Wadi Rum

Greg roams into a canyon, taking a sniff of some flowers that are exuding a wonderful scent of jasmine.

We roamed right over a patch of mysterious yellow/green fruits. After cracking one open we were hit with the smell of watermelon! We had stumbled upon wild watermelon growing here!

Remarkable bright red rolling sand dunes, goat skulls, sun… this is a startlingly harsh and beautiful place!

After our three hour jaunt in the Wadi Rum dunes and canyons, we returned to our parked car in Wadi Rum Village. A Bedouin from our soon-to-be camp, Abdullah, welcomed us and his brother (who looked about 14) drove us off the last bit of pavement, and straight onto the roadless open sand in a Toyota pick-up truck. Yes, Toyota pick-ups, the camel of the 21st Century. Barreling through the desert for at least 20 minutes, we left the small village and civilization of Wadi Rum behind us. In front, nothing but a wide open expanse of sand and enormous rock islands. Tucked here and there under the rock towers were scattered Bedouin encampments, some local nomadic Bedouin ranchers, some super luxurious air conditioned pods with glass ceilings for the tourists…There is something for everyone here. Our camp, Desert Moon, was more simplistic at $30/night but still a perfect Bedouin slice of glamping experience with a local flair. Here is the view of our camp from a rock we scrambled up nearby.

The inside of our tent. We pushed the beds together to make it more cozy. No heaters, so instead everyone makes use of massive blankets which kept us plenty warm during the 3C/35F nights. We also amazingly had access to hot showers in the community bathroom thanks to solar panels and even WiFi! Not exactly roughing it…

The inside of the community tent where we had our meals, a fireplace, and self serve Bedouin tea (heavily doused with sugar, at what seemed like one cavity:one cup ratio) and social time.

Social time always includes shisha in Bedouin land.

And right outside our camp…camels roamed and grazed like cattle in the pasture. Hundreds of camels, just posing for pictures and lazily chomping on the most unappetizing twig-like plants! We’d never seen so many different shades of camel! From albino white to traditional tan to dark brown to black.

We were also lucky to be here during the baby camel (calf) season. So many baby camels!!! Goat babies were plentiful as well.

On the run…

Another view of the surrounding desert from a different rock

The camp at sunset. Talk about fiery light!!

This stunning woman could not have crossed our path at a more perfect time.

After sunset, we all met in the Bedouin tent around the fire while we waited for our feast to be served. The meal had been cooking since 2:00 pm in the “Bedouin way” called a “zarb” which meant the food was cooked by burying with sand and hot coals underground in a deep pit. It was a complete feast…vegetables, bbq chicken, hummus, yogurt, taboulleh and more that we can’t remember. (Extra cost of $14/person but well worth the splurge!)

There was about 10 visitors at the camp that night and we quickly became fast friends, especially after stuffing ourselves, linking hands, and doing an Arabian circle dance. The guys from the camp also sang for us. It was incredibly peaceful and authentic

Breakfast, which was included in the price, was also delicious. We’ve never eaten so much pita and hummus in our lives…breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mmm.

And of course, we had to splurge (again: $55) on an authentic ride as well. (We opted for the one hump model (no choice), but wondered if the two was more comfortable. Things we learned about camels…

1. Yes, camels are NOT comfortable to ride. Significantly wider than a horse, no stirrups and general hip pain in places you didn’t know were capable of producing that much discomfort; especially following your dismount.

2. They make constant gurgling, burbling, and grunting noises.

3. They drool… a lot.

4. They eat… a lot.

5. They’re often “smiling” but will spit on you if you irritate them.

6. Only females give rides. And milk. Male camels just eat and make more camels according to our guide, but also not sure if he got our question ?

7. They kneel down for you to get on and off. This is incredibly startling for amateur camel riders because you’re about 8-10’ off the ground when riding… they drop down to the ground in about 5 seconds from standing.

8. They kiss.

9. The bedouins are simply badasses. Not sure how they ride these for days on end.

The ride took us to a natural spring that pours (oddly) from the rock about 200’ above the desert floor and supplies water to Wadi Rum. The legend is that Moses supposedly struck the rock with his staff to create a spring. People have been living here relying on this spring for life giving water since prehistoric times.

They seem pretty content…

After two wonderful nights in Rum (highly recommend!), it was time to head one more hour to the sea. But not without some more scenery first.

Which you can’t help but stop for…

We were also delighted to see so many wind farms!

Aqaba/Red Sea

Rolling into the city of Aqaba, we saw our first stunning glimpses of the Red Sea, as well as surroundings that reminded us of Las Vegas.

Until we got to the sea and suddenly we weren’t in Vegas anymore! The strip of Red Sea coast that Jordan has is only 20k long. Apparently in the 1960s the King did a land swap with Saudi Arabia… 20k of coastline for 2000 km of desert. Turned out to be a lucrative swap for tourism revenue! They’ve used it wisely and have some very nice beachfronts. In the background, you can see to the west, the shoreline in Eilat, Israel.

Because the water in the Red Sea is crystal clear, and the corals surprisingly abundant, glass bottom boat rides are a popular tourist attraction.

The stunning all white Sharif Hussein bin Ali Mosque

Welcome to the Middle East. Land of spice heaven! We actually travel with spices (helps so much with all our self-catering cooking!) so we were excited for the opportunity to buy something new and exotic. We settled on sumac, which we discovered here…it is a purple colored tangy lemony spice which goes great with yogurt, meats and vegetables. (Top left.)

When we were not trying new things, we could always rely on the Jordanians to provide us with necessities from home.

On another day we went down to South Beach in Aqaba, only a few kilometers from the Saudi Arabia border. It was a bizarre place to be with this fact in mind, as well having Egypt and Israel in plain sight directly across from us.

The Red Sea beaches were stunning and to our joy, virtually empty. The Jordanian government has done a great job providing lovely free facilities for its people at the many public beaches, but they do need to have a massive crack-down on fining for littering. Sadly plastic pollution is rampant on the beach, in the sea, and across so much of Jordan. It was hard to watch some locals have no regard for littering. Often just simply standing up and leaving their trash, plastic bags and bottles, or letting it blow away without a care on the beach or wherever. Even when a trash can is only a few feet away?! Why is it so hard to not litter? We were baffled!

No boat necessary, the snorkeling right off the beach was spectacular…some of the best we’d seen since Hawaii. We rented snorkel gear from a local who also gave us a private tour, pointing out cool things like a rockfish, eels and lion fish ($14 for us both).

The next day was Friday, which for the Jordanians is Saturday. And the beach was packed! It was so interesting to spend a day at the beach observing them in action. It seemed really fun…lots of food, families, shishas, and laughter. Naturally, it was also incredibly different people watching than at a western beach… the skin on display by males and females alike was minimal. Nobody took any shirts off except for a few young boys, and knee length shorts for a few men.

Stopping in another sweet shop. Look at this masterpiece ?

Time to leave Aqaba… maybe…?