Blogs from Wadi Rum, South, Jordan, Middle East

After a rather uncomfortable night of sleep where I probably got no more than 4 hours of total sleep time, Kevin and I awoke and made our way over to a nearby rock to catch the sunrise. To our surprise, Sophie was already there with the same idea and the 3 of us enjoyed the peaceful calm of a desert sunrise. Today, we were to set out for a long day hike out into the Wadi Rum desert. We set out just after breakfast and already the morning had become quite warm. Heading out into the desert, it was pretty clear who would be leading the pack. Kevin, Ronan, Patrick, and myself lead the way while everyone else seemed to linger towards the back of the pack. This was one of the highlights for me during ... read more

Today was a highlight for me: camel riding! We slept well in our tent in Wadi Rum and got up around 7, for breakfast at 7:30. Susan and I had a Turkish coffee with breakfast. I'm getting used to having several Turkish coffees a day! I left the tent for the bathroom last night around 11 or so and the campsite looked magical with the small lights around the tents and on the paths. The moon was super bright. We left the camp about 8:45 this morning, and got back into our jeeps for about a 15 min drive to where we met our camels. Everyone but Louise got on their camel for our 1 hour camel ride, though Jill didn't last long on her camel and was picked up by a jeep. The camel ride ... read more

Geo: 30.5852, 36.2384Today we headed into the desert for a night in a desert camp. This is a camp styled after a bedoiun camp. We were the only ones there which was nice. After lunch we did a 3 hour ride through the desert in the backs of pick up trucks outfitted with benches on either side of the truck bed. It was super fun going up, over and down the sand dunes. One truck got a flat tire so we had to wait for a replacement vehicle. What do you do in the desert with time on your hands? Make a human pyramid!!On our way again to two natural bridges hewn by nature. It was so like being in Utah and very fun to see the reactions of folks who have never seen anything like ... read more

29 septembre 2015 - Jour 6 Aujourd'hui notre programme est assez léger puisque nous ne devrions quitter l'hôtel qu'à 14h pour rejoindre notre prochain arrêt, le désert du Wadi Rum. Mais comme ce n'est pas dans nos habitudes de rester à ne rien faire, on cale encore une petite visite avant de partir et décidons d'aller voir Little Petra. Comme son nom l'indique c'est une cité construite dans le même style que Petra mais en plus petit. Dans les faits, les caravanes s'arrêtaient plutôt à Little Petra où elles étaient hébergées et logées et ne se rendaient à Petra que pour le commerce de marchandises. Pour s'y rendre, on traverse un village de bédouins, justement ce village que le gouvernement leur a offert pour qu'ils quittent les cavernes. Sur le site de Little Petra nous sommes ... read more

Matt and I slept in a little and got a good breakfast at our hotel (Century Park). We were able to get on the road around 9am and headed south towards Wadi Rum. Yep. It was pretty much all desert on the way there - I drove the whole way and it was nice to have a road trip without too many crazies trying to kill me. We took the Desert Highway down, which was not in the best condition and had speedbumps that came seemingly out of nowhere. However, I became an expert in recognizing and expecting them - generally at the edges of town. Generally the ride was desert, but as you approach the Wadi Rum area, you come across a spectacular view of the valley below. We were a little lost when we ... read more