Camels & Horses, Petra

You really should ride a camel at some stage of your Jordanian holiday, and if Petra is the only time you get the chance, well go ahead and do it. You might as well end your visit with a few extra muscle aches after all the effort you've put in during the day.
Actually, if you get yourself seated properly and relax into the motion of the beast, you'll be fine. The view from up there is terrific and someone will take a great photo of you and your ship of the desert to show the folk back home.

leyle

At the entrance of Petra, inside, you will find the Horse Hospital. There you can hire a horse or to ride till the entrance of the Siq, or hire a camel to go all around. Maybe next time I will try a camel ?
There are beautiful arabic horses, if you don't want to hire one, just sit down for a while looking how they move ... beautiful animals

Maybe you could ask for Bassem, that owns few beautiful horses and hire them there. I hope I would have make a picture of those beautiful animals. Bassem is a great person and his animals are his treasure.

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It is not permitted for motorized vehicles to enter the site.
But if you don’t want to walk, you can hire a horse or a horse-drawn carriage to take you through the one kilometer Siq.
Just past the main gate you will be offered horses to ride, or even small buggies for two people. The rides are very inexpensive ($3) and help the local Bedouin make a living. You will be asked several times and then they will politely let you walk on if that is what you wish to do.
The horses at Petra are well groomed and cared for at this site. If you are interested in Arabian horses this is a great place.

You can watch my 3 min 17 sec HD Video Jordan Petra Horse ride out of my Youtube channel.

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For the elderly and/or handicapped the Visitors' Centre close to the entrance of the Siq will issue a special permit (at an extra fee) for the carriage to go inside Petra to visit the main attractions. Once inside the site, you can hire a donkey, or for the more adventurous, a camel - both come with handlers and take designated routes throughout the site.

Along with the horses there are also buggies to ride. These drivers can take you all the way through the Siq to the Treasury.

you can see Petra walking but there are other ways such as Camel, but i saw all teh camels very lazy, like this one in the picture. Happy when they don't have to work... they didn't look very friendly to me when they had to work. Another way is in donkeys, this way is good if you don't want to want up to teh monastery. Is it dangerous? well, i didn't try!!!!
About price you can arrange a good price if you have enought patience....

The best way to explore Petra is on foot, but if you are tired you can rent a donkey or a camel or a horse as you prefer. All the animals are own by beduins and they are very happy to help you expecially if you want to go to the Monastery with a donkey. Anyway it's a another great experience to do in this fantasti town.

Many people will come to Petra and find that the kilometre walk through the canyon to the treasury to be a little much for them. If you are not up to it, then you can hire a buggy and driver to take you through the canyon all the way to the treasury. At present I do not know how much this costs.

Most people stay in Wadi Mousa when visiting Petra. It is walkingdistance between the two but as the road down to Petra is steep and you probably will do a lot of walking in Petra it is good to take a taxi to the entrance of Petra. Most hotels offers the taxi ride for free.
When in Petra there are several ways to go around if you don't want to walk.
From the entrance there are horse-drawn cabs going through the siq to the Treasury (Al-Khazneh). From the treasury to the theatre or "city centre" you can ride a camel. Up to the Monestary you can rid a donkey. It doesn't look convenient neither for the man or donke though.

If people have problems walking the one and a half kilometer through the siq then they can take a horse carriage through the siq to the treasury.
The price for a returen trip is around 20 jordanian dinar at the time of writing (october 2008).
Be aware though that it´s a very bumpy ride.

Traditional animal quite often associated with the desert and the Bedouins. They are widely appreciated by the Bedouins for their strength. Camel milk over there is considered as the magical potion of the druid Panoramix (not too sure how many non-French speaker will understand this reference ;)

However for some strange reason, there are only a limited number of camels authorized on the site of Petra! On top of the price to pay for this fine beast, the Bedouins also have to get a license number.
That’s why renting a camel can be quite expensive. I’ve mainly seen them on the main site, I don’t think they are used to climb to the top…