The awe-inspiring rose red city carved into the rocks 2,000 years ago was lost to the Western world in the 14th century and remained the stuff of rumour and mystery until the fiercely-guarded secret was rediscovered by a Swiss traveller in 1812.

Most famous of all the sights of Petra is the Treasury, an impressive facade which appears suddenly at the end of a long passage cut into the rocky desert landscape – known as The Siq – which leaves you gasping in wonder at this feat of construction considered to be the eighth wonder of the ancient world.

Yet for many of the tourists under the age of 40 who make the long trek to The Treasury, this spectacular vision's allure lies not in its elusive and historic past but in its status as one of Hollywood's most famous film sets – appearing in the final dramatic sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as the temple housing the legendary Holy Grail.

While visitors of a certain age are imagining – and acting out – Indiana Jones-style feats of daring exploration, the Petra of today is actually more reminiscent of its past as a major trade junction for the silk and spice routes.

Where Indy found a hidden treasure, visitors today will find stalls selling trinkets, food and drink, some surprisingly clean portable toilets and seemingly hundreds of local Bedouin guides desperate to ensure you don't waste a moment's energy walking anywhere.

They offer "taxi rides" in carriages, on horses, on camels – or even on donkeys called Michael Jackson!

Directly outside the gates of the ancient city of Petra are all the facilities a modern tourist could need, from hotels – we stayed at the Mövenpick, a brand also famous for its ice cream – to gift shops and restaurants.

Among the tourist facilities is the Petra Kitchen – where you can enjoy a meal out with a difference.

Here the chef and local women give you an apron and a knife and direct you around the kitchen for a crash course in Jordanian cuisine.

By the time your stomach is rumbling you've created a banquet of authentic local delicacies – soup, cold and hot mezza dishes, salads and a main course.

They'll even give you the recipes so you can faithfully recreate the dishes back home.

Petra isn't the only place in Jordan offering up dramatic examples of man's ability to create.

The ancient city of Jerash puts Petra's 2,000-year history to relative shame – offering an extensive site dating back more than 6,500 years, including one of the best preserved Roman provincial town sites in the world.

Here the contrast of Jordan is again apparent in the site's mix of Arabian and Greco-Roman designs.

While the Jordanian capital Amman also has its fair share of Roman remains – including the Citadel and a Roman Theatre which is still used today – the most striking aspect of this major city's architecture is the warren of plain, square buildings with their stark black windows peppering the walls like bullet holes.