Shifting SANDS

I’ve climbed up as far as I can on the steep trail to the High Place of Sacrifice. Far below me, tourists, Bedouin, camels and donkeys mill around the ancient site of Petra. Up here, though, it’s silent, apart from the rustle of the wind in scrubby bushes.

The rocky desert stretches into the distance, its jagged chasms and rose-pink rock faces absorbing the facades of the city, built in the third century BC by the Nabateans. I savour the moment, away from the crowds.

I’m on a week-long cruise from the Egyptian resort of Hurghada, sailing up the long finger of the Gulf of Aqaba to Jordan. We’ll spend two nights at Aqaba for visits to Petra and Wadi Rum, as well as a couple of days in