Well Wadi’ya want… Rum? Yes indeed I would love some rum. Today I spent the day roasting my huevos… something like 100 degrees in the desert. By the way Wadi is Arabic for valley and Rum is the name of the valley. My group of the California Germans and myself are picked up at the Bedouin camp in the morning for our “Jeep” tour.. well apparently they use Jeep like they use Kleenex … anything bigger than a Kia is a Jeep.
So our guide, a super chatting chap, starts into a running discourse for the next 45 minutes on the practices of arranged marriages in Jordan. Interesting but I have to confess to nodding off a few times and waking up thinking… still going.. wow!
Eventually we hang a left turn and drive out into the desert. This is what we find:
Wadi Rum Welcome Center 
Ancient Silk Road Check-in Post 
Camels on Parade 
The “Jeeps” 🙂 
A Truck Full of Germans 
Lost in the Desert with the M-Hat
It turns out that Wadi Rum is the set for some of the desert scenes of Indian Jones as well. In addition it is the set of Lawrence of Arabia and Transformers 2. Oh did I mention we had to .. science the shit out of this day… yes it is also the set of “The Martian”.
We climb a few mountains, up a big dune, take some killer panoramic photos and have some tea with some Bedouin in the afternoon heat.
360 Degree Panorama The dune from Transformers 2 Tired The Arch Wooo Hooo.. the remote for the camera works! HOT M-hat Livin’ on the Edge in Wadi Rum Chillin’ With Some Tea
Finally lunch.. or shall I say lunar.. that’s lunch an diner.. as we finally stop around 3pm. On the way to this stop the guides both randomly jump out and start digging in the sand and pulling up dead roots of bush books. Turns out this is the wood to cook our lunch.
Our location is a big cave in a cleft in the façade of the cliff. We lay out a large mat and then we’re treated to grilled chicken, hummus, falafel, veggies and sweets for desert.
Lunch Spot in the Desert Lunch in a Cave 
Chilling out pre-lunch Spread Ready For The Vultures The Crew
Finally the ominous tone get set for my next two days. I am supposed to stay in a Bedouin camp under the stars in the desert. The guide drives me 20 minutes out of the way of the rest of the group into the desert only to find a completely empty camp.. I mean NOBODY. At first, I’m thinking I’m going to have an experience like I had in the Okavango Delta (for those of you that were with me in Africa). But alas no.
I end up just telling the guilde to take me to Aqaba and I’ll just ge ta hotel room for the evening before catching my ferry to Nuweibaa, Egypt the next evening. More on this journey in the next entry.
http://John%20NIester
John says hi. He wrote something from his computer, but it did not go through. We tried signing up, but that did not work either. He likes your trip so far.
http://Beatrice%20Niester
Looks hot and dry and deserty and colorful all at once. I love the camels and the cave. The group looks cheerful and fun. What’s up with the Bedouin’s.??? I wanted to spend the night in camp with them. Who goofed up??? How did the food taste? You did not say, but you are smiling, so that says something. Well, it is the 16th and you are half way thru the trip and a million hours away from anything I have experienced. Keep moving. Loving it so far.