The Most Irritating Thing About Visiting Petra, Jordan, And How To Handle It

Some days, at some places, and for some elements, travelers simply find themselves saying, “Damn, this is irritating.”  In the Petra area of Jordan, an ancient complex of stone structures which is the major attraction of the country, I found myself saying this repeatedly.

You, the world traveler, are probably used to roaming freely and widely, either blending in or at least being simpatico with the local culture, all while soaking up the sights and the atmosphere.  You may be weary and a bit stretched, but you push on, of course you do.  If only you could avoid the local people who demand that you accept their services.

The most irritating thing about Petra is this:  the local people there who insist that you ride their animals.  Simply put, the locals can’t stand to see you the visitor merely walking around.  No, you must be riding an animal, they conclude, not walking.  You should be riding their animal, the one they’re leading around just for this purpose, and they have a special price for you to ride it.  They will spot you and come to you and follow you if you refuse.  You will have to deal with this the entire time you are in Petra.

They are waiting for you

The three beasts of burden found inside Petra are horses, donkeys, and camels.  Various Jordanians, most who call themselves Bedouins, make at least part of their living by walking around the Petra area selling animal rides.  It’s not just for fun—Petra is a controlled archeological site that is quite large and it can be awfully hot.  You buy a ticket to go in and wander around all day.  Attractions are plentiful and gorgeous.  There’s a decent amount of climbing involved, steps and rocks.  Riding an animal can help with all this.  Yet there are many times when you just want to walk around.  It’s hard to do this unmolested.

You’ll be circling the far end of the Outer Siq, a series of tombs or homes built along the side of a hill.  They’re not a main sight in Petra and thus there are few people about, but they are wonderful.  You can climb up through the various levels and walk on the rock rooftops, seeing walkways connect the complexes.  Great photo ops.  And down below, there’s some local guy leading two camels who is shadowing you, and has been for two hours.  “You need camel ride?” he initially greeted you.  Turning him down didn’t dissuade him a bit.  “Maybe later?” he’ll quickly suggest.  Don’t ever say “maybe” to these people, for that means “yes”.

“Where you go now?” he’ll ask as you descend the steps.  If you walk away from him, he’ll quietly follow you, with his camels.

Seen from the Outer Siq, a group of tourists on camels and mules goes by

Tourism rates at Petra go up and down, as events in the Middle East can discourage people from visiting, even though Jordan is quite stable.  If you’re visiting on a slight down time, there will be a surplus of animal handlers wandering around and not enough tourists to give everyone enough work.  I’ve visited many other places where the locals simply can’t afford to let any tourist, a potential customer, go by.  I understand this.  Yet it’s still irritating.

Petra is a 100% tourist zone.  Any non-natives are there to be tourists; any natives are there to make a living from the tourists.  There’s no local culture inside.  Popular destinations such as Paris contain little zones like this, such as the area around the Eiffel Tower.  Anyone who comes up and talks to you there wants something from you.  You can walk a few blocks away and be back in Paris.  Inside Petra, there’s only the tourist zone.

How peculiar, the idea that we travel to a certain place but consider that the local people are a nuisance.  The locals of course insist that they have a right to be there and to talk to you.  “I don’t need an animal,” you’ll tell them forcefully, “Now go away.”  They will of course respond that yes of course you need an animal, it is so obvious and anyone can see that, and how convenient that they happen to have one.  They may further point out that if anyone should go away, it is you who should go away, to which your rejoinder should be, “Okay, I will.  Good-bye,” only to see them follow you again.

Camel and mules, lined up like a taxi stand

I’m the type of traveler who firmly believes that the local people are not always right.  I may be a guest in your land, but I’m not a guest in this world.  I’m coming from a bit of acrimony about this experience, and I’ve seen this phenomenon before.  A while ago, I spent two summers in Vietnam, a country notorious for the locals pressing visitors for business.  When I was out and about in Vietnam, every five minutes, all day long, someone would try to get my attention, to offer me a motorbike taxi ride, to change money, to sell me postcards or a drink.  When you’re in a good mood, you can shake this off.  But you’re not always in a good mood.

Petra is a place more people should know about.  It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site that was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a decidedly unscientific internet poll, if that means anything.  It’s somewhat like visiting Angkor Wat or Machu Picchu, an amazing city-complex build in the 4th century BCE by an ancient civilization that is gone now.  Petra is not one structure–it’s an old city, spread out, with perhaps 30,000 people back in its heyday.  Many of the structures are carved out of solid rockface and are amazing.  Petra was featured in one of the Indiana Jones movies, and thus many things there today are named after him.

The animal-ride-for-money game starts as soon as you enter the Petra area, as your very expensive entrance ticket includes a horse ride down the length of the first part, about a kilometer.  During this horse-bound journey, you will be accompanied by a few local horse-handers, who will suggest that you may want to do a longer ride.  When I visited, the two handlers who accompanied us suggested an “Indiana Jones ride”.  We didn’t get into the details.

At the end of this initial short ride (again, just about one kilometer, which remember is included with your admission ticket), the handles will ask for a tip.  My two handlers suggested seven Jordanian dinars each, which is about ten American dollars, each.  That’s a big tip.  I’ve heard of people being asked to pay fifteen each.  I handed them a five and told them to split it.

At the end of the day, you will have to exit Petra by walking back up this kilometer strip.  Horses will be there, should you choose to ride, but no one claims it’s included in your ticket so you must negotiate the price.  My wife was tired then and I asked a horse handler how much for her to ride (I would walk beside).  Five dinar, he said ($7 USD).  Paying for a ride back was cheaper than the suggested tip for the initial free ride.

We were in Petra for two days.  The second morning, we declined that initial horse ride, to the astonishment of the horse handlers.  “But…it’s included!” they gaped at us.  No.  These Horsemen of the Apocalypse all but demanded that I ride their horse, and their incredulous cries reached no bounds.  Saying that a horse ride is included in your ticket is like saying that the bellboy taking your luggage to your room is included in the hotel rate.  Sure, you could choose not to tip, but good luck with that.

Your view of the Treasury, with camels waiting in front

After that initial kilometer, there’s a 1.2 kilometer section called the Siq, very dramatic.  Want to go through there on a small horse-drawn carriage?  That’s 25 dinar ($35 USD).  We chose to walk.  After the Siq, you arrive at the main attraction of Petra, a structure called the Treasury, where you will gape at the sight and have no chance of not being ambushed by more animal handlers, who will want to put you on a camel.  Every traveler knows that the people who start a conversation with “My friend!” are not your friends.  If you should get away from the Treasury animal-less, at least one handler will follow you around, perhaps all day.

On our second day in Petra, one handler did just that.  A mule handler, a dark guy in a blue shirt with a sort of headwrap, followed us for half the day while we explored part of the old city that was flat, not carved from the side of a hill.  We spent much time there and the mule handler trailed us the entire way.  He kept his distance, not bothering us at all, but there was no escaping him.  We eventually hired his mules for the 800-stair massive climb to a place called the Monastery, 30 dinars ($42 USD) for the two of us.

A camel handler was also shadowing us.  He introduced us to his two camels, named Lazy and Daisy, and we fed them bottles of water.  He waited all day to talk to us.  Animals in Petra have domains.  Camels can’t climb steep stairs like the mules can, and horses are apparently restricted from central areas.

Lazy, or perhaps Daisy, having a drink

The animal prices are high.  Jordan may fool people into thinking it’s a cheap country, but it’s not, not even the animals.  If you ride anything, bargain hard, but you’ll only get them so low.  Watch carefully how they are treating their animals.  I’ve heard from many sources, including here, here, and here, that camels are usually treated well (camels get respect in this part of the world), but the horses and mules can be mistreated.

One specific handler drove me nuts.  He was dressed a bit like Johnny Depp back in his pirate-look days.  He had a slick mouth and a crappy attitude.  I had the pleasure of turning down his business advances several times, but he always gave me some attitude.  Both days, as we were leaving for the evening, Johnny was there, wanting to give us rides back on his horse.  No money, I said.  “No money?” he repeated back to me, after my refrain.  “You save money?  Me, I make money, I spend it all!”  He tried to tell us the walk was very far.  “It’s five kilometers!” he said with a shudder.  No, it’s just over two, you wanker.  Even after we walked off, he came after us a few times in the Siq on his horse.  “Yes, yes?”  No.  He rode off, most likely with another quip.  There must be many places in the rocks I could dump his body.

Even the people we did hire were ones who followed us around, sometimes for hours.  They were discrete but constant.  We could never walk through the flat open part of Petra without some hoofed animal being ridden up to us for our inspection.  The handlers often had clever lines (“Air-conditioned camel!  The Ferrari of the desert!”) but mostly not.  Some were sarcastic in their lines.  You resent these people, and when you do hire them, you always feel like you’re paying too much.

A snack bar and shop in the middle of Petra, flanked by beasts of burden

After visiting Petra, I checked several guidebooks and online writeups, to see if anyone mentioned the animal situation.  The guidebooks fell utterly flat on this, and only a few online sources mentioned them.  Most of what I read online of Petra is happy talk about what a magical place it is.  Wikitravel, a website normally of very limited usefulness, is one of the few that flat-out warn about the animal handlers, and especially call out that “free” initial horse ride as a scam, saying “It really is not worth it.  Do not do it.”

Petra itself is well worth seeing, indeed it is, but at times I felt like chewed-up bait.  Certain sites make you work to experience them, and after you leave, you have no need to see them twice.

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