Another good breakfast and we were all loaded onto the bus around 9 am, heading for Wadi Rum. We are in the Shara mountains so the views are spectacular everywhere you look. As we rose further up into the mountains we were able to look back towards Petra and try to determine the winding trail that led to the Treasury.
I took a few personal interest shots as we left the city – one of a hot air balloon that probably takes people over the Petra ruins. Hmm – hot air balloons are allowed but not drones…. And I took a shot of the rooftops of houses as we wound up further into the mountains. These showed the solar heating system used for the house’s hot water, the water storage tanks and the solar electric panels. That was a pretty common sight both here in Jordan and also in Israel.
After an hour or so on the road, we pulled over at a rest stop that sold goods as well as goodies. I found a silk wall hanging of the tree of life that I bought. It was not cheap but what the heck. The fellow told me that it was made by the local women’s co-op. Not sure if I believe him as I bought something similar in Nepal. But I like it.
The mountains have spread out and we see more and more desert – large sandy plains sometimes sporting a Bedouin tent with a camel or two, sometimes a shepherd with goats. Sometimes the camels are out on the plain alone. Are they like the wild horses found in the States? Another question – the land that the Bedouin move around on, is it federally owned or what?
Basel told us about the narrow gauged railway that was constructed running through this area and we stopped to examine an old steam train that once plied these tracks.
Not far from here, we stopped for lunch at the Wadi Rum Information Centre and the Wadi Rum Film Centre. We had a delicious Jolloff rice-like dish called Makloba. We were surrounded by movie posters. The ragged mountains and sand dunes of this place are prime for making big-budget movies – think Dune.
By the way, a wadi is a dry river bed and Rum means elevated (or high). Since the area is inhabited mainly by the Bedouin who are an Islamic group, the area is a dry zone. So no one is ‘high on rum’.
Next stop was our camp in the desert called Sun City Camp. Accommodations are big domed structures complete with wonderful beds and full bathroom. I think this is what ‘glamping’ is like.
Once settled in, we were loaded into the back of three chinchima Toyota trucks that took us on a wild ride through the dunes. We stopped at a particularly large dune which a few of us climbed to see the view (and to prove to ourselves that we could do the climb).
Once we had collected enough sand in our shoes we headed back to join the others to check out a Bedouin tent where we were served a lovely cardomen tea.
On the loop round the mountain we came to an extremely steep sandy drop. I lost my nerve and jumped out of the back of the truck to cower in the back seat instead. Jan the fearless stayed in the back of the truck and survived the plunge down the embankment.
Back at camp, once my stomach had calmed itself, we joined a few other groups for dinner in the restaurant dome. Jan called our dome ‘The Restaurant at the end of the Universe’ because we were the furthest away but, sadly, we served no food in our restaurant.
After supper and the sun had gone down, there was a distinct drop in temperature. We had to bundle up for another wee trek into the desert to do some star gazing. We were given an interesting talk on Polaris, constellations and the astrological signs before getting a chance to look through four different powerful telescopes.