The wonders of Wadi Rum

The desert valley of Wadi Rum in Jordan can charm anyone with its stunning sandstone, granite rock formations and endearing Bedouin hospitality

Crossing a border with an Indian passport is a moment of great anxiety and trepidation. As I waited for our boat in Nuweiba in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt with a friend, a Taiwanese-American man and a Swedish woman, I just couldn’t shake off the nervousness.

It was around 2 pm when we boarded the boat, climbed a flight of stairs where the Western travellers were ushered in to take their seats, but a member of the Jordanian security personnel took our Indian passports and made us sit near the stairs just before the entrance. Every conversation that my friend and I tried to make to think about something different came right back to whether or not we were going to be able to continue our trip. The minutes we spent waiting felt like hours and even our fellow passengers from the port came back to check on us. After what felt like an eternity, the Jordanian policeman came back and said “Ahlan wa Sahlan, welcome to Jordan.” This was music to my ears. I was so relieved! Not only were we eligible for a visa on arrival, it was also free since we were cruising across the Red Sea to the duty-free port city of Aqaba.

We were now allowed to sit with the other passengers and joined our companions from earlier. A few hours later, I stepped out to the deck as we drifted across the narrow Gulf of Aqaba between Saudi Arabia on one side and the mountains of the Sinai peninsula on the other, behind which the sun set.

It was night when we arrived in Jordan. We got our passports stamped and went out of the rather empty checkpost to be accosted by a group of taxi drivers offering us a ride. Since all the money exchange counters were closed, we went to an information desk outside but all that we found out was that Jordan time was one hour ahead of Egypt, which meant it was even later than we thought!

Then, the security guard who had checked our passports directed us to a security check that we were supposed to go through and which we would have missed had we taken a taxi earlier. After all my initial apprehensions, it seemed like entering Jordan was a very
relaxed affair!

Later, we managed to change money and bargained with one of the drivers to take us to our first destination, Wadi Rum. Khaled would end up being our driver for the next week.

It was pitch dark when we arrived in the desert, but Khaled had already called our host Suliman to get directions. We finally arrived and stepped out into the cold rainy night to the warm welcome of our Bedouin hosts. Fixing a time to be picked up by Khaled after this leg of our trip, we were embraced by the heat of a tent with other travellers and a much-needed fire. After interesting conversations and a quick dinner, we went to bed under thick blankets.

After a good night’s sleep, we woke up to a delicious mezze breakfast of khubz (bread) with a plate of labneh (yoghurt), hummus, za’atar (a mixture of herbs like thyme and sesame seeds), mortadella-like slices, and sliced tomato and cucumber. I washed this hearty meal down with hot sweet tea. It was a great initiation to Zalabia Bedouin hospitality. Having already spent two weeks in Egypt, we exchanged plenty of travel stories with the others and received a lot of advice from those who were at the end of their Jordanian itinerary. A couple of our new friends were leaving while the rest of us got ready for our desert safari.

We were joined by our two young guides, a Dutch solo traveller and a Catalan-Bulgarian couple. Stepping out of our tent, I realised that our camp stood beside a huge vertical red sandstone wall. A cloudy sky quickly turned blue and it was a promising day ahead. We first drove to a gigantic pink sand dune that we all scrambled up. The boys decided to run down like children and I took quite a tumble near the bottom. It was exhilarating!

Other-wordly affair

Climbing back into the jeep, we drove past camels through a fascinating pinkish-orange landscape dotted with scrubby green plants. The Wadi is punctuated with huge stone balls and sheer cliffs that in some parts look like they are melting under the desert sun.

It is not surprising to see why this place is also called ‘Valley of the Moon’. In fact, its other-worldly landscape has made it the ideal location to shoot films like Red Planet. Speaking of cinema, the most obvious reference that comes to mind is Lawrence of Arabia, shot here to retrace the visits of British officer T E Lawrence in the early 20th century. Lawrence, however, was far from being the first visitor to Wadi Rum. The name means Roman Valley or Valley of Romaioi, alluding to the Byzantine Greeks of the Eastern Roman Empire who annexed the home of the ancient Nabataean Arabs. Petroglyphs portraying camels, horses and other animals along with hunters with bows and arrows and inscriptions of the Thamudic civilisation from around the 8th century BCE give us insights into the life of these people and also about the way the climate has changed since then.

Amongst the landscapes and geological formations is Jabal Rum, a 1,734-metre peak, the second highest in Jordan. There are also majestic natural arches like Umm Fruth. Once again, the boys decided to run up to the top of this rock bridge to see who would get there first. I was amazed by the beauty of this enormous valley.

After a visit to the incredible Black Desert and White Desert in the Egyptian Sahara, I was once again impressed by the diversity of desert topography. If you think a desert is just endless dunes as far as the eye can see, you need to visit one of these places.

We drove on past beautiful cliffs and mountains to Khazali Canyon where the rocky outcrops narrow into a gorge. From here we visited a Bedouin camp where we were treated to tea and sweets. A small shop with artefacts and souvenirs was set up under the tent. We ended our drive at a sunset point where the sun was supposed to set behind a tall and wide cliff. The clouds, however, had other plans for us and blocked the view of the sun’s descent. We, nevertheless, had an excellent day exploring the wonders of Wadi Rum. With all this history and natural beauty, it is no wonder Wadi Rum is a UNESCO world heritage site.