Wadi Rum desert - Jordan

Our flight from Luxor to Amman, Jordan  via Cairo was not without a bit of excitement.  Upon arrival in Cairo, 45 minutes late and at Terminal 1, we realized that we needed to get to Terminal 2 to get our connecting flight which meant we had to collect all of our bags and make the 4 km jaunt to check in again.  We found a local bus that could get us there and as we had 2 hours - we thought we had enough time.  The bus ONLY stops at two stops but we didn’t know that it waits for it to fill with passengers (and I mean standing room only) prior to moving to the next stop.

There was a reason we were the only non-Egyptians on that bus but hey, we saved $10 by taking that bus at the cost of ‘almost’ missing our flight.  We made it and luckily the flight was delayed so we had some time to eat. 

We arrived at Amman, Jordan one hour late but luckily our driver waited for us at the airport.  We had a bit of excitement there as well…..Calvin has been carrying a knife and small police baton with him for ‘emergencies’ – both were packed in our checked luggage, which has been fine so far as long as it is not in the carry-on. We have used his knife for peeling fruit but the latter self-defence tool has yet to leave our backpacks. 

The scanning of bags entering Jordan is more sophisticated than any country we have seen.  They stopped him at the entrance point and Calvin was taken to security where he was made to wait for the arrival of a very serious dude dressed all in black. He had the boys with him to show his ‘family’ side and after about an hour, they confiscated the baton and let him go.  We were able to pick it up when we left Jordan and Calvin made a point of doing so since they gave him such a hard time on entry.

Jordan is a big country and there is much to do here but we had a limited amount of  time so we planned a few days sleeping in tents in the desert with a Bedouin tribe, a few days at Petra to see one of the World’s man-made Wonders and a float in the Dead Sea.

Our driver Sam waited for us at the airport the entire time and we were very thankful since we were very late after the delayed flight and our run in with security.  Sam accompanied us throughout our time in Jordan.  Since it was late in the evening ,Sam dropped us off in Mabada where we booked two rooms at a family hotel at an amazing rate.  We crashed early, had breakfast the following morning and Sam picked us up at 9:30am for the four hour drive to the desert to meet the Bedouin tribe we were staying with. 

It was 3:30pm by the time we made it to the camp. There we met Awod, our guide/driver/musician/part time cook (kind of like me). It is late in the season in Wadi Rum so there were only a few other travellers staying at the Bedouin camp: a couple from France and a mom and daughter from Singapore.  We took a few minutes to throw our packs in the tent and jumped into a jeep to drive to and then scale a mountain to watch the sunset.  

It already feels like a journey to another world. The desert is a vast, silent place, timeless and starkly beautiful.  The red sands of Wadi Rum appeared to be on fire during the sunset – it was spectacular. 

We made it back in time for dinner which was a buffet of vegetables, potatoes and chicken cooked in a hole in sand with hot coals and a variety of salads, breads and hummus.  The experience and company was better than the food.  We sat around after dinner chatting and listening to the Bedouins playing music and singing.   
The boys joined in and by the final night they were playing with the locals….. Aidan played some ‘Smoke on the Water’ on the lute with Noah on bongos. Drevin sat strumming the lute for a good 45 minutes. Luckily the other travellers were music lovers and amazed at his concentration.  It had rained a bit the morning of our arrival and there was a nasty chill in the air.  The lights go out at 8pm and it is so dark in the desert there is nothing left to do but go to bed...so we did.  Calvin grabbed a couple of extra blankets from another tent but it was very, very cold.  We all had our hoodies tied tightly around our faces while we slept.  Devin woke me at midnight having to go to the bathroom and the walk to the bathroom was so quiet and dark with more stars than I have seen in my life. Having said that, I told Devin to wake Daddy the next time so Daddy could experience the atmosphere as well. He did the next night, while I faked a snore.  

Wadi Rum is probably best known in the Western world because of its connection with British officer T.E. Lawrence, who was based here during the Great Arab Revolt of 1917 and as the setting for the film that carried his name Lawrence of Arabia.  We visited Lawrence’s spring which is a basically a pool for collecting water approximately 800 meters up a mountain. 

The climb was better than the spring and the view were heavenly.  We also visited a pile of rocks that were apparently Lawrence’s house.  It is possible.

The best of Wadi Rum
was climbing the
numerous mountains
including a few rock
bridges that will
shake those with an ounce of vertigo.  It’s always easier going up than down and there were more than a few times when we wondered how we would get down.   There was some sliding here and there but we always made it safely back to the desert sand below.   
The mountains that were once coral reefs a few million years ago rise over 1,000 meters above the desert.   You don’t’ need to have an active imagination to see the faces of men, animals and monsters in the weathered stone eroded by the wind for millennium.

It felt like we were walking on the moon.  There were indications of man's presence since the earliest known times. Nabatean people inhabited the area and left writings on rock walls as they were travelling to the border, to Saudi Arabia. All around, there is emptiness and silence.  

Our guide Awod was with us the entire time in the desert.  It’s a good thing he was, as we would still be there trying to find our way out.  Like most Bedouin families he comes from a large family with 8 brothers and sisters. Most men have 2 wives but can't really afford anymore. 

When we met a man in the village he would proudly tell us how many children he had and how many wives. They made Calvin look like an underachiever ! He made us a wonderful lunch in the shade after hours of climbing.  

The boys collected the wood for the fire and he whipped us up some vegetable soup and tea as well as hummus, tuna, bread and yogurt.  

Aidan's jump from the rock



We visited large red sand dunes that took some effort to climb (man, its hard walking up a sand dune) but were well worth the roll down afterwards.  Calvin jumped off a high rock (looked like 10 meters but probably closer to 5) into the sand of the dune so the boys all had to try and it was a blast.  The roll down the hill had us all in tears when we attempted to stand at the bottom with a severe case of the dizzies. I say we, but really it was they, as I was the photographer. I don't do dizzy.

The boys had a bit of a competition to determine where the most sand landed during the role down the hill.  Noah dumped a shoe full of sand on the ground for the win while Calvin thought he should have second after emptying a respectable amount of sand from his pockets.  Devin’s hoodie was full as were Aidan’s shoes.  There was sand everywhere and I do mean everywhere. We found sand days later (after showers) in everyone's ears. 

The nights in the desert are magical – the stars are endless and as we watched one streak across the sky to its death, there was another there to fill the void.  There was a new moon while we visited – no lights for a 100kms – we were in awe of the brilliance of the sky and spent a few very cold hours just staring up at its beauty.   It was the first time that any of us had seen the Milky Way.  The milky path stretched across the sky and in this immense space, we felt dwarfed to insignificance. 

We said goodbye to Wadi Rum on camel.  It certainly authenticates the experience when you can ride a camel out of the desert but you will pay for it…..it’s not the cash I’m referring to but the hips and thighs take some time to heal.  Camels are wider than they appear.