Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum

Middle East » Jordan » South » Wadi Rum
July 28th 2009

Published: August 4th 2009

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jon3

Rock

The next stop on the weekend tour was Wadi Rum. I left Petra with an ingrained image of man ability to manipulate nature and make a niche. I also left with a hell of sun burn that still requires hourly-ish gallops of aloe. I feel like a lizard shedding my skin. Anyways, Wadi Rum proved to be almost the opposite of Petra. It is a barren waste land sorta of place. It leaves you wondering why people would ever what to live in such a place. The result is that there isn’t really anyone who lives here but bracelet sellers. These people set up little “booths,” which range from little shacks to a rock with a sheet on it. They all sell the same “handmade Jordanian” products. I will believe this once I see it. All the little “trinkets” are exactly the same with the same “handmade flaws.” However, they all are priceless artifacts. Some of the best items for sale are local stones. Yes, for 5 JD or about 7 USD, you can buy a piece of Petra Rock or rock from any other historical location. May seem legit, yet these historical sites have less security then Hot Topic or

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Wal-Mart.

I digress….

The main reason is probably because of the landscape for why anyone would want to live here. The area is just a barren wasteland of sand, rocks and um more sand. Occasionally there is a bush or even a withered tree. Still, life must have been in the desert long before the “trinket sellers” arrived because many of the points of interest are rock carvings. No one knows what they mean but they think they either involve trade, history or are a form of a graphic novel. I threw that last idea in there since no one has a clue and thought I should just add to the confusion. Anyways, the carvings are neat, especially if you are into writing and such. The other major attractions are areas where Lawrence of Arabia went. We hiked up a rock slide to look at a puddle where Lawrence drank. (My friend wants me to be more precise and that when I say we, I mean she did hiked up there and took a pic of the place as the other half of the group stopped for a water/smoke break). The other major attraction involving Lawrence was his

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old house there. Seems he liked the scenery and bought himself some nice old desert front property without any access to water. Sadly, his inheritors didn’t see the need to upkeep his house and let it fall to parts except for one wall.

The final main attraction that I can think of is the natural bridge. Yep, it is an arch made out of rock. It was pretty need to climb atop the thing and look around. It was only while we were standing there, that the guide deemed it worthy to tell us that the 6inch gap in the middle wasn’t caused by nature but climbing ropes. It is nice to know that a rock that withstood centuries of natural forces almost met its downfall by a rope that most likely came from Wal-Mart. The rocks also made me realize that I really need to go and see the Natural Bridge in Virginia. I’m not sure why I need to see it but I need to do it.

Overall, the area was pretty amazing. It was just a vast landscape of nature. The only marks of humanity where the Jeep trails we took. Even these trails where