January 11, 2019
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum, Arabic for Valley of the Light, is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan.
In trying to find something to describe the incredible geology of this area I found this description from National Geographic:
‘Visiting Wadi Rum is a voyage through the geological evolution of Earth, and many of these topographical features are older than the Dead Sea Rift that forms the western border of Jordan. Massive mesas pop straight up from the sea of sand, the result of primordial tectonic movement that cleaved the bedrock with almost cubic perfection before raising it high above the desert floor. Blowing sand and winter floods smoothed the valleys and gorges, shaping the sandstone into natural towers and curving arches. Harder, older granite forms the substrate of Wadi Rum and is visible among the base strata of the higher mountains.”
The village of Wadi Rum itself consists of several hundred Bedouin inhabitants with their goat-hair tents and concrete houses and also their four-wheel vehicles, one school for boys and one for girls, a few shops, and the headquarters of the Desert Patrol.
Your stay begins when you are picked up in town, you and your things are thrown in the back of a small 4 wheel drive pickup truck and you are driven about 20 to 30 minutes into the desert.
Wadi Rum may be best known for its connection with British officer T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia), who passed through several times during the Arab Revolt of 1917–18. In fact Shots of Wadi Rum in Lawrence of Arabia from 1962 kick-started Jordan’s tourism (and film location) industry. Wadi Rum is home to the Zalabia Bedouin who, working with climbers and trekkers, have made a success of developing eco-adventure tourism as their main source of income. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is one of the large sources of tourism dollars for Jordan as people from all over the world, as well as locals come and spend days or weeks trekking, climbing, and four wheeling, the real reason to spend more than a few days in this lovely country.
Wadi Rum has been inhabited by many human cultures since prehistoric times, with many cultures–including the Nabataeans–leaving their mark in the form of rock paintings, graffiti, and temples.
I was here to go camping for one night. This is camping, not glamping. The toilets are shared among the sexes, there are no showers and no heat, which considering the night time temperatures in January drops to 9 degrees Fahrenheit, it was a good thing there were at least 5 blankets on my bed. I had no problem with any of this, in fact, I met the most delightful family from Australia, we were the only folks there during the offseason and had a wonderful time. It is just a warning to others. There are high-end sites with private showers and yoga classes if one prefers.
Dinner was slow cooked underground
Chicken on the top, vegetables in the middle and rice on the bottom, it was all absolutley delicious
After dinner we sat around the fire sipping Bedouin Tea, which consists of sage and lots of sugar. The staff sleeps here around the fire at night, they are very lucky to do so on the cold nights
I did nothing for the day I was there. I trekked through the sand, took pictures, and stared out into the horizon. Here is a little bit of what I saw.
Benches on the rise near the camp, I spent a lot of time just sitting
Camp
Of course, there are camels.
The refurbished steamer at the Hejaz Wadi Rum train stop
Wadi Rum has a very important place in the history of the Middle East.
Before World War I, much of the Arabic-speaking world was controlled by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Allied forces convinced Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, to join the Allies and take up arms against the Ottomans in return for Arab independence.
Under the leadership of Hussein’s son, Prince Faisal—and with assistance from the now famous T.E. Lawrence, the Arabs fought to interrupt train passages on the Hejaz Railway.
These continuous attacks on the transportation systems wreaked havoc on Turkish lines of communication and were instrumental in defeating the Turks and ending the war.
