Nabataean architecture

E-buggies replace horse carts at Jordan’s Petra

Horses and mules have long drawn tourist carriages through Jordan's ancient city of Petra, but animal rights concerns are driving a project to start replacing them with electric vehicles.

A small fleet of 10 rechargeable e-carts now take visitors through the rose-colored Siq or gorge leading to the famed capital of the Nabateans, which dates back to the first century BC.

Ancient Petra a ghost town as pandemic hits Jordan tourism

For over two millennia the ancient city of Petra has towered majestically over the Jordanian desert. Today its famed rose-red temples hewn into the rockface lie empty and silent.    

As the novel coronavirus spread around the world, Jordanian authorities imposed a lockdown, and the last tourists left on March 16, a day before the Hashemite kingdom closed its borders.