Petra by Night

Strapping my sneaks back on, it was time to trek the first two kilometres back in through Petra to the treasury for a special night show. The concept is you walk the path to Petra by the light of lanterns where you sit in front of the treasury (also light by lantern light) and listen to traditional Bedouin music and folktales while enjoying a cup of tea. So off we went in early night down the softly lit path. 

Upon arrival, we took a seat in the sand and waited for the show to begin. The first performance was a traditional flute song.

Next was a song performed on a rebab - a one string bowed instrument dating back before the eighth century - and accompanied by singing.

Following the rebab song, the host walked us back through the ages when Petra was a thriving trade centre welcoming people from all across Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean arriving with caravans of camels and goods. 

With the three performances concluded, it was time for the piece du resistance... a cheesy rainbow spotlight to illuminate the treasury. So majestic like the sneeze of a unicorn or what I imagine happens when a leprechaun explodes.

Ooh aah... Meh.

With that, it was time for the mass exodus back to town. All in all, I’d put Petra by Night on the “Do Not Recommend” list. Although it seems like a tremendous amount of work to set up and hearing the performances was nice, it was $17JOD (about $35 CAN) for a long walk with hundreds of other people in the dark and then two short songs, one short explanation, one SUPER sweet cup of tea, and get out. Maybe 30 minutes of show all told, with a generous buffer of sitting around in the dark having people yelling “No flash” and “No talking” and people of course ignoring the instructions. Not value for cost in my opinion, especially after a long day of trekking through Petra all day. 

Unless you’re super in to rainbow spotlights (no judgement), then this is a thoroughly underwhelming experience you can take a pass on, in my opinion. 

It didn’t light my lantern.