Wadi Rum

Today we left Petra and headed south to a desert area called Wadi Rum.  While I have previously described the terrain as desert, this area was truly a desert.  We arrived at the Wadi Rum nature preserve and climbed into the back of a Toyota truck that had been equipped with seats.  Our drivers drove us out to the desert which had amazing sand and huge rock formations.

The photo above shows us at our first stop - the hospitality tent.  We were served tea made over a fire in the tent and a pastry that our guide (more about him later) had bought from his brothers bakery.  These tents are made from woven goat hair and either steel or wood supports.  This tent was not a residence but is similar to the tents that the nomadic Bedouins do live in.  They also had scarves for sale and provided scarf tying demonstrations for us!  The men wear the scarves also and after experiencing their climate and terrain, they serve to protect from the wind, dust and sand.

Along the way we saw some ancient heiroglyphics on the rocks.  It was mostly pictures of camels...perhaps they were leaving a message for the next group passing through.

A little further down the 'road' we came to a group of camels hanging out.  For a mere 15 USD each we opted to take a mile long camel ride.  The scenery was great and it was so very quiet in the desolate desert.  It's similar to riding a horse but they are much taller and only walked (no galloping!)

The expanse of the desert.  

Today was our last day with our tour guide, Samer.  He was a very engaging and knowledgeable gentleman who was with us from our arrival at the airport.  He was a Christian, so a member of the minority 6 percent, and expressed his faith freely with us.  He was the father of three daughters, whom he planned to send to university.  He had excellent English, told many good stories, and encouraged Meghan to study languages in college.  

We spent a long time on the bus today driving north to the Jordan area of the Dead Sea.  We are staying at the Holiday Inn Dead Sea.  Tomorrow we experience the Dead Sea and sites on the way to Jerusalem.

Karen