BEDOUIN CAMP - WADI RUM, JORDAN

DAY & NIGHT WITH THE BEDOUINS IN WADI RUM, JORDAN

Heading out as a family on camels to Lawrence's Spring.

We were picked up from the Movenpick Resort in Tala Bay Aquaba on Sunday morning by our driver, Amjed.  Amjed is an Arab Christian and relayed some very disturbing stories about Muslims and Christians inter-marrying.  One of his brother's sons had married a Muslim woman, which meant that the son and his wife are never invited to any family festivities.  I was horrified as he nonchalantly told us of how traditionally when a Christian man married a Muslim girl, the family of the girl would often hunt down and kill the Christian husband.  The sentencing for such killers was very lenient and although they would go to jail they would often be released within a month.  He said that things have improved though because now killers in this situation are serving a much longer jail sentence.  Unbelievable!

We arrived in the village of Wadi Rum, where we were met by our bedouin guide Sabbah and his cousin, Saleem, who owned the company we had booked with - Jordan Tracks.  Wadi Rum, also know as the Valley of the Moon, is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in Southern Jordan and is the largest Wadi in Jordan.  It's breathtaking!

The only permanent inhabitants of Wadi Rum are several thousand Bedouin nomads and villagers.  Apart from the small village and the Bedouin goat hair tents, there is no real infrastructure, so the area is spectacularly unspoiled.

T E Lawrence (of Arabia) spent a significant amount of time here during the course of the British-inspired Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.  Wadi Rum was the film location for much of the movie "Lawrence of Arabia."  Once again, we got the children to watch the movie before we left.  It's a long movie, so they found it a bit trying, but it made our experience in the desert so much richer and exciting.  Lawrence is still widely talked about today throughout Wadi Rum, partly I'm sure because his story provides a great advertisement for Jordan.

We set out on camels from the village of Wadi Rum to Lawrence's Spring where we were met by Sabbah, our bedouin guide for the day.

Conor & Dario on their camels, which they named Bob and Arjen (yes, after Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich :)

Brigid

Marcus looking very relaxed as a camel rider and Dario giving the Royal wave.

The camel ride gave us lots of laughs.  

The kids loved the camel ride.  Was a wonderful thing to do as a family.

Even out in the desert Dario cannot be found without his Bayern Munich cap!

Leaving the camels behind we climbed onto the back of Sabbah's jeep, which we used to explore the area.

This is one of the many sand dunes in Wadi Rum where the red sand meets the white sand.  It's such an unsual sand, like nothing I've felt before.  It is not a dusty sand or one that sticks to you, which makes it very nice to walk on - as long as it's not too hot.  You can just see the family up in the top left hand corner, which gives you an idea of the size of this sand dune.

When looking at these sand dunes you would almost think that a line had been drawn between the red of the sand and the intense blue of the sky.  Unfortunately photos cannot capture the vibrant colours.

Dario, Alex and Conor having a race down the sand dune.

Muslims praying toward Mecca 

Entrance to a siq in Wadi Rum.

An English fellow we stumbled across in the desert wearing an Australian hat.  The kids were very excited when they saw his hat but then he came out with a very broad English accent.

Kids at the entrance to a Wadi Rum siq

Wadi Rum Siq.  The echos throughout Wadi Rum are like nothing we've ever heard before and were well tested by our children.

Dario exploring the desert on his own

Exploring with our guide, Sabbeh

On top of the bridge

Lawrence's house - nobody is certain that this was Lawrence's house, although there are stories that he both stayed and/or stored weapons here.  The current structure is built on the remains of a Nabataean building.

Everywhere you go in the desert you see little piles of rocks.  Sabbah said that they are like markers to let someone know you've been there and showed the boys how to make one.

Dario with his rock pile marker

Conor with his rock pile marker

A traditional Bedouin lunch

Sabbah preparing lunch for us.

Lunch in the middle of nowhere...

Holding up the mushroom rock - nerds that we are!

Brigid going local....

A dam made by the Bedouins for drinking water and water for their camels.

Kids will be kids.... our bedouin guide showed us this game that bedouin children play with this dried out fruit, which is like a very small watermelon - tastes dreadful and is only eaten by goats - but when it dries out it is very light and great for throwing. 

Conor contemplating....

This bridge gave Alex a heart attack. He couldn't bear to watch the children climb it but our guide insisted it was safe....

Kids on top of the bridge that looked incredibly fragile.

Waiting for the sunset over Wadi Rum

The silence and beauty of this spot will remain with me forever.  It is definitely one of the highlights of our trip where we sat atop a hill overlooking the rock formations of Wadi Rum and watched the sun go down.  Was very special.

A fantastic panoramic photo taken by Alex. 

After our magical sunset experience we headed to Sabbah's bedouin camp for dinner.  The cook prepared a traditional Bedouin dinner by cooking the food - chicken and vegetables - in the 'zarb,' which is an underground oven covered with sand.  The long cooking process produces delicious and incredible flavours.

The cook uncovering our meal, which is cooked in a barrel underground and covered by sand.

The cook uncovering the delicious contents ....

The Bedouins are constantly offering tea, which has so much sugar in it it should be called lolly tea.  It had a taste of rosemary in it, which was very pleasant.  As we ate our meal the bedouins sang their traditional songs and played their instruments.  We were the only ones in the camp, which was great for privacy but I can imagine it would be a lot of fun to have a few groups there to join in on the festivities.  Sadly for them, with all the recent troubles, tourism has dropped dramatically in this area.

After dinner the kids headed to their tents for an early night and Alex and I stayed back and heard various Bedouin tales from Sabbah.  Alex noted to Sabbah that we hadn't seen a single woman since arriving in Wadi Rum, except for an old lady in the village.  Most of the women wear burqas but are told by their Saudi fellow women that they are allowed a lot more freedoms in Jordan than in Saudi.

Sabbah talked a lot about his camels and was very proud of his camel racing prowess.  He also said that he's a well respected camel tracker and can tell you, by the tracks, who the camel belongs to in their tribe.  I don't know whether he was pulling our leg on this one but he also claimed that he was able to tell which tribe a Bedouin was from by their tracks and the way they walk.

Sabbah was telling us that a tamed camel is worth a lot because it requires a lot of time and patience to train a camel well.  He said that camels can be quite vicious if untamed and that around the age of 5 a lot of tamed, malecamels can turn feral.  He told us a very funny story about a man who used to hit his camel.  The man noticed that the camel was becoming very angry toward him.  One day, the man took his camel out into the desert.  He prepared his bed for the night and made the bed to look as though he was sleeping in it.  He then went and hid behind some rocks.  When the camel returned to the campbed he looked at the bed, then rolled his body onto the bed, rocking back and forth.  Supposedly this is what camels do to kill something - or someone!  The man then came out from behind the rocks.  The camel took one look at the man and in complete shock rolled over and died!

Saleem and his mate (never did find out his name) singing their traditional Bedouin songs.

The kids with Sabbah and his friend in the dining tent.

Brigid and Marcus trying to learn how to ululate. Ululation is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound often heard at Arabic weddings.  It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid movement of the tongue - much more difficult than it appears.

The kids tent.

Alex at the entrance to our tent.  The stars were amazing.  Once we turned the light off it was  pitch black.  Fresh air, silence, and not a speck of light made for a perfect night's sleep.  I loved it!

The boys hanging out in the Bedouin dining tent

Off to sleep early.  It was pitch black so there wasn't much to do once we left the dining tent, although watching falling stars was pretty special.

The view from our tent door in the morning. Was magical.

Conor standing in front of the Bedouin tents.

The Bedouin tents made from goat's hair.

Kids heading up to breakfast.

After breakfast Sabbah drove us back into Wadi Rum village, providing us with our last look at the stunning landscape and wandering camels.

Our touring ute - heading back into the village of Wadi Rum.

The wandering camels of Wadi Rum

Arab poets refer to the camel as "the ship of the desert."   The camel has several features that make it ideally suited to desert life. Its feet have wide pads with slimly built legs that help it move easily over the desert. It can tolerate thirst for long periods, and can eat the tough thorny shrubs in the desert that even sheep and goats pass over. 

Saying farewell to Sabbah before heading off to Petra. 

Dario farewelling his camel "Arjen."

Brigid saying goodbye to her mates.

There was something so special about our time in Wadi Rum.  The peace of the desert seemed to affect us all and we had a very special family experience that I'll carry with me forever.