After ending our brief stop in Aqaba, we headed to Wadi Rum, a nature preserve in Jordan. None of us knew exactly what to expect. We knew that we were going to spend the night in a Bedouin camp and that it was going to be cold, but we weren’t told too much else about it.
One thing that we definitely didn’t expect is that, despite being desert, it was among the most beautiful places on Earth. We started off at the Wadi Rum visitors center to learn a little about the village. From the center, we had great views of the mountain known as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom (named after a T.E. Lawrence book) and the surrounding desert. The scenery was entrancing, but it was only a smidgen of what was to come.
From the village, we were taken by four-wheel drive to a Bedouin camp. The trip took us through desert and a beautiful, light brown mountainous region. Photographs were difficult because of all of the motion, but don’t worry – I took plenty of photographs after we stopped.
The Bedouin camp was definitely touristy, but that didn’t take away from the natural beauty in which it was situated. As soon as we arrived at the camp, we were taken to an area in which camels were awaiting us. We were all given an opportunity to take a short camel ride and we all took advantage of it. As a matter of fact, I took advantage of it twice because I found it to be rather fun. We didn’t go far – both trips combined were only around thirty minutes – but a great photo op and an entertaining new experience.
After the rides, we got situated in our sleeping tents and then a group of us climbed to the top of a nearby granite hill in order to see the sun set behind the mountains in the near distance. We were promised a beautiful sunset and we were not disappointed. I know that pictures will never do it justice, but I snapped a few if only to remind me of the beauty that I saw.
If you’ve never spent the night in the desert, be aware that as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature starts to drop significantly and quickly. After the sunset, we congregated around a fire in a large Bedouin tent. Our guides gave us Bedouin wine (it was hot, sweet tea – the Bedouins are Muslim and do not drink, though they assured us we could drink out of plastic cups without offending them) and sang and danced.
Afterwards, we saw dinner pulled out of the ground. Our Bedouin barbeque consisted of chicken, potatoes, tomatoes and squash, all cooked together in an underground pit. The food was probably the best meal I’ve had on this trip. After dinner, there was more singing and then the Jack Daniels that we purchased in Aqaba was brought out and after a few drinks, we called it an early night.
At night, it got down to about 40 degrees, but the tents were well-equipped, with warm blankets and a mattress, so I ended up sleeping pretty well. An early night resulted in an early morning and most of the camp was awake early enough to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, because of a few clouds, the sunrise was not as spectacular as the sunset, but the fresh air, far away from any city noise or pollution, made it a great morning, nonetheless.
After breakfast, we hiked for a few kilometers to another mountain in Wadi Rum to see a mountain spring and then we hopped back into the four-wheel drives to go to other sites in Wadi Rum, including various sites associated with Lawrence of Arabia. Since I’m not well-versed in Mr. Lawrence’s story, I can’t do justice to the places that we visited, but if you watch the movie Lawrence of Arabia, perhaps you’ll get a better understanding of the beauty that I encountered because it was filmed in Wadi Rum and Aqaba.
After visiting the sites, we returned to the visitors center and boarded our bus to Petra and the next blog entry.
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