Wadi Rum

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En route to Wadi Rum I was able to take a panoramic view of the canyons that conceal magnificent Petra. I was able to identify the Siq that the earth ripped asunder, forming the grandest natural entry to a city I have ever wandered through. This early morning viewing took me back to the previous day's exhiliration and I recalled all that I had seen, touched, scrambled over and ascended. From here it was due south to the desert sands and surging rock formations of Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum was brought to prominence in the western world primarily due to the writings and exploits of T. E. Lawrence who, for a time, lived and fought in these Arabian lands. I just wanted to immerse myself in a natural desert landscape and hopefully meet a Bedouin or two. Our mode of transport for this exploration was a rusted and dilapidated 4X4 that had a spare tyre which was split open in numerous places. I was immediately excited! This was going to be a fun day, especially seeing as the back cabin had been ripped off and we were to sit on welded bench seats in the open, sans seatbelts. Gotta love the lack of regulations that can take the fun out of wild places in Australia. If I choose to take the risk, then the onus is on me as far as I'm concerned.

We spent five or so hours seeing this vast arid landscape in all its scintillating beauty. The desert sands seem to be unending, but they are punctuated by striking rock and mountain formations that you find your eye drawn to. Off in the distance of the desert haze you can make out more canyons on the horizon and you feel like you are totally removed from the noise and pressures associated with normal life. In fact, the silence of Wadi Rum is so complete and absolute that it quietens your soul. Life takes on a different pace for the Bedouins who live here, some of whom still use camels or donkeys to cover the enormous expanse of land, but there's no real hurry and no deadlines to meet, except maybe to find shelter before the cold desert night sets in. Apart from scaling rocks, striding up sand dunes and absorbing the awesome scenery, my other highlight was sharing tea with the Bedouin people. The first occasion was in a Bedouin tent where we witnessed them make the tea from scratch, crushing the ingredients and brewing them over a coal fire. The tea was superb and my brother commented that he could happily spend the rest of the day in the tent, a notion with which I concurred. We were relaxed and happy. The second occasion was in the late afternoon when our Bedouin driver stopped suddenly, gathered together some dry sticks and twigs and then drove us into a secluded location within a canyon. He promptly made a fire and brewed some tea whilst talking with us. I found myself wishing that I had more time, allowing me to stay the night in a Bedouin camp, sleeping under the stars and riding back to civilisation the following day upon a camel. If I return, this will top the list of my priorities, maybe riding and camping all the way to Aqaba.

Alas, our time in Wadi Rum came to an end and we had to return to Amman. This was memorable due to the full moon that rose as a deep ochre pink above the crest of the invisible horizon. The colour was akin to the facades of Petra and some sections of the desert sand of Wadi Run, which was an apt and breathtakingly beautiful conclusion to our visit to Jordan.

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