Sweeping views & simple memories at Wadi Rum

7 pillars of wisdom

Most people have heard of Petra but not Wadi Rum and I’d include myself in that group until 2014. It’s only when you talk to people who have been to Jordan that you learn of another unmissable place in this small country. Petra’s is defined by its natural beauty amid key strokes of human ingenuity, Wadi Rum is all nature in its purest form.

The first time I heard about Wadi Rum was from a couple I met in Tanzania about four years ago and after checking it out on the internet this soon became another reason to visit Jordan.

Amazing sandstone cliffs

Its easy to access Wadi Rum from Petra via the Desert Highway lying about 110kms south-east. At the hostel lobby in Petra I met Simon, a German and he too was going to Wadi Rum the next da. We both had a 2-day pass to Petra so checked out Petra early in the morning and then decided to split the taxi to Wadi Rum. The other option would have been to take the 6am bus but by taking the taxi it made for a far more relaxing journey.

Anfishiyyeh rock art

We also ended up booking the same Bedouin desert camp for that night at Wadi Rum so teaming up made more sense. Intellectually I connected with him seamlessly making for great conversations on a wide range of subjects over the two days we traveled together. He spoke fluent Mandarin, had guided cycling tours across Mongolia and Taiwan and had just got into the German foreign services division and was waiting for his first international posting. We even joked that he might end up working in the German consulate in Liberia and we might meet in Monrovia someday.

Red dunes

As we neared Wadi Rum with our entertaining and energetic taxi driver (11 kids ;)) I could see why this place is so highly rated. It’s a region of strikingly expansive landscape. Flat sandy floor speckled with immense windblown sandstone cliffs makes for an epic setting. The occasional Bedouin herding his cattle on camel added to the spectacle. The closest comparison I can relate to is the Hombori mountains in Mali but even that would be a distant cousin.

Little bridge

As soon we landed in the town of Wadi Rum we were picked up in a Bedouin truck to take us to the camp about 20 minutes away. The lands around Wadi Rum belongs to the local Bedouin Zalabieh tribe and each family has an ancestral piece that was handed down over time.

With it being a prime tourist draw now, a lot of these families have now set up makeshift tented accommodation for tourists spread across this wide expanse of land.

Um Fruth rock bridge

The further away you go from the town of Wadi Rum, the more spread out the camps, giving a far better experience in solitude. Ours was a new one still under construction and far enough to make us feel we were all by ourselves. I booked a bed in a dorm but since their dorm tent was still under construction I was put up in the family tent all by myself…aka the biggest of all the tents for the lowest price. Absolute steal for what I paid!

Burrah canyon

No sooner had we checked in we got back in the pickup to join a couple other travelers (Germans again!) who were waiting for us to go on a half-day 4WD tour of Wadi Rum’s best spots. It worked out good for all of us as we now split the tour cost by four.

The half day tour is a reasonable amount of time to see the best of Wadi Rum in a 4WD, chief among them are the Khazali Canyon, Anfishiyyeh rock art, Red dunes, Burrah canyon, Um Fruth bridge, Little bridge, and ending with a majestic sunset across the desert.

Getting back to the tastefully decorated dining tent we had copious amounts of tea and then a wide spread of Arabic food with Zarb, a traditional Bedouin meal cooked under hot desert sand.

Wadi Rum is a great place for hiking and rock climbing but I’d already done my share of scaling mountains in Jordan plus the tendon on the leg was still swollen and sore. I didn’t want to leave Wadi Rum without wandering on foot however - Simon was also up for it so we decided to go for a walkabout early next morning.

It is a vast expanse of land and easy to get lost in the maze of sandstone cliffs if one is not paying attention as it could all look very similar after awhile. We made sure to note landmarks as we went to not wander too far off the trail especially as we needed to be back at camp in about 3-4 hours to catch our taxi to Aqaba.

Bedouin whiskey..aka tea 

Walking as opposed to driving in a 4WD gives a completely different sensation - you see things at your own pace, see the desert flowers booming up close, make fleeting footprints on sand and if you lucky, interact with locals.

An hour or so into our walk we came upon a man fixing his pickup. Beside him there was a mother camel encouraging her day-old baby to stand on its feet. Well…that was until she saw us and got anxious until we backed-off and sat down at a distance giving them a wide berth.

The simple memory

As we got up to leave a few quiet moments later, the Bedouin man asked us to have tea with him. His wife was boiling a small pot a short distance aside.

Recently I met a good friend in India – I was visited home right after my trip to Jordan. He’s caught the travel bug as well so over dinner we shared out stories and I gave him some tips on backpacking solo. He was quite enthused to go different countries so I advised him to keep chasing countries but to also take time to create memories…because that’s what sticks long after the journey ends and the experiences fade. Usually, those memories are created by happenstance involving a blend of humans, culture and nature.

What sticks out today as I write this blog as the best part of my travel to Wadi Rum is not the towering cliffs or the soft red sand dunes or the amazing natural bridges carved by the winds. That fleeting moment admiring the mother-baby camel duo, the invitation for tea by the kind Bedouin man, sitting beside them on the sand unable to communicate much, sipping tea in the middle of nowhere looking at the dramatic scenery and the blooming wild desert flowers is what remains vivid.

For their hospitality we both gave our bananas in return and they accepted it with gratitude. It’s generally not what you give that matters but the idea of sharing that matters. I was just putting into practice the life lesson I had learnt from Ali a few days ago.

Desert bloom

We soon returned to camp picking as much stray trash as we could. Wadi Rum is a beautiful place but its not immune to modern day’s plastic problem.  We just wanted to do our bit to leave this magnificent place a little better than what we found it in.

Its sad that the Bedouins don’t have a concept of waste management or environmental preservation. At one point when our hands were full of trash, Simon waved down to a tourist pickup and loaded the trash neatly filled in a few bays so it could be dropped off by the tourists at their camp trash site. Even thought the tourists were happy to help, the Bedouin driver was infuriated that Simon hadn’t spoken to him before putting the trash in his pickup. You would expect him to be happy that we were cleaning up their ancestral l land but oh well…can’t please everyone!

The tastefully decorated dining tent

Arabian Nights Bedouin desert camp

After returning to camp with as much trash as our hands could hold we were dropped back to the Wadi Rum village from where we took a taxi to the port city of Aqaba that is a favorite haunt of divers and northern hemisphere sun worshipers taking a break from their beak winters. I got dropped off at the bus station so I could book my ticket back to Amman while Simon headed straight to the border crossing with Israel.

I’ve already snorkeled in the crystal-clear waters of the Red Sea from the Djibouti side and still don’t have my license for diving so just wandered the streets, dipped my feet in the cool water, people watched and enjoyed the balmy sunset. The journey in south Jordan was ending…that night I was headed back to Amman.