We started the day with a visit to Little Petra, where Elaine found a moonstone and an agate that took her fancy. Then we set off for Wadi Rum, said to have inspired the title of Lawrence of Arabia’s book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Reading that book in my early teens, and T.E. Lawrence’s earlier book, Crusader Castles, did a lot to fuel my interest in the region .
When we arrived in the Wadi Rum area, we transferred from minibus to a trio Toyota trucks for an exploration of the landscape – and then a traditional lamb and chicken dinner cooked underground for the majority who were carnivores, and a mezzo-style meal for the vegetarians.
Elaine and ate our meal around a crackling fire, with a few bright stars shining through the cloud which had brought us rain earlier in the day. Indeed, it was drizzling as we first drove into Wadi Rum.
We slept in one of a number of Bedouin-dressed cabins, with a bed that could have been made up of a large number of camel saddles. Still, I slept well, apart from occasional awakenings when the sound of the exercising Jordanian F-16s overhead got too intense. That went on much of the night, no doubt linked to the rising tensions around Gaza.
Wadi Rum, also known as the Valley of the Moon, is a desert valley located in southern Jordan. It is renowned for its stunning landscapes, red sand dunes, towering sandstone cliffs, and rock formations that have been shaped by natural elements over millions of years. Here are some key points about Wadi Rum: