Day 16: Wadi Rum (June 27)

Rachel and I popped out of bed early (yes, Rachel popped up!) to say goodbye to Lachlan and Bec, who were spending another day in Petra and were scheduled to be picked up at 7:00 to have a few hours in Petra before the crowds.  Rachel and I enjoyed a simple breakfast and great conversation with Baha, our Bedouin host.  He is one of 17 kids and he told us about his experiences growing up and how expensive it is to get married.  I mistakenly thought it might be hard to find the person he wants to marry, but he said that's the easiest part; he just has to call his mom and tell her to find him a wife.  By the time our van arrived to pick us up at 8:30, Lachlan and Bec were still there, their pickup forgotten by the guides.  So, our van drove them over to the entrance to Petra and we set off on our way to see the desert of Wadi Rum.  We were reunited with Ben in our van and joined by a new couple John and Yael from Washington DC (via Philadelphia).   Krista and Lisa were also joining us again but were in a different car with another new couple Tony and Judy from New York.

Once we got to the entrance of Wadi Rum, our van of people switched over to an open air "jeep" that was just the bed of a pickup truck with a shade covering.  The other car driven by our guide Muhammad continued into the desert, but Krista decided to join our more exposed to the elements vehicle.  Muhammad was a really interesting man - 48 years old - four kids - obviously educated - has a big farm full of fruits and vegetables and over 200 chickens.  He says he gives most of his produce to the poor.  His wife has MS and is in the hospital hundreds of miles away near Amman.

At our first stop, the Lawrence Spring (named after Lawrence of Arabia - a movie we must watch!), he wrapped my scarf on my head in the Bedouin style and said maybe I could be his second wife.  Good to keep my options open, though I'm not sure I'd last a week in the desert.  It is really hot!  Thankfully we wore closed shoes.  Yael was in sandals and just walking across the sand was blistering.  Rachel lent her some Teva's and socks so she could leave the car with us.  Our driver (also named Muhammad - they say there were only 10 male names and 5 female used until people got the internet) was a Bedouin man who lives in a solo tent in the desert by himself and rides his camel two hours every morning to get to the park entrance, drives all day, then rides his camel another two hours back home.

We didn't get to walk up to the spring unfortunately but could see the water it provided in this otherwise inhospitable area.  These springs form when limestone mountains absorb rain and the water descends through the limestone until it hits the granite base which doesn't absorb the water thus forming a spring.

Next stop sand dunes. 

Ben, Rachel, and I took the much easier path up via the rocks, enjoyed the view, and came racing down the sand.  It reminded me of our stop in Death Valley with the Slavonia girls.  Unfortunately I didn't realize the lens of my camera was so covered with sand.  Hopefully I can get some better pictures from Ben.  We had hot tea at this stop (drinking hot drinks is better than cold in the desert?). There were two kettles going - one they served the tourists and one for themselves.  We learned they were drinking that super sweet Arabic chai and got in on that action!

Next stop, Khazali Canyon, a deep narrow fissure in the mountains which was such a welcome shady, cool place to be.  The canyon contains many inscriptions made over thousands of years.  Those made in sandstone disappear with the rain but the ones in the granite are still clearly visible.  There is a way to walk through this canyon to another one miles away if the water levels are right.  It really looked like we arrived at a dead end but that was the path up.  Muhammad said it was easy to get up but really hard to get down, and then showed us how to get up.  If the up was the easy part (which involved straddling the canyon wall), I knew I'd never make it back down. In fact everyone said no thanks, except for Ben.  He bravely made it to the top and I couldn't watch while Muhammad guided him step by step down.

Along the way to our next stop, the High Arch, we stopped to gather firewood from brush growing in the desert.  We decided we had to climb that one and our driver showed the easier path from the other side which involved climbing up niches in the rocks that serve as stair steps on the way up, but told us on the way down we had to sit and walk like spiders.  Getting up wasn't too bad and the view was great.  Ben, Rachel, and I went right up and made Krista join us too, followed by Yael.  Getting the group down was a little more challenging.  Our driver thankfully came to the tricky part near the top and held our hands.  He kept telling me to sit down but the rocks were too hot on my legs and hands to sit; he climbed up the scorching rocks barefoot to get to us.


From there we just drove around the corner behind the rocks to a shady spot where Muhammad could light his fire (out of view of potential authorities) to make us an absolute feast.  He had killed one of his own chickens early in the morning and marinated it in delicious spices.  It felt rude not to try it and so my vegetarian trip was over....but couldn't have ended with better food.  The chicken was perfectly cooked. He also had made hummus, baba ganoush, a salad, and tabbouleh.  The average Bedouin man doesn't cook - it is women's work - but as his wife has been very sick he has had to do a lot of things he wouldn't normally (rather than take a second wife).


After our delicious feast, the five of us heading to the border got into the car with AC and drove to Aqaba.  By the time we crossed the border and got to the bus station (where we said goodbye to Ben), there was no bus directly to Jerusalem but we found a way that we could transfer about an hour outside.  By the time the bus had made two rest stops along the way, we didn't get to our transfer spot until 11:30 pm and had missed the bus connection we needed (but didn't know it yet).  We weren't inside a bus terminal, just outside at a bus stop, with a cast of characters coming through, all trying their best to help us.  In the end, we walked across to a restaurant to use wifi to download Israel's version of Uber (Gett!) an called a cab figuring the $80 cab ride was cheaper than a hotel for the night and we were eager to get back to spend time with Julia and get out of our filthy clothes after two days in the desert.