Petra’s lost tourist season

Alyan and Sharhan, a pair of camels that greet visitors entering the ancient city of Petra, a Unesco World Heritage site, in Jordan. (Below) Only a handful of guests are staying at a resort on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. — Laura Boushnak/New York Times

IN a normal year, Alyan and Sharhan, the pair of camels that greet visitors as they enter Jordan’s ancient city of Petra, would have little rest.

Usually, tourist after tourist climbs on their backs to be photographed in front of the 2,000-year-old Treasury building.