Blogs from Wadi Rum, South, Jordan, Middle East - page 7

Well, just to update you on what I have been up to recently, as you can see by the title, I had a quick trip into Jordan. This involved a 5-6 hour journey from Haifa down to Eilat in the south of the country so that I was able to enter Jordan via Aqaba. The journey south was fairly uneventful, but different to do it by car after doing it a couple of times by bus. We drove from Haifa to Tel Aviv, then to Beer Sheeva and down to Timna (where we did the desert hike from) and stayed overnight in a kibbutz that had lovely little cottages to rent on a B&B basis. After having a quick cup of tea and a freshen up we headed into Eilat……what a shock….all lights, noise, crowds and ... read more

We had the morning to explore Acaba, so Dan and I walked down by the beach out onto a pier where we took a few photos of Elat, the Israeli town that was just across the water. It was amazing to be so close to Israel. Apparently, Jordan gave land to Israel in exchange for more beachside land. In the land that Jordan gave away, Israel found oil. There is no oil in Jordan and the only exports that the country has is minerals including uranium. Later that day, we met up with a Sheik and his team at Wadi Rum Village, where we transferred our bags into 4WDs that took us out into Wadi Rum desert. From here we ventured out to see the sights of the desert. We visited Khazzalah Siq (Canyon) which was ... read more

The next day, we headed to Wadi Rum, where we had a fun two days of hanging out in the desert. The desert of Wadi Rum, and throughout southern Jordan and Israel, is inhabited by traditionally nomadic Bedouins, who traditionally herd goats and sheep. There are still nomadic Bedouins, but driving through the desert, many of the tents were equipped with satellite dishes, making them seem more permanent, and many people now live in towns. Within the park, there is a Bedouin village, and many of the families operate tours or otherwise work in the park's tourism industry. We went with a group called Wadi Rum Adventures, run by a really nice guy named Mohammed. We took a jeep ride out through the desert and saw some of Wadi Rum's famous sites, including a bunch of ... read more

See letter in English below Nuestra pequeña caravana se sentía intimidada y se fue quedando en silencio, temerosa y avergonzada de hacer ostentación en su pequeñez en presencia de tan majestuosas montañas. -T. E. Lawrence- Sunset Camp, 25/01/07 ¡Hola Lou! El lugar donde he pasado estos días ha sido el lugar más bonito que he visitado en el país. Quizás sea porque es el primer desierto que visito, un desierto que no es de arena y piedras que se pierden en el horizonte. Es un desierto lleno de jebels, montañas enormes de roca roja, marrón o amarilla que se elevan en ocasiones a más de 600 metros sobre las arenas naranjas del desierto. La vegetación consiste principalmete en arbustos de cinco palmos de altura, que junto a las muchas y escondidas surgencias de agua hac... read more

The morning was quite adventurous and active, commencing with a camel ride around the camp we had stayed in. This was quite enjoyable and my camel appeared to be quite well behaved, although it sometimes decided the course itself and led the Bedouin boy instead of vice versa. After the camel ride we got in some jeeps and went for a fairly rapid tour of the nearby desert, bumping our way across dunes and salt pans. Since it was still quite early the sun was not hot enough to keep us warm in the breeze (the seats were on the back of the vehicle). We suffered quite a bit of wind and sun burn, but it was fun. Once we returned to the camp it was straight on the bus to nearby Aqaba. We all needed ... read more