Wadi Mudhlim - Alternative Route into Petra

[mountain coward]

Don't think of using this as a free route into Petra - you still have to pay as it's past the gate!

When I was in Jordan on one of my many trips in 2001/2, I read about an alternative to The Siq route into Petra from Wadi Musa. That is via Wadi Mudhlim - the dry river valley of the Moslem. This starts at the entrance to The Siq and begins with a 90m Nabatean tunnel immediately to your right. It was a little tense when I did this route the first time as I couldn't be absolutely certain of the route, especially as there are some forks in the wadi. Also there are 2 waterfalls to jump down off which would be extremely difficult to reverse, I was alone, pretty sure I was in the right Wadi but not absolutely certain, and of course your mobile doesn't work in such a deep gorge!

After the tunnel you enter a fairly wide, sandy and pretty gorge - at this point about 15 feet wide and open.

This soon narrows dramatically with the rock walls closing in and getting sheer and much higher. You are soon confronted by a waterfall (dry) to descend - probably only about 6 foot high but undercut. You have to jump/lower off this.

Looking back after jumping down first dry fall

Not long after that, you are confronted with a more serious fall - probably about 10 feet high, again undercut. The sides are quite narrow here so you can jam yourself down it. I spent some time at the top of both of these wondering whether I should continue - I was fairly sure you could get out of the exit of the Wadi but obviously things in watercourses change and my book was written a few years before. Anyway, I bit the bullet and jumped/lowered down.

Looking back after lowering down second dry fall (2nd chockstone is top of fall)

There are then some forks in the wadi but I guessed that, as Petra should now be to my left, I'd take the left fork.

Which way?

This was exceedingly narrow in places, sometimes you were lying with your back against a diagonally slanting wall and squeezing through a winding passageway - all fascinating stuff! Luckily I'm not fat!

The winding way ahead

Soon unfortunately the excitement was over and the gorge walls started to lower, it got lighter, there were a few more winds of the channel and then, there was Petra! (albeit the bottom end)...

[gaffr]

Hello,
Many thanks for these images....the guys who build 'the rose red city' new a thing or two about construction and bringing facilities into the area. Nice cool places to live in. When was it last inhabited? The outside Scotland forum allows for us to get away from the Lists for a bit and to reach further afield.
I've never been outside Europe myself! It certainly looks worth a vist but does the area get crowded with loads of visitors?

[Paul Webster]

Fascinating stuff, thanks for posting. How long is the Wadi channel you went through?

[mountain coward]

Paul - It's hard to say when you're so engrossed... definitely more than half a mile - probably about a mile but not all enclosed/narrow, although most of it is.

Gaffr - Petra itself gets very, very busy - mainly French tourists for some reason! Having said that, even though it's busy, it's a large and fascinating place. Part of the Petra 'site' is 'The High Place' - a walk I'm probably going to put out on here soon, and also 'Ed Deir' aka 'The Monastery' which is a superb walk with great views to the hills. I'm not going to put a Monastery post out as I've only scanned my friend's photo of it and obviously I don't have his permission to put his photos out on here. So I'll just put the views to the hills on this post. They nearest hills to the Monastery are quite crumbly but there's some superb mountains out the back of the Petra site. The only trouble is that to get to them, you have to pay to visit Petra even if, like I usually was, you're just passing through to go exploring. Just about noone goes to the mountains out the back but the local Beduin are very friendly and will be helpful if you need them.

[mountain coward]

Actually, I've found my original guide book and measured the wadi - it's around 1.5 miles or just slightly more...