Just returned from Wadi Rum (which is this place: http://www.wadirum.jo/About_Wadi_Rum.htm) and had an amazing time! The views were absolutely stunning- red sand dunes and giant rock formations everywhere. It was funny, when we got to the entrance to the Wadi Rum protected area we were still on a legitimate road, and the visitor's center is this nice, modern building. So when our bus dropped us off in Rum Village (which has homes and stores and stuff), I was thinking "This is my desert experience? I thought we would be in the middle of nowhere!". It was at this point that we piled into two old SUVs that promptly left the road and drove 15 km or so (I forget) out into the desert.
We (the 10 of us from the group who went) arrived past 9:00 on Thursday night, so really all we had time to do was eat, drink some tea by the fire, and go to bed. By bed, I mean mattress inside a cloth tent with an oddly hard pillow. Some of us tried to get up to see the sunrise at 5:30, but as it turns out the sunrise is blocked by one of the aforementioned giant rock formations. Failure.
No matter- after our sunrise failure we ate a good breakfast and piled back into the SUVs to go on our desert tour for the day. We basically went around to a bunch of interesting sites spread throughout the area, like Lawrence's Spring (where Lawrence of Arabia supposedly bathed), some giant sand dunes, rock bridges, and one other big rock that one of the guides told us "looks like a big chicken". The day was spent mostly "scrambling", which is essentially rock-climbing without any gear. If you think this sounds unsafe (for me especially), it probably is. There were several times that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it up or down some of the mountains, but I escaped mostly unharmed, with the exception of some rock-burned hands and scrapes from a small fall. Even though I am generally a chicken (much like that rock) about heights, it was pretty worth it to get the views from on top.
Also, have you ever attempted to climb a giant sand dune? Here's what it's like: you run and run and don't go anywhere for a long time. As if walking in sand isn't difficult enough, climbing it is freakin ridiculous. The dune we climbed had a rock wall beside it, so after attempting to do the dune properly I (and most everyone else) gave up and just pulled myself up with some rock assistance. Lawrence's Spring was probably the most tiring climb for me (I broke out the inhaler after that one), but it was not unbearable. I was expecting the heat to be a lot worse than it actually was! Don't get me wrong, it was hot, and I was sweaty after climbing around stuff, but for some reason I expected desert heat to be more ridiculous than it really was. So that was a positive thing. After about 3 sites, we ended up meeting up with 4 other guys from our program who chose to come separately from the larger group. It was kind of funny to see a vehicle driving towards us in the middle of the desert and then see that it was full of people that we knew.
After our long day of touring, we came back to the camp to veg out for a bit. I didn't actually sit for too long, because I went to do some further hiking/scrambling in the area surrounding our campsite with a couple of people. After that came the most stereotypical (and awesome) desert experience: camel riding! Our guide just kind of took us around in a circle, so it's not like we really travelled a great distance, but it was cool nonetheless. Camels sound like Wookies (just for you, Dad).
All in all, the Wadi Rum trip was one of the coolest things I've ever done. In addition to the views and the scrambling, staying at the camp with our Bedouin buddies was pretty cool, too. The food was some of the best (if not THE best) I've eaten since my arrival in Jordan. The tea was especially delicious, too- more like the kind of tea I was expecting to drink in Jordan, with some kind of great spices in it. The bathroom situation was less stellar than the food, but I would prefer not to dwell on it. Also, can we just marvel at the fact that I A) did not die by falling off one of many cliffs I was on and B) did not receive any sort of sunburn from hiking in the DESERT?! Two very successful things.
Pictures will be forthcoming, but I need to do my homework now. Oh, and happy July 4 to all of you back home :)!!
--K
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