A Visit to the Desert of Wadi Rum

Control Tower at the Port

Aqaba, Jordan is the only outlet to the sea in the country of Jordan and this naturally a very important commercial port. From our window we can see the Desert Highway that is filled with heavy trucks headed out toward the larger city of Amman.

The beaches south of the city are lovely and the water contains many coral reefs. The town contains many fresh water springs. In years past this ensured that the town was a popular caravan stop for merchants traveling between Egypt, the Mediterranean coats and Arabia. By the 2^nd century the prosperous town had fallen under the control of the Nabataeans.

The original homeland of the Nabataea’s was northwest Arabia but they migrated west in the 6^th century BC, settling eventually in Petra. This became an important connection in the space trade and the area became very rich. THEN the Romans arrived and conquered the area in 106 AD and later the Muslims conquered the area in 630 AD.

Under Muslim control Aqaba became an important stage on the pilgrimage to Mecca. Once again it is a tale of “location, location, location.”

Aqaba is now a free zone where taxes are not charged on items like alcohol, cigarettes and electronics.

We awoke at 5:45 AM to the call to prayer from the Mosque near the port. We had just docked and all aboard prepared for a busy day. We had arranged a tour of the desert Wadi Rum. We learned from Yonatan in Jerusalem the word “wadi” means dry river bed” but Ghassan, our car driver, said the word for desert in Arabia is “Sahara” and “wadi means “valley.” It occurred to us when we say Sahara Desert then we are really saying “desert desert.”

Ghassan and his car were waiting right outside the ship for Kathy, Bos and me. Jim decided not to go. He was worried about the wind, sand and heat in Wadi Rum so he photographed us from our balcony.

 Our driver/guide spoke OK English, had a great laugh and told wonderful stories. He has 7 children- including 2 sets of twins. As we approached the car one of the other drivers commented to Bos, “You must be a rich man to have two wives.”   We all laughed.

As we drove out of town we went through an area where a street market for “the poor” was going on. There were piles of clothing on the road and lots and lots of fresh and delicious looking vegetables for sale. Saw tomatoes for sale and gorwing everywhere.

Jordan has 6 ½ million people and Aqaba has 120,000. Ghassan’s daughter lives in Saudi Arabia. Her husband is from there and is working there because of higher salaries. Ghassan said people go to Saudi Arabia for jobs and people come to Jordan for freedom. Seems the larger the city the less restrictions there are on clothing that covers and conversations between men and women. 

Ghassan told us a great story about when his daughter met her future husband. He spotted her at her place of work in the town of Aqaba and asked if she was married. She wouldn’t talk to him but said talk to my father. The young man followed her home to see where she lived and who she was. He checked out the family with neighbors. He told his mother he met someone he wanted to marry. His mother checked out the family and the girls herself. The mother talked to the man’s father. That father checked out the family and came back to say OK. He asked his son how much money he had and members of the family helped out with enough funds so a good income and a house could be provided. The man’s mother then went to the house of the daughter and had coffee with her mother to get acquainted and plans began to be made. The whole process took 6 months.  

Boys Schoo in Wadi Rum

Schooling is from age 6-15 with separate schools for boys and girls, but at least there are schools for girls. There are 24 universities in Jordan and the king has declared that members of the Bedouin trips can go to college free.

On the way to Wadi Rum we were stopped at a checkpoint and the truck was searched for the things that are tax free in Aqaba. We had one more checkpoint for I am not sure what.

We arrived at the Visitors Center and met our jeep driver, Abdulla. His truck bore the signs of carrying many tourists into the bumpy desert. Bos and I got in the back seat- a bench seat, covered in a blanket, and slopping toward the center. Kathy got in the front seat. Off we went.

 

Entrance to the Gorge

Wadi Rum is a beautiful place filled with geological formations and red sand. Huge ochre-colored rock pinnacles, weathered into bulbous outlandish shapes, rise up 2000 feet from the flat valley floors, like islands in a sea of red sand.

Rock with directions and warnings

This area was once a major trade route, and evidence of settlement here includes ruins and carvings and inscriptions left later to act as warnings and directions for travelers.

The most impressive areas that we saw were the small oasis known as “Lawrence’s spring”, the huge red sand dunes known as Jebel Umm Ulaydiyya and the narrow sig (gorge) of Khazali. Bos even got out of the truck- no small feat- and walked into the gorge. Kathy and I enjoyed it from the outside.

We saw a Bedouin market in the desert and could have had tea but decided not to try the getting into and out of the truck exercise until the journey was done.

Narrow Gauge Railway from movie

This area was made famous in the movie about Lawrence of Arabia, the WWI famous British hero who earned his nickname by fighting alongside the Arabs against Turkish rule in 1915. Sent to Mecca in 1916 to liaise with leaders of the revolt he then led many Arab guerilla operations in the desert. Even saw a narrow gauge railway that was used in the movie. The father of Ghassan had worked on the movie set.

We road around in the desert for almost two hours, and we returned to the relative luxury of the car for the return trip to the busy town of Aqaba. We went through the same two checkpoints plus and additional one by the local police.

Three weary travelers arrived back at the Voyager. Remains to be seen how sore our backs and bottoms are from the desert visit. BUT we were pleased and glad we had seen the area.