Travelogue Jordan 2011
Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum) is one of the most beautiful deserts of the world. The sand is interrupted by countless rocks and mountains, some of them with bizarre shapes. At least in spring, when we visited the Wadi Rum, the desert was full of live. The total ground was covered by little plants, which were not only very nice to watch but also gave stability to the sand and made it very comfortable to walk.

By the way: most of the time we think of deserts we think of high temperatures (at least during daytime). But that was not the case when we were in Wadi Rum, it was pretty cold and I do not know what I would have done without my Arabian head scarf.

Our first scheduled “dessert event” is a sunset. Then we got a wonderful dinner and as a surprise a friend of Saleh came and played and sang Arabian music for us.

Wadi Rum - Volker standing in the middle of a rockface
sun set position
Wadi Rum - sun set
Decent sun set but not a spectacular one. We could not see the sun go down all the way as there where mountains between us and the horizon.
Wadi Rum Tours / Saleh's Camp
Saleh’s Camp
Wadi Rum - Bedouin music
Bedouin music after dinner
our sleeping place in Wadi Rum
nice bed but the mattress was a bit small for two

The night sky in the dessert is as spectacular as they always say. For us, living in humid and densely populated regions, it is incredible how many stars there are. At the horizon we could see the light of cities far away, some of them in neighboring countries.

After breakfast the next morning we left for a one day jeep tour through the desert. Every now and then Saleh lets us get of the car and walk a bit, he picks us up at another place. For lunch Saleh (himself he said) cooked a very tasty dish in the morning and now heats it over a small fire. I would never have believed that it is so easy to cook on an open fire. It takes only minutes till food and tea are ready.

When the tour ends after seven hours we are so tired that we don’t want to go to watch another sunset. Anyway, it is a bit cloudy this day.

Wadi Rum - a lot of small blue flowers
the living desert
Wadi Rum - a canyon
Our first stop is a canyon close to Saleh’s camp.
Wadi Rum - red sand, plants, mountains
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum - Volker pets a camel.
Camels are everywhere and not just as a tourist attraction.
Wadi Rum - rock formations
Gabi on a rock bridge
Wadi Rum - a flowering bush
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum - Phelipaea salsa
Christmas tree flowers (Phelipaea salsa?)
Wadi Rum - view on dessert and mountains
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum - Volker gets his head scarf done in the real Arab way.
Saleh shows me how to wear the head scarf.
Wadi Rum - Mama and baby camel
Mama and baby camel
Wadi Rum - Bedouins drinking tea
Saleh drinks tea with some Bedouin camel shepherds.
Wadi Rum - A rock formation looking like a mushroom.
There are even mushrooms in the desert.
Wadi Rum - Bedouin fire
Bedouin fire
Wadi Rum - Bedouin lunch on a fire
Bedouin cooks Bedouin lunch on a Bedouin fire.
Wadi Rum - sand and rocks
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum - rock carvings showing camels
Rock carvings, some of them are said to be 4000 years old – a proof that men and camels have been here together since a long time.
Wadi Rum - Volker with his head scarf worn to protect him sand.
The scarf is the ideal protection against sun, wind, sand, cold (and surveillance cameras).
Wadi Rum - a dune and rocks
A dune, but I saw more impressive ones in South America.
Wadi Rum - Volker sitting on a rock
relaxing after a long day

During the second evening we can’t enjoy the starry night sky because it is clouded. In the night we hear rain hitting the roof of our tent.

In the next morning it is really cold. During our camel ride back to Saleh’s house in village Rum it rains again. The ride is an experience but not really a pleasant one. Apart from the cold the saddle is quite uncomfortable, I am not sure if it was a real riding saddle. So if you plan to do camel tours, especially longer ones, make sure what kind of a saddle you get and if you feel comfortable on the animal. I definitely would not have stood a whole day on like this and enjoyed the jeep tour much more.

Wadi Rum - camel riding
Nice animal, but it was too cold and not comfortable.

Apart from this cold ending our trip to Wadi Rum could not have been better. Therefore a big recommendation for the offer of Saleh and his family. If you want to contact him you can find more information about his camp at https://wadirumtours.com/.

We decided not to continue further south to the Red Sea because the weather was not fine enough for swimming or snorkeling, because it was the Jordan weekend (Friday/Saturday) when it is too full there and finally because we anyway had too many things to see given our trip of two weeks only. So we turned back north again, in rain and fog.

Sunset over Wadi Musa (Petra)
Sunset over Wadi Musa (Petra)

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