Blogs from Wadi Rum, South, Jordan, Middle East

Something that I had always wanted to try and get a picture of is the Milky Way, but I had never been anywhere dark enough before. We had been advised during our star-gazing that it would be at its most visible at 4.00 in the morning, so at 3.45 I headed out of our little hut into the darkness. It's difficult to set-up the tripod and camera, select the correct settings, line the camera up in the right direction and focus it correctly in pitch darkness. After several blurred, over/under exposed and lopsided photographs, I got some that I was pleased with. There was no point in going back to bed as I also wanted to be out for the sunrise a couple of hours later. The restaurant building was unlocked and surprisingly has wifi, so ... read more

In the fancy tent, the beds were super comfy and nice bedding, which should have made for a restful evening. Ken took advantage and slept all night, which is amazing for him. Me, not so much. This was one of those rare nights where sleep just wasn’t happening. Oh well…I was snug in bed and got a bit of reading done, before just relaxing and hoping for some snoozing. As we were doing a sunrise camel ride, it was up and at the reception area at 630a. Along with 10 others, we wandered in the barely dawn light down the path to our trusty camels. My camel, FouFou was quite chatty and wanted to talk to everyone, kind of between a horse whinnie and a cow moo that is quite comical. She was also enamored with ... read more

We woke up late the next morning before we were driven to Wadi Rum. Views of camels and tall, beige rock structures made up the hour and a half car ride into the desert where we stayed in a bubble room- literally a hotel room but in a bubble. After we settled in, we went on a jeep ride, and the first stop was to this large sand dune. Although not easy to climb, it gave us a great view of the surrounding mountains of rock lying on top of a bed of sand. Then, we rode along to a walkable valley that had cave drawings along its impressive walls. One of them depicted a childbirth in which the parent was squatting instead of laying down. The next stop was to a cliff where we walked ... read more

It's official. We were informed by GAdventures today that the Israel part of the trip has been cancelled. There is a mandatory 14 day quarantine for anyone entering the county. Most of the people on the trip need to make alternative arrangements. I know that GAdventures will take care and probably give us a voucher for the Israel part. I fully intend on coming back to Israel. At my hotel in Aquaba, I spent over 2 hours trying to rebook my flight. My original flight was from Tel Aviv to San Diego. Now I'm trying to rebook out of Amman, Jordan. I tried 3 different phone numbers and they kept sending me back to the 800 number. There was over 60 minute wait to talk to someone. I tried to change it online, which didn't work. ... read more

The mention of Wadi Rum generally gets two responses. The first is ‘I’ve never heard of it’ and the second is ‘I’ve always wanted to go there’. Unless the person asked has already been but, generally, not many people have. Naturally, it was on my knowledgeable wife’s bucket list, whereas I assumed a Wadi Rum was a cocktail. Flights from the UK to Jordan are quite pricey, but we had booked a holiday in Cyprus and it transpired that a return flight from there to Amman (with Ryanair) could be had for as little as £20. The flight is a mere one hour’s duration but going to the north of the country meant we had a long journey down south. If you wish to visit places like Wadi Rum and Petra the sensible option is to ... read more