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← All articles · Jordan · 19 February 2026

Petra, Jordan: Tea above the Treasury, then candlelight in the Siq at night

Petra beyond the postcard: the Siq, the Treasury, hidden viewpoints, the colourful chambers of the Royal Tombs, and the candlelit magic of Petra by Night.

Petra is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and it earns the title within the first ten minutes. Walking the dramatic Siq canyon and catching that first sliver of the Treasury through the rock is a travel moment nothing quite prepares you for.

Hidden tombs, secret viewpoints, and Petra by night. Watch on YouTube

We spent the day going well beyond the postcard shot: the Royal Tombs with their colourful chambers hidden inside, the Roman Theatre, hidden viewpoints above the Treasury, and lesser-known corners that many visitors walk straight past. Along the way we picked up fascinating stories about the Nabataeans, the people who carved this entire city directly into the sandstone cliffs, and drank freshly squeezed pomegranate juice beside the Treasury, which we can highly recommend as a resting strategy.

Petra in about forty seconds, for anyone in a hurry. Watch on YouTube

The short version, if you don’t have twenty minutes to spare. Petra is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and this is only a small glimpse of what a day here is like. The full film above has the walk through the Siq, the Treasury, the viewpoints, the history and the night show with its thousands of candles.

Petra by Night

The highlight, though, was Petra by Night. Hundreds of candles light the path through the Siq before revealing the Treasury completely transformed. The evening builds into a show of music, storytelling and light projections, with complimentary sweet tea passed around, an atmosphere unlike anything we’ve experienced anywhere else.

If you’re building a Jordan itinerary, give Petra more than a flying visit, the hidden corners and the night show are what turn it from a photo stop into a memory.

Photos from Petra

Proof, from February 2026, that the place is as ridiculous as we keep saying: the walk in through the Siq, the Treasury from ground level and from above, the night show, and the slow morning after at our camp up the road.

Inga and Dileep standing in the narrow Siq canyon at Petra with the sun bursting through the gap in the rock walls above — The Siq, mid-morning, with the sun forcing its way through the crack above us. No filter, the canyon just does this.

Inga and Dileep standing between the giant columns at the entrance of the Treasury at Petra — Standing at the foot of the Treasury. The columns make you feel exactly as small as the Nabataeans intended.

Inga and Dileep lounging on striped Bedouin rugs and cushions at a clifftop viewpoint above the Treasury at Petra — One of those hidden viewpoints above the Treasury: rugs, cushions and the best seat in the ancient world.

Inga in a striped scarf standing in front of the Treasury at night, its facade glowing orange above rows of candles — Petra by Night. Candlelight, storytelling, and a facade that looks carved out of fire.

Inga drinking tea outside a white geodesic dome tent on a tiled terrace under a blue morning sky near Petra — The morning after, outside our dome tent up the road from Petra. Tea first, wonders of the world second.

Walking in through the Siq

The approach is over a kilometre of canyon, and it keeps the good bit hidden until the very last moment.

Inga and Dileep standing with their arms outstretched at the entrance to the Siq at Petra, huge overhanging sandstone boulders framing the strip of sky above them — The gateway into the Siq, where the walls lean right over the path. Arms out, because how else do you react to that?

Vertical panorama of the narrow Siq canyon at Petra with the sunlit Treasury facade appearing in the gap at the far end — That first glimpse. The canyon hides the Treasury the whole way in, then hands it to you through a crack in the rock.

The Treasury, from every angle we could find

Inga and Dileep leaning against a boulder in the sunlit plaza in front of the Treasury at Petra — Down in the plaza, propped against the nearest rock. It's the only shade going at that hour.

Inga climbing onto a rock ledge high above the Treasury at Petra, with a Bedouin guide ahead of her on the path and the Treasury facade in the canyon below — The scramble up to the viewpoint. It's a proper climb, and there's usually somebody a few steps ahead of you who does it twice a day.

Past the Treasury

Most visitors turn around here. Keep going and the valley opens out into tombs, a theatre and a lot of empty rock.

Inga and Dileep standing inside a large carved rock chamber at Petra, the walls swirling with red, orange and white bands of sandstone — Inside one of the chambers. The Nabataeans cut the doorways, the sandstone did all the decorating.

Inga and Dileep framed by the mouth of a rock cave at Petra, with the carved facade of the Royal Tombs on the cliff behind them — Framed by somebody's front door, a couple of thousand years after they moved out.

Dileep standing below the Urn Tomb at Petra, its arched terrace and carved facade cut high into the red cliff behind him — The Urn Tomb, largest of the Royal Tombs. Those arches underneath give away how far up the cliff it really sits.

Inga and Dileep sitting on a rock above Petra's Roman Theatre, its curved rows of seating carved straight into the hillside behind them — Above the Roman Theatre, which was carved out of the hillside rather than built on top of it.

More of Petra by Night

The Treasury at Petra glowing orange at night above hundreds of paper candle lanterns laid out in rows across the sand — The whole plaza laid out in paper lanterns, and nothing else lighting the sand at all.

The Treasury facade at Petra lit in white and blue during the Petra by Night show, with rows of candles glowing red on the sand below — Later in the show the lights change and the facade goes from firelight to something colder and stranger.

Inga and Dileep standing in coats and scarves in front of the candlelit Treasury at Petra during the Petra by Night show — It gets properly cold in the canyon after dark. Worth every layer.

The dome camp up the road

Inga standing with her arms outstretched in front of a hillside covered in white geodesic dome tents near Petra — Our camp north of Petra: a whole hillside of domes, with a bare rock ridge sitting above the lot of them.

Inga and Dileep standing at a railing in front of the white dome tents of their camp near Petra, with red sandstone cliffs rising behind — Same camp, other direction. Those red cliffs on the right carry on for miles.

A plate of grilled kofta and chicken skewers with chips, beside bowls of hummus, olives and salads on a table in the camp restaurant — Dinner at the camp: kofta and chicken off the grill, plus about six small bowls of things to put on bread.

Inga and Dileep sitting at a table inside a glass-fronted dome restaurant, with the camp's white domes and the hills beyond visible through the window — Eating inside a dome, looking out at more domes. The light at that hour did most of the work.

There’s more from this trip on our YouTube channel, we film the real sights and sounds, no fluff. You’ll also find us on TikTok and Instagram.

We stayed at The Rock Camp Petra, which put us at the gate rather than an hour from it.