The Arabian Desert in Wadi Rum

  Wadi Rum, Jordan
Sunday, June 29, 2008

We took things easy this morning. Our volunteers slept in for the most part, though several of them couldn't sleep as long as they would have liked. Several went shopping or walked around Aqaba. We asked for input for lunch, and Western Food won again: this time Burger King, an easy walk from the hotel. At 2:00 a guide from the Captains Camp in Wadi Rum was at the hotel to guide us to the spot where we would spend the night. It took about 90 minutes to make the drive, up and away from the Coast to the place made famous by the exploits of T.E. Lawrence and the Bedouin Prince and fighters who fought with him against the Turks during WW I. As we drove up into the mountains from Aqaba, we could feel the air grow less hot, and humid. We passed several trains chugging up the Aqaba-Damascus Railway, which is the line that was frequently sabotaged under Lawrence's leadership.
 
Turning off the Desert Highway we headed East for several more miles, passing to our right as we drove the mountain named by Lawrence "the Seven Pillars of Wisdom," after which he named the book about his wartime activities. Finally we arrived at the Captains Camp, made up of Bedouin tents divided into two bed "rooms" by cloth hanging walls. We were welcomed by hot tea, and rested a little, taking the time to leave in our rooms the things we would not need for the 4-hour, 4WD tour of Wadi Rum. At 4:00 pm our two vehicles arrived, a long bed Toyota 4WD pickup and a short bed Mitsubishi pickup.

One 4WD truck in Wadi Rum

Each truck had facing benches installed in its bed, running from front to back. The thirteen of us piled in and off we started for our tour. We drove on tracks in the sand, sometimes firm sometimes very soft.

Truck number 2 stuck in soft sand

We were all struck by the beauty of the Arabian Desert. Steep, often vertical-sided mountains jutted straight up hundreds of feet out of the sand. The immensity of the mountains produced a feeling of awe and we drove beneath them and through their shadows.  As we contemplated the almost unearthly landscapes, the discussion in our truck turned from Lawrence of Arabia to the Sci-Fi book Dune by Frank Herbert. I didn't bring it up, but it was a favorite of mine when in High School, and I wondered if the inspiration for the book wasn't Wadi Rum.
 
Our first stop was at a place where ancient carvings were still visible on the sides of a mountain wall. They were of camels and other animals. The guidebook I had said the carvings probably dated from the Nabatean period, which would make them around 2000 years old. Then we climbed back in and headed off to find the ruins of Lawrence's house, built on the foundation of a Nabatean temple. When we drove through exposed valleys, we faced a stiff wind which blew stinging sand in our faces or our backs. We wondered to each other if this is what the Bedu used to feel as they road their camels through sandstorms. In any event it was sometimes quite uncomfortable.
 
We stopped at Lawrence's house, took photos and let everyone climb on the rocks around about. David Baker and I reminded them or our 3-feet rule. There are places in Jordan where we really need to climb to be able to take in certain views (such as at Jerash or in Ajlun Castle or here in Wadi Rum), but we told the volunteers to always give themselves a 3 foot margin of safety away from any edge, and not to get any closer than that. They have been very cooperative in their compliance.
 
Then we drove to the high rock bridge to take photos, and watch our driver/guide climb up and stand on top.

The group under a Wadi Rum rock bridge

We asked our volunteers not to do so, since the 3-feet rule could not have been applied.  We drove on through amazing landscapes, sometimes in calm, sometimes in stinging, blowing sand. Several times we came across Bedouin camels, their front feet tied to each other with a short length of rope.

A camel in Wadi Rum

This let them move about, but only slowly and with some difficulty, allowing their owners to find the when they so choose.
 
Toward the end of our 4-hour drive we ended up at the "sunset viewing spot" an area with a lovely panorama of mountains into which the sun sinks each night.

Dave Baker and me in the sunset

We climbed up on a low promontory and watched the sun set behind the mountains. The colors were not particularly brilliant, but the overall scene was breathtaking none the less.

watching the Wadi Rum sunset

We watched the colors change for half an hour after the red disk disappeared, enjoying the calm and the immensity of the creation in this amazing place.
 
As the sky began to darken, we climbed down to the vehicles and drove the rest of the way back to our camp.
 
As we arrived we were invited to take tea around a campfire in the middle of camp. After a few minutes of rest we went through the line of the dinner buffet, which included Mezza, chicken and beef brochettes, vegetables and desert as well. As we ate, one fellow puffed away on his Nargile, the classic Arab water pipe for smoking tobacco. This must have been part of the experience and he seemed surprised that none of our group wanted to go try a puff or two.

One of the Bedouin staff pours coffee

Two musicians played, one on a guitar-like instrument and the other on a traditional drum.  After a while one came to demonstrate a dance, and got several of the fellow to dance with him, then several of the gals. Then a long dancing line formed and moved rhythmically around the campfire.
 
We were far from the nearest city, and the desert air was very clear, so the night sky was filled with stars; far more than we can usually see. The Milky Way was stunningly clear. The big dipper was huge and plainly seen, the Northern Star and a planet I could not identify were very bright and obvious.
 
The air cooled but did not become cold. We encourage everyone to get to bed at a reasonable hour, since we would have another full day tomorrow, and people started headed for bed around 10:00 pm, with others trickling out to bed later.
 I believe this visit to Wadi Rum will remain a high point of the trip in the minds of many of us. The beauty of the creation just cannot be paralleled by what man can construct.