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Off the Beaten Path in Petra: Traveling the Bedouin Trails (PHOTOS)

When Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt was led by Bedouins to Petra, the Nabataean city carved into the cliffs, he was already well aware of the importance of the monument. "This place is very interesting for its antiquities and the remains of an ancient city… It is a most beautiful specimen of Grecian architecture, and in perfect preservation," Burckhardt wrote. He had become the first European ever to visit Petra, and he may never have found the city hidden in the cliffs and valleys of Jordan without the help of the Bedul Bedouin tribe that inhabited the area.

Since Burckhardt's time, Petra has become one of the world's largest archaeological sites and a popular destination for tourists. The site is filled with elaborate architecture, some of it carved into the cliffs, other pieces erected independently. At one point the city was at the center of a major trade route for Arabian incense, Indian spices and Chinese silks. According to UNESCO, the site includes a water management system that allowed for the settlement of an arid landscape.

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Petra was first established by nomadic Nabataean Arabs and is accessible through the Siq, a narrow gorge flanked by colorful rock formations and high cliffs. Within the city lie the Treasury, a theater, colonnaded streets, shrines, temples and obelisks, writes the Jordan Tourism Board. Because the Valley of Petra has been inhabited by the Bedul since the beginning of the 19th century, they know the region better than any others.

Traditional Bedul lived in black tents, rock shelters and in the empty Nabataean tombs and provided labor for most of the archaeological excavations at Petra, but they have since been forced to move further away in an effort to protect the ruins of Petra, reported Cultural Survival. Now many Bedouins work in tourism, offering guided hikes through the back trails of Petra to visitors eager to go beyond the beaten path. These experiences offer everything from Bedouin-style camping on the trail to Petra to multiple days dedicated to exploring Petra.

Although no experience can truly replicate the traditional lifestyle of the Bedul Bedouins around Petra, their presence will continue to affect the landscape. Cultural Survival writes, "The Bedul realize the tourist industry is sustainable, assuming their own niche in this industry is secured, while their demand for agricultural and grazing lands is one of practicality and a continual tie to their traditional lifestyle."

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