佩特拉古城――小众独享的炫目风景

圣经故事、《阿拉伯的劳伦斯》、《夺宝奇兵》……约旦总让人浮想联翩。这里本应是旅行者的天堂，但中东动荡的局势让人望而却步。不要被表象骗了――约旦大部分地区还是很平静的。

约旦人非常热情好客。据说，你把行李随便放在街上，几小时后回来会发现它们还是原封不动；当地人甚至会邀请素不相识的游客到家里作客――这样的事情你还能在其它地方遇到吗？

No matter what you know of Petra the Jordanian historical site famous for its deep pink rock 1)facades and (to some movie fans) as the setting for the final scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade nothing quite

prepares you for the experience of seeing it in person.

There is no other way to say it: Petra is 2)dazzling.

“This makes Machu Picchu注 look like a pile of stones,” my wife, Joan, said to me. We spent nearly seven hours walking among vast rock 3)formations and the facades, carved 4)exquisitely into canyon walls that have survived centuries of earthquakes and neglect.

What was more amazing, perhaps, is that we

practically had the place to ourselves.

While airports in Amman (three hours away by car) and Aqaba (one hour) make Petra 5)accessible to

visitors, the 6)unrest in the Middle East has discouraged more travelers from visiting, although there have been few 7)disturbances in Jordan. During our visit in March, we stayed at a modern hotel in the town of Wadi Musa, just steps away from the entry gate to Petra, but the

hotel appeared half empty.

“We have been a victim of 8)misperceptions,” said Malia Asfour, director of the Jordanian Tourism Board North America. “People think the Middle East is all bad news, but a shift is happening.”

Certainly, Petra alone is worth a visit.

Hidden away in the mountains of southern Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, Petra is a former trading city sitting among vast rock formations.

Its builders were the Nabataeans. They recognized Petra’s 9)strategic location along early trade routes

between the Middle East and northern Africa. As

architects, 10)artisans and tradesmen, they lived in the valley from about the seventh century B.C. through the early years of the second century A.D., and 11)prospered until trade routes changed. The Romans took over and the city’s importance slowly faded.

Over the centuries, Petra was known only to occasional 12)plunderers and the Bedouins who remained in the area. It was unknown to Westerners until 1812, when a Swiss explorer, 13)masquerading as an Arab in Egypt, heard tales of an ancient city in the mountains 250 miles to the east, and persuaded a guide to take him there.

Petra is now a United Nations World Heritage Site. The basic tour is a 7.5-mile round trip on foot that takes the better part of a day. But there are many options,

starting the moment you pass through the entry gates.

We arrived just after 8:00 AM. Ali, our guide, suggested that we rent horses to carry us along the rough stone path leading toward a narrow, half-mile passageway known as the Siq. The stones, laid by the Nabataeans, are manageable with comfortable shoes, but who could resist the friendly Bedouins 14)swarming to rent us their horses? We paid about $8 each.

Horses are not allowed to enter the Siq, so we walked the next half-mile, 15)marveling at the 16)towering canyon walls that finally 17)give way to a plaza and the most famous of Petra’s facades, the Treasury, known locally as Al Khazneh.

Carved into the canyon wall in the first century B.C., the

Treasury stands 130 feet high and suggests 18)Hellenistic and Middle Eastern influences. Its sharp details have been preserved from wind and rain by the facade’s 19)indentation in the rock wall.

The Treasury has no real 20)interior space, just a large room with 21)recessed areas on the side. Experts are divided on what it was actually used for. Some say it was a place of worship, while others say a tomb. Its name derives from a story about a pharaoh’s

need to hide his riches in an 22)urn at its top. But no treasure was ever found.

We spent an hour in the plaza, staring at it from all angles while Ali waited in nearby shade, sipping tea. Whatever the view, we found it hard to imagine how its makers achieved such

23)exacting detail.

From the Treasury, we walked through what was once the center of Petra, past ancient temples, a marketplace and a vast Greek-style 24)amphitheater.

25)Interspersed through the rock formations are remains of tombs, which look like open-mouthed caves. The ancients used them for burial. Ali told us that 26)archaeologists have found more than 800 tombs.

At midday, we reached a restaurant. Given a choice between indoor and outdoor seating, we chose the tree-shaded 27)patio. There, we had a lunch of tasty Middle Eastern foods, including fresh 28)hummus, lamb, chicken and a surprising array of salads, fruits and vegetables. The meal was a 29)bargain, we thought, at about $15 each. Ali said the smallish crowds worked to our benefit. On some days, he said, large tour groups claim nearly all the tables.

30)Resuming our walk towards Petra’s other

famous facade, the Monastery, we 31)confronted a major decision: The Monastery sits atop a 32)plateau,

accessible only by climbing a 33)winding trail of

narrow steps. Guidebooks number them at 800; Ali said there were 1,200. In either case, we could walk or hire 34)mules. I looked at Joan and immediately knew the answer.

“Best $20 we ever spent,” she said after we reached the top.

The Monastery is less 35)ornate than the Treasury

but much larger, 36)looming over a smaller plaza than the Treasury’s to give it a more impressive look.

Experts are uncertain of its use.

We bought bottles of water at a cafe across the plaza, then sat at a table to stare at the grand facade before turning back, retracing our steps without mules or horses.

Within 90 minutes or so, we were back at the

Treasury, which now appeared softer in the late

afternoon light. Again, we were stunned, and 37)pulled ourselves away only after Ali reminded us that someone was waiting at the gate to take us back. Sadly, we left, with no expectation that anything else on our trip could match the magic of the last eight hours.

无论你对佩特拉有何等认识――是约旦以褐红色岩石建筑而闻名的历史景点，还是一些影迷所熟知的《夺宝奇兵之圣战奇兵》最后一幕的取景地――你过去的所闻绝对无法与亲身体验相比。

佩特拉是一个令人目眩神迷的地方――除此以外再没有其它语言可以形容这个地方了。

“和这里相比，马丘比丘就像一堆石头，”太太琼对我说。我们花了近七个小时穿行在辽阔的岩层地形和建筑景点之间，这些建筑都巧妙地嵌入在经历了数百年地震且无人问津的峡谷岩壁里。

或许更令人惊奇的是，我们竟能“独占”这个地方。

虽然佩特拉距离安曼机场（三小时车程）和亚喀巴机场（一小时车程）不远，方便旅客到此游览，但中东地区的动荡局势让人望而却步――尽管近来约旦境内少有骚乱。在三月份的旅途中，我们入住瓦迪穆萨一家现代旅馆。虽然这里距佩特拉的入口仅几步之遥，却处于半空状态。

“我们是被误解的受害者，”约旦旅游局北美分局局长马利亚・阿斯福尔说。“人们以为中东只有坏消息，其实情况正在改善。”

毫无疑问，单单佩特拉就是一个值得探访的地方。

隐藏在约旦南部的群山之中、位于死海和亚喀巴湾之间的佩特拉曾经是茫茫峡谷岩壁中的商贸之都。

建造这座城市的是纳巴泰人。他们认识到佩特拉在早期连接中东和北非的贸易路线上的战略位置。纳巴泰人主要从事建筑、手工艺和贸易行业，从公元前7世纪左右到公元2世纪早期，他们居住在山谷之中，繁荣昌盛，直至贸易路线改变才逐渐衰落。罗马人随后入侵此地，这座城市的重要性也日渐下降。

数百年来，只有那些偶尔侵扰的强盗以及仍在该地区活动的贝都因人知道佩特拉的存在。直到1812年，一名伪装成阿拉伯人的瑞士探险家在埃及听说250英里（约402千米）以东的群山之中有一座古城，并说服一位向导带路探访此地，佩特拉才为西方人所知晓。

佩特拉现在已是联合国世界遗址。这里的基本行程是徒步游览来回共7.5英里（约12千米）的路程，需要花上大半天时间。但从通过入口开始，你还有很多选择。

早上刚过8点我们就到达入口。向导

阿里提议我们租马沿着崎岖的石路前往一条半英里（约804米）长的狭窄通道――人称“西克峡谷”。要是穿上舒适的鞋子，纳巴泰人铺下的石子还算可以应付。但谁能抵挡蜂拥而来、要租马给我们的友善的贝都因人呢？于是我们各付了8美元租马。

马匹不允许进入西克峡谷，因此我们徒步走完余下的半英里路，一路上惊叹于巍然耸立的峡谷岩壁，还有峡谷尽头豁然开朗的广场，以及佩特拉最著名的建筑景点――宝库，当地人称之为艾尔・卡兹尼宫殿。

于公元前1世纪从峡谷岩壁中开凿出来的宝库高130英尺（约40米），（风格上）显然受了希腊及中东风格的影响。由于建筑嵌于岩壁之内，免受风雨吹袭，因此其中细部依然保有清晰的面目。

宝库并没有实际的内部空间，只有一个大房间，侧面有凹入的区域。对于其真正用途，专家们意见不一。有人说它是一个敬神场所，另一些人则认为这里是个墓穴。它的名字来自一个故事――传说一位法老要把他的财富藏在宝库顶部的一个瓮里。但人们从未在此发现过什么宝藏。

我们在广场待了一个小时，从各个角度仔细观赏它，而向导阿里则在附近的阴凉处慢慢啜着茶等我们。无论怎么看，我们都难以想象其建造者是如何完成如此精巧的细节。

我们从宝库穿过佩特拉昔日的中心，走过古老的寺庙、一个市场和一座巨大的希腊风格圆形剧场。

散落于岩层之间的是墓穴的遗址，看起来就像一个个开口的洞穴。古人用其进行殡葬。阿里告诉我们，考古学家已经发现了八百多个墓穴。

中午，我们来到一家餐馆。餐馆有室内或室外座位可供选择，我们选择坐在有树阴遮盖的院子里。我们在那里享用了一顿美味的中东午餐，包括新鲜的鹰嘴豆泥、羊肉、鸡肉，还有品种丰富得令人惊喜的沙拉、水果和蔬菜。这顿午餐人均消费15美元，我们都觉得物超所值。阿里说是因为游客不多才让我们占到这等便宜；他说，在别的日子里，大型旅游团几乎包下了所有餐桌。

我们继续前往佩特拉的另一个著名景点――山顶修道院。这时，我们面临一个重大决定：修道院坐落于高原顶部，只能沿着一条蜿蜒曲折的狭窄梯道爬上去。导游书上写着这条梯道有800个梯级，阿里则说总共有1200级。我们要么徒步爬上去，要么租骡子载我们上去。我看了看琼，马上就知道答案了。

“这是我们有史以来花得最值得的20美元，”到达山顶后，琼这样说道。

修道院没有宝库那么华丽精致，但要大得多。修道院下面也有一个广场，比宝库的广场小些，这使它更显壮观。对于这个修道院的用途，专家们也没有确切的说法。

我们在广场对面的一家咖啡屋买了几瓶水，坐在桌旁注视着这座宏伟的建筑物。我们随后没有雇骡子或马，一步一步地走回去。

走了90分钟左右，我们就回到了宝库。在傍晚的余晖之下，它显得更加柔和秀美。我们再次为它深深折服。直到阿里提醒说有人在入口等着接我们回去时，我们才回过神来，转身离开。我们依依不舍地走了，不再奢望余下的旅途还会有什么比得上刚才八小时的神奇魅力。