Aug 11-12
It seems as though Jordan is on the touristic map primarily due to Hollywood: Petra because of Indiana Jones, and the following destination, Wadi Rum, used as the backdrop for 1962's Lawrence of Arabia. Not to suggest that they are not impressive on their own, just that Hollywood enabled this Middle Eastern country to have greater visibility and touristic appeal.
Saba'a Hotel arranged a touristic bus to drop us off in Rum village, which is a Bedouin village nestled in the mountains of Wadi Rum, and not a haven free from the prohibitive nature of Ramadan as the name may suggest.
Too bad.
Once there, we were introduced to Audeh, the owner of Seven Pillars camp. Normally I would link the hotels and companies I would recommend, but this one does not fit into that category. I'll get to that shortly.
We had signed up for a 6-hour jeep tour and were joined by Jesse from Toronto, and 3 Italians.
At around noon, one of Audeh's hundred of brothers or male relatives, Mohammed, told us to pile into the truck and our tour was set to commence. After a 5-minute drive into the desert, we were told to climb a rock pile to get a view of Wadi Rum's magnificent pink desert and towering mountains.
Another 5-minute drive brought us to an orange sand dune (located in wadi umm ishrin), resting against a mountain. Jesse and I climbed up before joining the others for lunch.
Our next stop was Barrah canyon where we were left to do our own version of canyoning and rock climbing through the narrow Siq. It was a lot of fun climbing up but proved rather treacherous on our way down. When we all made it back safely, we demanded Mohammed get off his ass (during all these treks he just lay down and flirted with the other Bedouin guides) and go to our next destination. Jesse had already voiced his displeasure with the whole experience and pretty much told Mohammed what we all were thinking.
Our next two destinations were a small and larger rock bridge, which we proceeded to climb and cautiously descend.
Before getting to our camp, Mohammed dropped us off in a gorge and when we emerged, we were quite close to the 7 Pillars camp.
Once set up at the camp, Jesse and I walked to the Alfia dune to watch the sunset.
Later that evening, we enjoyed a great Bedouin meal and watched the magnificent stars in the pristine sky. Other than Mohammed's deceptive title of "guide", we had a rather climbtastic day.
The next day, however, was another story. The Europeans that had joined us left at dawn to catch a local bus to Aqaba. When we woke up, all the breakfast condiments were left open on the table along with 2 half-eaten pieces of bread. I was pissed and took a picture to use as evidence for our lack of breakfast. Little did I know that Jesse had left us this note that had fallen off the table.
My mistake.
Jesse returned and we waited for our lunches and water. We played cards, lay down and utilized whatever shade was available to us. Two to three hours after the guy had told us he would return and had still not arrived, we figured that no one was in fact coming. Jesse found some rice and lentils in the kitchen and had some iodine tablets to sterilize the non-bottled water at our disposal.
After 11 hours of being alone in the desert. With little food and potable water, we saw a group of grazing camels in the distance. We jokingly said that we could probably kill the baby for food if the Bedouins had actually forgotten about us. Well; we were half joking.
As we approached the family of dromedary, an SUV arrived at our camp and dropped off two people, but had already left by the time we made it back. We explained the situation to the Belgian couple and they gave us some water to share. They weren't too happy with their guide or the company either.
Go figure.
An hour later, Audeh himself showed up with our dinner and some water. Jesse started ripping into him immediately, but we told him our primary objective is to leave the desert and we will retaliate via poor reviews and bad references.
Despite our experience with the company, Wadi Rum is spectacular. With its pink, red and white sands; to the endless mountains that would arouse even the most occasional of rock climbers. The desolation, isolation, and raw beauty make it a must on any journey through Jordan.
We had planned our stay to coincide with the climax of the 2012 Perseids meteor shower. The crystal-clear sky, and complete absence of light pollution not only allowed me to pop my shooting-star cherry; but to become a veritable shooting-star whore, seeing nearly 100 over our 2-night stay!
Don't get me wrong, I still had a great time, and I have nothing against the Bedouin of Wadi Rum, even though some may be lazy, forgetful and useless.
I'm just glad they came back to get us so we wouldn't become desert-dwelling nomads like them!
No comments:
Post a Comment