Noooo Prisoners!!
Trip Start
Mar 07, 2006
1
15
21
Trip End
Jun 07, 2006
Where I stayed
wadi rum guest house
Wadi Rum,
Jordan
Saturday, April 29, 2006
First the ticket office was about 1 km from the port entrance outside the compound itself so once we'd found it an purchased our tickets it was through Egyptian immigration and waiting on hard plastic seats, concrete floor, stray cats style departure lounge for 2 hours. Once we were finally aboard the ferry it can't actually leave until everyone's documents are in order and with a boat filled with Egyptians going to Jordan to work this took forever. For a boat trip that's supposed to take only 1 hour we finally arrived in Aqaba 3 and a half hours later. Now you may think that everyone would just get off the boat and be on their way but this is the Middle East and things are never that simple!
Early morning in Wadi Rum
!There was only one exit from the ferry down a narrow flight of stairs and off on a rickety gangway so with no control this would have been a disaster. So, small groups of about 20 people were let off at a time. The way it was going this was going to take hours so when some random tour leader called out "Sri Lanka Group", I said "Yep, that's us" and pushed through the crowd which magically opened up before us to let us through, one guy looked at us disbelievingly and pointed saying "Sri Lanka??" But hey it worked and we got off the boat quick smart before the rest of the Sri Lanka group appeared.
We'd arranged for a taxi to take us directly to Waid Rum (1 hour away) and arrived there in the dark to a hot meal and a small tent with 2 mattresses courtesy of Wadi Rum Guest House, the only place to stay in Rum Village.
The following morning we were greeted by the granduer that is Gebel Rum or Mount Rum. Rum Village lies in a valley (Wadi) surrounded by huge rock formations that are like really giant versions of the Olga's and they stretch for miles and miles to the Saudi Border and beyond with sand wadi's between them. We were lucky enough to get a glimpse of a small part of this awe inspiring place over the next 3 days from the back of a camel thanks to our young Bedouin guide, Salem.
Riding by day and camping in Bedouin goat hair tents in the desert by night under the silence of a million stars was fabulous. Total peace after the brain shattering constant noise of Egypt
Firsts nights camp
. TE Lawrence wrote extensively about the peace and tranquility of this place and for those of you who have seen the classic Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O'Toole Wadi Rum is every bit as dramatic as in the film and even more so. Great food and continuing our education in Arabic from Salem was a fantastic way to spend 3 days but boy were we glad for a shower and a change of clothes by the time we arrived back in Rum Village on the third day.
Many Bedouin still live semi-traditional lives here. Goat hair tents are the norm and small herds of livestock and of course camels graze on the desert vegetation. Small camps were dotted around the entire region that we travelled through. A very special place full of special people.
