After a second half day in Petra to explore more of the "High Places", we continued our road trip down the King's Highway (a sealed road with seemingly endless speed humps and police checkpoints to slow our progress). By the middle of the afternoon, we had reached Wadi Rum, a unique and specially protected desert area - home territory of the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. The desert landscape here was certainly different from that which we had encountered previously. Towering rock formations punctuated an otherwise flat and arid desert floor. Bright red sand dunes around the base of the rocks contrasted with the muted yellows and browns of the flatter areas.
We were soon on board a 4WD for an entertaining few hours visiting some of the key sights in Wadi Rum. Our driver was maybe 13 years old and he was out to have a good time too. Some of the sights were associated with the adventures of Lawrence of Arabia. Others were of geological interest - rock "bridges" formed high above the floor (great for climbing), long rock canyons and sand dunes (great for jumping down). We ended our 4WD adventure watching the sun set over the desert ... and then helping to push start the vehicle to get us to our overnight stop, a Bedouin camp far out in the desert.
The camp was a tent complex with sleeping mats and blankets. We enjoyed a traditional Bedouin meal - some sort of chicken and vegetables in a stew accompanied by rice and bread. Not bad. Then time to sleep. The striking feature was the absolute silence of the desert. And the temperature change - we certainly needed those blankets during the night.
Next morning, we came back to the relative civilization of Wadi Rum township. But we were not done. We felt that we needed a little more of the desert experience. We found a hiking trail which took us back out into the desert, around the Seven Pillars of Wisdom referred to in Lawrence of Arabia. The hike was hard work. Hot and dry in the blistering sand. Plus some rock climbs for which Mercedes showed special aptitude with only slip-ons on her feet. We had trouble finding the trail in a few places too. We made it back to the car in three hours - and we were both exhausted.
From Wadi Rum, we headed on to Aqaba, Jordan's only port town. A smaller town than we expected but with a surprisingly big history. And ferocious temperatures.
We were soon on board a 4WD for an entertaining few hours visiting some of the key sights in Wadi Rum. Our driver was maybe 13 years old and he was out to have a good time too. Some of the sights were associated with the adventures of Lawrence of Arabia. Others were of geological interest - rock "bridges" formed high above the floor (great for climbing), long rock canyons and sand dunes (great for jumping down). We ended our 4WD adventure watching the sun set over the desert ... and then helping to push start the vehicle to get us to our overnight stop, a Bedouin camp far out in the desert.
The camp was a tent complex with sleeping mats and blankets. We enjoyed a traditional Bedouin meal - some sort of chicken and vegetables in a stew accompanied by rice and bread. Not bad. Then time to sleep. The striking feature was the absolute silence of the desert. And the temperature change - we certainly needed those blankets during the night.
Next morning, we came back to the relative civilization of Wadi Rum township. But we were not done. We felt that we needed a little more of the desert experience. We found a hiking trail which took us back out into the desert, around the Seven Pillars of Wisdom referred to in Lawrence of Arabia. The hike was hard work. Hot and dry in the blistering sand. Plus some rock climbs for which Mercedes showed special aptitude with only slip-ons on her feet. We had trouble finding the trail in a few places too. We made it back to the car in three hours - and we were both exhausted.
From Wadi Rum, we headed on to Aqaba, Jordan's only port town. A smaller town than we expected but with a surprisingly big history. And ferocious temperatures.
Simon
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