Snapshot … Wadi Rum

Heading back to a country which ranks as one of my favourites today … Jordan. Those of you who read the comments section of my post on the beautiful, ancient rose city of Petra would have noticed that I said Petra is my second favourite spot in Jordan. The first place goes to Wadi Rum. As mentioned previously I spent about 8 days in Jordan in 2008. Wadi Rum, also known as the Valley of the Moon, is located in the southwestern corner of Jordan. It is a spectacularly stunning combination of granite and sandstone rock formations and burnt orange sand dunes, spread over 720 square kilometres. Those of you who have seen the movie Lawrence of Arabia will also know that T.E. Lawrence spent a great deal of time in Wadi Rum. In fact, his book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, is named after a rock formation visible at the visitor centre entrance to area.

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Checking out a well in the mountain … you can see the vehicles on the road and the mountains across the way

My idea of a road trip!

Not Mars … it’s Wadi Rum

Now some people who visit Wadi Rum only go for a day trip. I would strongly suggest you go for two days and spend the night in the desert. Honestly, I can’t stress it enough. I arrived at Wadi Rum one morning and was transferred into 4WD vehicles for my excursion into the desert. We visited many of the rock formations, saw the remains of T.E. Lawrence’s desert residence, climbed the sand dunes and the rock bridge, beofre heading to our camp for the night. As it so happens, this night, spent camping in the stunning desert landscape with a Bedouin tribe, was my birthday. I still pinch myself that I spent a birthday there – sat atop a rocky outcrop overlooking our comfortable Bedouin camp and watched the sunset over the vast landscape. Magic. That’s the only word for it. And so please, don’t cheat yourself out of that experience if you ever head to Jordan.

The ruins of Lawrence of Arabia’s home

Climbing the dunes

Climbing the rock bridge

The view from my Bedouin camp

Sunset over Wadi Rum and another birthday over

 

This post makes up part of my contribution to the A-Z Challenge for April 2016

Click here for a list and links to my other challenge posts!