Oasis Desert Camp Wadi Rum

... pasar la noche en el desierto. Llegamos antes del atardecer, despues de haber hecho una excursion 4x4 entre las montanyas y dunas de este maravilloso desierto. Cuando llegamos al campamento Hallawi, los beduinos nos estaban esperando con un Arabic coffee, fuertecito estaba. Al acercarse el atardecer, nos hemos ido a traves de las dunas al punto mas alto de la zona para contemplar el Sunset en el desierto. Una vez en lo alto, hemos podido presenciar uno de los ...

... was great, I would have liked to stay out longer. We arrived back to camp as darkness fell and opened the local wine we'd brought from Aquaba (a bit rough, but when in Jordan you drink "Wine of the Holy Land") and enjoyed the evening buffet meal. Then Riad, Cindy and Amanda lead the group in some intro to belly dancing moves and after 3 bottles of wine between the group we took over the campfire and danced around it while local ...

... Tegen het eind van de middag haalde Mo ons met de Jeep op, en reden we naar een provisorisch kamp, waar ook onze bagage inmiddels was. Met een theetje op een matje keken we hoe de mannen de BBQ opstookten (gaat erg makkelijk met droog woestijngrasjes en -plantjes). 's Nachts werd het donker genoeg om op een zandduin (ook een avontuur om daar op te klimmen..) naar de sterren te kijken.

We sliepen redelijk lang, maar om 8/9 uur (we zijn weer onzeker over wel of ...

... that sort of looked like a mix of a mini guitar and a violin) for us by the fire was entertaining and had a great personality. Before the other travelers had arrived, we got there first so we went exploring around the empty camp. I saw the old man was just sitting cross-legged on some rock. He looked like he was meditating or something- he was at peace. I ...

... through these gorges and seeing some of the wonderful petroglyphsdating back thousands of years we past the "Queen of the Desert" rock that looks like a queen overlooking the desert.

Back into the jeeps and off to a massive sand dune. It doesn't look that big or steep when you are down on the ground but believe me your legs def tell you how big and steep it is! We finally did make it up to the top after a hard slog up the dune. The view ...

... civilized parts of my own state where I don't get cell reception. At any rate, I'm game, so I texted back and realized that I should probably be holding onto my camel rather than texting. I didn't fall off, but I wobbled. Maybe it was the camel equivalent of not looking up in time from your texting to realize that the car in front of you has stopped.
I'll gloss over lunch (of the 5 things served, poor Rich could eat only the pita bread) and what it's like to ...

... a situation! We also thought - wow, what a dramatic place for some Via Ferrata types of climbs. (Via Ferrata are climbs where the route has been bolted and cabled in the tricky bits. They were originally put into the Dolomites during WW1 to allow the Italian soldiers to navigate the mountains with heavy packs and equipment. They can now be found in other areas as new routes have been added - they allow you to climb faces that you might otherwise not be able ...

... his marching. Avan had borrowed our drivers (at his insistence) binoculars, which fell out of his pocket onto the sand. Our Camel Driver swooped onto them, gave them a cursory clean, and indicated if he could use, then gave us what he thought a hilarious account of what he could see, to our non understanding bemusement. It was magical watching the sunset then lurching back to camp on our camels. Our camp was fairly empty with only one other couple ...

Well, I'm back from my trip, safe and sound. It was literally one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and it was so much fun that I never wanted our travels to end. I took tons and tons of pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to post a lot of them, but if not I'll make sure you see all of them eventually. I did things I never thought I'd do in my life, and grew a ton as a person. So much happened that I'll try to tell you all as much as I can, but be patient! Haha. So ...

... the border from Israel in a 4-wheel-drive pickup. He was wearing a red and black soccer shirt and a baseball cap. Where were his long, flowing robes and turban? More important, where was his camel? When he boosted six of us in the back of his truck, equipped with an awning for shade, and took us into Wadi Rum my disappointment vanished. Wadi is Arabic for a valley formed over geologic time when the wind and water slowly wear down the sandstone ...