Jordan: Day one in Wadi Rum

Our next destination was Wadi Rum for two nights in the desert. It's about an hour's drive from Aqaba - look out for camels! - and we parked our car in the village at our host's house after we had registered at the Visitor's Centre (no entry fee for us as we had the Jordan Pass).

Our first day comprised of a full-day Jeep tour, spending that night in a Bedouin camp, followed by a hike on day two to Jabal Umm Ad Dami, Jordan's tallest mountain, and a camel ride back to the village. We booked this with Wadi Rum Magic Tours at a cost of 300JOD, plus an extra 30JOD for the camel ride (about £380 total, payable in cash). This included all meals, drinks, transportation, our excursions and, of course, the expertise of our Bedouin guide. (Night two was spent elsewhere - more about that in day two's blog post.)

We massively lucked out booking with Wadi Rum Magic Tours. We booked an open tour with them which meant if other people also booked the same thing as us, on those dates, we'd be doing the tour with them. But! No one did. Which meant we had our own private experience. Both in the 4x4 (they can seat up to six people, FYI), and in the camp. More about that later though! (But how marvellous!)

    

After tea in the village we headed off into the desert to our first location, and it was straight into a bit of a trek up a sand dune. Now sand is a bugger to climb up, but a bit easier to get down. Sturdy shoes are a must! Lawrence's Spring, Khazali Canyon (where you'll find Stone Age petroglyphs), The Little Arch, Lawrence's House and Mushroom Rock were all stops before lunch. 

And if you're wondering who Lawrence is, it's Lawrence of Arabia, aka T.E. Lawrence. They're very proud of his association with the area, and that Peter O'Toole subsequently filmed as Lawrence there, so you'll hear his name a lot. Lunch was cooked in a shady bit of the desert by Sabah, which was a traditional Bedouin dish: Galayet Bandora. Pretty tasty!

After a post-lunch rest, it was back in the 4x4 to explore Jabal Burdah, Abu Khashaba Canyon and Um Frouth Rock Bridge. I'll let the pictures do them justice - Olly tried sandboarding, too! - but we had a great time. The canyon though was very overcrowded. Most of the 4x4 Jeep tours tend to follow the same route, at the same sort of time. Mostly we managed to keep ahead of the crowds, but not here. 

There's one part of Abu Khashaba Canyon which is super narrow and only one person at a time could pass through it. We ended up queueing for quite a while for our turn, not helped as some tourists had come the wrong way through it. Not quite an off the beaten track desert experience here, but Wadi Rum is now very popular to visit. 

Before we headed to the camp, we watched the sun set over the desert, which was quite magical. We were even allowed a go at driving - interesting in the fading sunlight with a very cracked windscreen and shot suspension! We lucked out at the camp, as I mentioned above, as no other guests were booked on any tours so we had it all to ourselves. Usually you'd share the meal, loo and shower facilities.

    

We stayed in a traditional Bedouin tent - which just had a bed in it with lots of cosy blankets as the desert can get cold at night - so no power except for a light. But there was  power (with a UK style plug!) in the dining tent so we could charge our phones there. (Do take a power bank though, especially if you're using your phone as a camera.) And it was there we headed for dinner. Cooked using an underground Bedouin BBQ technique called zarb, the meat and veggies are cooked in a pit under the sand. All very yum, but don't expect any alcohol whilst you're in the desert as the Bedouins don't partake. Shisha, on the other hand! 

    

Stargazing followed - it's a clear sky, but turns out Wadi Rum is on a flight path so we saw a steady stream of planes cross over us! - before it was time to call it a night. A very successful first day in the desert - and one we'll never forget. x