But the best way to tour Petra is walking slowly, with good parts water and a hat to protect from the relentless sun. We must reserve forces, because in the final waiting an hour walk to the colossal monastery - in similar ways to the Treasury, but much larger - a winding route carved into the rock, with more than 800 steps. From there, overlooking the magnificent landscape of cliffs and gorges and rocky desert looms the impressive surrounding Petra. Little of what is now contemplated traveler might enjoy the first westerner who entered Petra, the young Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, who took three years to carve the confidence of the Arab tribes that roamed the area, learned Arabic, dressed like a Bedouin, converted to Islam and took the name Abdullah Ibn Ibrahim ... All to be a single day in the middle of this paradise and to reflect briefly in his diary: "If my guesses are correct, this place is Petra." It was the August 12, 1812. The rush of the Swiss had to do with the distrust of their hosts, but also with its accelerated life: he had yet to discover and explore Abu Simbel Mecca. He did all that before he died with only 33 years.