We were lost. John scanned the sea of sandstone that stretched out to the horizon and finally conceded defeat.
Somewhere within the vast pitted landscape of Wadi Arabah we had come unstuck. Just as the Bedouin tea-seller had told us, we should have taken a guide.
That morning, when we’d set out, our intention had been to hike the ultimate Bedouin back-road into Petra that begins near Al-Barid (or Little Petra as it’s more commonly known). A suburb of Petra, Al-Barid features the same grand façades hewn into the rock face, but attracts only a handful of the visitors. Like its more famous sister-site it is cleverly concealed behind colossal sandstone cliffs.
Its creators, the wily Nabataeans, controlled a trade-route empire that stretched from Yemen to Syria and hid their cities from the world to defend against attack.
In Al-Barid we had stopped for a sugar-laden tea, and told the tea-seller our plans. He shook his head and warned us against setting off alone. We shrugged off his well meaning advice, but two hours later we were simply walking in circles, unable to locate the start of the trail or find our way back to the site. Trapped amid wave after wave of weird and weathered rock formations, we were beginning to regret our gung-ho attitude. Two thousand years after their demise, the Nabataeans were still managing to outwit would-be invaders.
Salvation finally arrived as we stood on a rock outcrop, surveying the surroundings for familiar landmarks. Spotting us looking baffled and disoriented, 14-year-old Ahmed arrived grinning on our perch. After laughing at our plight, he agreed to lead us back to Al-Barid’s entrance by a short cut he knew.
Half an hour later, having scaled a rock face, jumped off a large ledge and clambered across a narrow exposed ridge, we were again safely drinking tea at Al-Barid.
“You need a guide?” the tea-seller asked, trying to stop his mouth twitching into an “I-told-you-so” smile. I looked out at the landscape and marvelled at the ingenuity of the Nabataeans who had secreted their cities within it. “Yes,” I said. “I think we do.”
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This story was first published in the UK Independent as part of their ‘On The Road’ Footprint Guidebook author blog.
Road Essays 
Thanks for sharing! Luckily I didn’t try to find my way into Petra on my own but I can only imagine how your feelings went from “this is cool.” to “Hey look, that rock is familiar” and finally to “well… shit”
HAHA…That’s pretty much exactly what happened.
I almost had that experience yesterday hiking in Korea. There arent really guides in bukhansan national park but i had a map and it was my 4th time. Idiot me decided to try a new trail at sunset and i promptly lost the trail in the dark. Luckily i ran into another one like an hour later
Thats a fantastic experiences. I get lost at the Lawu mountain, in Indonesia. I brought 6 people with me. They had no idea about anything, just panic. So I talked to them not to be panic (even i felt the same, hehe). I am blessing, I could find a way to go back with different route.. we all safe
Reblogged this on Risty's Trip and commented:
You need a guide 😀
haha love this… sometimes these lessons are hard to swallow. All that pride gets in the way!
I got a real giggle from this piece. Not at you, but with you. Ive been that person too, but kudos to your guys for manning up to face the tea-seller second time round. 🙂
I enjoyed this piece, and think it is funny how easy it is to feel disorientated and about 5 years old!
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I think that a guide is necessary in any travel vacation. Although exploring on your own is challenging and adventurous, sometimes it’s better to know beforehand the places you should or should not visit.
Hmmm…so don’t agree. But each to his own. Generally independent travellers tend to know more about their destination because they’ve researched it beforehand. Travellers on guided tours tend to know nothing because they’ve got the guide there to hold their hand. I should know – I was a tour guide for five years.
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