Petra and the Movies

You must be wondering why did I name this blog post "Petra and the Movies".

Well, for starts, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was partly filmed in Petra.

And recently, even Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was also filmed there.

Those 2 movies probably created more awareness about this ancient Nabatean city. But what catapulted its popularity is because Petra has been voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007. So everyone wants to see a world wonder since the previous seven wonders (with the exception of the Pyramids at Giza) has all been destroyed one way or another.

Now coming back to the movies. Since Petra has Indy to thank for letting the world know of its existence, the people pay homage to Indy by naming their shops after him a.k.a. jumping on the business bandwagon. Take a look at these shops:

They even sell hats ala Indy for visitors who want to feel like the famous archeologist approaching the Treasury:

I didn't see anyone wearing any of these hats in Petra though. Maybe they didn't want the other visitors to laugh at them.

And amidst all the hype about Indy, the people have not forgotten to pay homage to other movies as well, like the most popular ship:

But my all time favourite has got to be this:

Guess who? Captain Jack Sparrow on a camel - in Petra!

If you don't know who Captain Jack Sparrow is, you must either:

1) not love movies; or

2) you were living on Planet Mars for the past decade

So now you know why I named this blog post "Petra and the Movies".

If you visit Petra, remember to keep your eyes open and notice all these popular movies, characters and memorabilia. They are all around you; you just need to be observant.