Bedouin & Wet: Wadi Rum and diving Aqaba

After a second long day at Petra, our driver took us to Wadi Rum. "Wadi" means valley, and "rum," depending on whom you ask, means it's elevated or sand. One of the first sights is the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, so called because of T.E. Lawrence's book of that name. The movie was filmed here.











The package deal here was to spend the night in a Bedouin camp and take a tour of the desert the next day. Bedouins are known as nomads, and aside from the camps for tourists, there are many living in Wadi Rum looking after their goat and sheep herds. Salaman, on the right, was in charge of the operation, and his buddy is the cook. Accommodations were basic; we stayed in a tent like those in the background.

Dinner was served in a long tent, and the typical meal of chicken, rice, hummus, salad, cheese, and pita bread was quite good. There were three other guests who were from India and working tech jobs in Finland, but more than enough to eat. The leftovers go to local Bedouins, so we didn't feel bad about leaving a lot on the platters.

The next morning was perfect for a desert safari. The weather this time of year is cool enough for a jacket in the evening and warm in the day. July and August are not so much so, at over 120 degrees F.

The mountains and canyons are spectacularly sculpted by wind and the very occasional rain.

We hiked though a siq (slot canyon) to meet our guide at the other end,


where he made tea for us and chatted with a guide friend who happened by. The Arab culture exhibits hospitality by overfeeding the guest and offering frequent tea.

Birds, insects, and reptiles have found a way to thrive here. This guy had a very pretty song.

Wadi Rum is a popular location for making movies. The Martian was shot here, and we thought this might be the place.

The landscape is rich with natural bridges.

Our final stop was Khazali Canyon, which contains a freshwater spring and petroglyphs made by the Thamudic culture 3000 years ago. It seems that not much is known about them.

The last destination in our journey was Aqaba, a modern, touristy city. Jordan has just a nine-mile stretch of territory here on the Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and Israel. It was refreshing to clean up and empty the sand from our shoes.

Don't ask.

We included Aqaba in the itinerary to dive in the Red Sea. Though the water was a bit colder than the tropical sites we've been to (like S. California in summer), the colorful reefs and fish were worth it. On Monday we dove on a sunken cargo ship, the Cedar Pride. As in Egypt, tourism is low and we were the only ones on board Sunday. A couple from Texas joined us the next day.






Aqaba is Jordan's only port, and several ships were on/offloading or waiting offshore. This one is loading Jordan's biggest mineral resource, potash.

On the way back to port, the crew serves a sumptuous lunch of chicken kabobs, salad, vegetables, and of course hummus.

Israel is close by, and on a clear day you can see Egypt and Saudi Arabia farther down the gulf.

My 100th dive came on our last day of diving. Apparently it's tradition to dive naked on this occasion, but I told the crew I'd need warmer water.

Many wonderful underwater sights have been recorded by our divemaster, Shadi, on the dive shop's photo gallery. Judy got a nice jellyfish picture from the boat.

To avoid a nasty case of the bends, you need to wait 24 hours between diving and flying, so we spent Wednesday checking out a small archeological museum and the Aqaba Castle, a 15th-century fortress where Lawrence of Arabia scored a victory over the Ottomans during the Arab revolt in 1916.

Well, another adventure wraps up. Our last day in the Middle East was sunny, warm, and placid. Stay tuned for one more blog post, the "best of" photos and experiences, along with a couple of videos and some cultural observations.