Wadi Rum

Since we had grandparents to babysit K, J and I decided to spend a night camping in Wadi Rum. A beautiful desert about 3 ½ hours south of Amman, famous from the Lawrence of Arabia crossing to Aqaba. We didn’t have any plans when we got there but quickly booked a 4x4 trip thru the desert, an overnight with the Bedouin and a camel ride! We haven’t camped out in years so we were definitely feeling a little daring. The 4x4 ride was awesome, there are no roads so we traveled thru the sand stopping at various points along the way for a quick hike or “scramble” as they call it, up the rocks. At sunset, the guide brought us to the most amazing spot to watch the sun go down from the top of a large rock. We really felt like we were the only people for miles. Then he dropped us at a Bedouin tent for dinner and sleep. At this point, I was a little nervous, expecting that we were all going to be eating with our fingers out of one pot but lucky for us, they prepared a real feast and it was delicious. The campsite was perfect except for the lack of a toilet, which left us running to hide behind a rock every time we had to go to the bathroom! There were also three Germans and a French couple with their two year old staying with us. I thought they were quite brave to bring their toddler along and it actually made me wish we had brought K (okay, only for a minute). We all ate and talked and once again I was thankful that English is the international language! Then we sat around the fire, drinking shai (tea) and talking for hours about various trips (the other people had traveled much more than J and I) and politics. The Bedouin guide had a Jewish girlfriend so that also made for interesting conversation since you don’t find that very often. He told us stories from his visit to Saudi Arabia. Before bed, J and I took a walk thru the desert- just us and the stars. We decided that it had been the best time in Jordan so far. That night we all lined up our mats and slept under the full moon. The next morning we ate breakfast and went our separate ways. J and I had a two-hour camel trek back to our car which I was initially looking forward to until about 10 minutes into it when I realized that it was not fun anymore and I wanted to get off but my only other option was to walk 2 hours thru the desert sand! Thank God, we forced ourselves to watch Lawrence of Arabia and remembered how he rode a camel in the movie so we were able to get a little more comfortable. Also, thankful that we started early enough and finished before the sun got really hot! The highlight was getting to call K from my cell phone for the first time, in the middle of the desert. I realized then that I couldn’t break away from civilization for very long, LOL! We were both pretty sore when we hopped off our camel but thoroughly enjoyed our time. Best night in Jordan for sure! Oh, and I couldn’t wait to find a real toilet! : )