dutyfree - I'm at Petra now. The walk through to the Treasury is not that hard - parts are uneven (especially the Roman pavement), but the gradient is gentle. You can ride that part on a horse or in a very bumpy-looking horse cart - or probably a donkey. The next secion is level although not as even, and you can also find four-footed transport.

However, for me the best part of Petra involved a lot of climbing - to the High Place of Sacrifice, to the Monastery, and behind the Royal Tombs to a great viewpoint above the Treasury. I highly recomend the walk down from the High Place of Sacrifice, as the colors of the rocks are marvelous, but with two knee replacements it might not be advisible. I'm very tired, but I'm looking forward to "Petra by night" tonight.

dutyfree - we just returned from Jordan 3 days ago. To get from the main gate to the beginning of the Siq (just less than 1km) you can hire a horse. After the Siq you can hire donkeys or camels. But for the Siq itself, the only option besides walking are the carts and they looked unbelievably uncomfortable as the ground is quite uneven. There is a slope on most of the site but it isn't very steep except if you choose to do one of the climbs (Monastery and High Place of Sacrifice).

Last month we 2 seniors, 70ish, stayed in Petra for 2 nights.

We left Eilat at 9AM, got to Wadi Rum about 11AM, took a tour, and reached Petra about 5PM. We went on the night tour, which we thought was good, not great. Next 8AM, we had a guide take us through Petra to the restaurant area. At that point our legs were thoroughly tired, and we walked slowly back. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza becaue I wanted to be near the entrance. Next AM we returned to Eilat with a short tour through Aqaba.