Petra at Night

Last night we experienced an on-going special event that occurs in the Park on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday nights from 8:30-10:30: “Petra at Night.” The walkway from the entrance and through the Siq to The Treasury (about 1.5 miles) is illuminated by candlelight in sanded paper-bags (farolitos back home). As one travels back through time, you are trodding an ancient path, thinking of the many steps that have been this way before to this city of caravans.  When you arrive at The Treasury it glows up from the sands. One notices a couple of felines walking between shadows and wondering how long their lineage dates back. Serenaded by rababa (the mother of all string instruments) and poet I thought of Ulysses and how long a one-stringed instrument has been synonymous with singing sagas and stories of the human condition. A bit later a flute’s melody floats from the shadows, bringing joy and eventually coming into the light. After a glass of tea, one can venture back up the Siq and visit the moonlight. www.octm-folk.gov.om/meng/instrument_mel02.asp