The Countess of Limerick

From the time the Countess of Limerick saw Lowell Thomas's film of Arabia, she was filled with a desire to visit Petra. Her opportunity occurred when she was visiting Palestine. The journey was not without adventure. It was no easy matter to cross the Jordan, for it was then in flood. In her ride across the desert she encountered a band of nomad Arabs and spent a night in the mosque of a deserted Bedouin village. She was lavishly entertained in the camp of the Emir Abdulla.

As she herself says: 'But what will remain a never to be forgotten memory is the approach to Petra and the first view of the wonderful Khazna Fur'un, once the treasure house of Pharaoh. The sun striking full on the flame-coloured face of the temple carved out of the solid rock, with its delicate veining of purple, orange and green; the rock dwellings honeycombed in the pink sandstone hills, all contribute to make Petra what might well be described as the eighth wonder of the world.'