Little Petra to Petra

Siq al Barrid (the cool siq), or Little Petra, is an intriguing place: tucked into its own sandy little canyon some 8km from Petra itself, entered through a ludicrously narrow bottleneck one camel wide, it has charm rather than grandeur. It is quiet, almost intimate, compared to Petra ville centre, once the morning tour buses have headed on, although it would be a famous site in its own right were it not for its show-off neighbour.

Little Petra is thought to have been a trading and supply suburb of Petra itself. Explore its tombs and, dining rooms, including the Painted House, which boasts faded ceiling paintings of birds and foliage.

Then, it is Packs-On Time. A good track heads off, the other side of the tat-sellers from Little Petra, between a cliff and a riverbed across which there are the black goat-hair tents and browsing livestock of a Bedouin settlement. Across some humps of low rock is a group of dry fields surrounded by outlandish cliffs, domes and stacks.

Through the Wadi Gurab gorge, you climb a bank to a little plain of sun-baked fields between more outcrops, woven with sandy little starter-wadis. Skirting this, you reach the ridge-top at the head of the so-called Three Valleys, a trio of gorges that drop, drily and dramatically, down to the Petra basin.

Choosing your gorge isn't that easy, but if you aim at the middle you will hit something which will get you to Petra (check the Cicerone carefully before choosing which gorge is for you). We descended Wadi Muaysra as Sharkiyya, the central and easiest of the gorges, which starts in parched little fields under a grand cliff, but soon narrows into a dramatic orange sandstone gorge brightened by vivid oleanders on the riverbed. After a long, enjoyable, scrambly trudge, tombs start appearing. Further on, we rested in the kindly shade at the back of a large chamber, mesmerised by the bright, wavy stripes of its sandstone walls.

You eventually have to climb out of the gorge to miss an unreasonably placed drop. Crossing a low hilltop, the earthquake-smashed detritus of the Petra basin appears below, its severity softened by the vivid reds and greens of a thick strip of oleanders beside the nearly riverbed.