Wadi Rum - Jordan
Our ship pulled up to the dock in Aqaba, Jordan promptly at 8:00 AM. Jordan sits on the Red Sea and from our docking spot at the port we can see Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Four for the price of one!
We overnight here which has allowed for our private tour group of nine to visit Wadi Rum on the first day, today, drive on to Petra and overnight in a hotel there, and then spend tomorrow walking through one of the 7 wonders of the world - The Lost City of Petra.
Our hotel has free wifi so I'm taking advantage of it by posting pictures of our day in Wadi Rum.
Wadi Rum is located in southern Jordan and is a protected desert area. Also known as the Valley of the Moon, it has dramatic sandstone mountains, beautiful rock arch formations - a lot similar to the national parks in Utah - and even ancient carvings and drawings. There are even Bedouin camps where you can stop in for hot sweet tea, and large red sand dunes.
Getting around requires either walking (not recommended), 4x4 jeeps or trucks, or the popular camel. Today, we got to experience all three, and saw, hiked and climbed many of the features I mentioned above.
We were lucky to be here on a bright sunny day, but it wasn't too hot at all. The only time I felt overly hot was when I was climbing up a huge sand dune and I thought I might just expire right then and there.
An unexpected highlight for all of us was watching a big dung beetle roll his piece of dung, which was about twice as big as him, across the dirt while we were stopped for tea at the bottom of the sand dune.
The beetle actually rolls it backwards by using his back legs and walking backwards. Quite a sight!
Our guide, Mohamed, is fantastic. He's very knowledgeable about the area as well as his country and he was very encouraging for those few of us who ventured out of our comfort zones to climb rocks to dizzying heights as well as the sand dune so we could experience Wadi Rum in all its glory.
It was a good day!
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