Horses and mules and camels, oh my!

Or, alternatively, a horseback ride from the visitor's center to the beginning of the Siq is included in the ticket, and that's what I decided to do.

This is my guide Mahmout on his horse. The ride was fun (and much more comfortable than the long mule ride I took later in the day) but obviously I couldn't take many pictures while on horseback.

I assumed I'd be coming back the same way on foot later, but that was before I got talked into riding that mule up to the Monastery and down to the back gate of Petra.

So I didn't get to explore intriguing trails like this which lead away from the road.