water stream to a dry one; something that not everyone gets to see. And may not be desirable too. Well, we got to experience it and it had a happy end. I guess that is what finally matters 😀 . And all this with hardly any visitors.

First what is the “As Siq”. It is a narrow 1.2 km long gorge and the main entrance to the ancient city of Petra. It is a natural geological fault that the Nabataeans, the builders of Petra, modified and used as their main gateway. The path is flanked by limestone cliffs, around 80 meters high. The path through it is like a geological marvel, with walls so close in places that they can almost be touched on both sides. There is an intricate rock-cut channel along the sides for water management. The Nabataeans expertly carved channels into the rock walls to collect and transport water from Wadi Musa (can be translated to the Valley of Moses), ensuring the city’s water supply. The Siq ends at the “Al-Khazneh” (aka The Treasury), one of Petra’s most famous structures. 

Curious as to what I am talking about when I say “transition from a gorge with a water stream to a dry one”? Well, we had a faced small flash food during our visit to Petra. You can read all about it here.

With any further ado, let me show you some views of the As Siq. First, how we saw it when it was raining and had a water stream going through it:

And now photos of when we saw it all dry on our way out.

Beautiful isn’t it?

Video

Here is a short video I put together with some clips I captured during walk through the “As Siq”. This should give you a hint of its beauty.