'The desert is an ocean in which no oar is dipped'—T.E. Lawrence, from Seven Pillars of Wisdom
So why does the name Wadi Rum ring a bell? Did you see the movie Lawrence of Arabia? It’s where T.E. Lawrence encamped to launch the attack on Aqaba. It’s also where some of that movie was filmed (“The Red Planet” also was filmed here).
Upon our arrival at the Rum Desert, which the Bedouin call the Valley of the Moon, we piled into 4-wheel drive, open backed trucks for a jiggly but fun ride. Stark and beautiful, the desert changes mood as the light changes in the course of the day. Even in the duration of our trip of barely more than an hour, we saw these shifts a number of times. Our stop at Wadi Rum was particularly memorable, as we explored the gorge where T.E. Lawrence and his men sought shade and looked on the red sand and stone pillars (as in the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his famous book). A breathtaking sight.
Piling back in our trucks, off we went to a Bedouin camp for dinner. The Bedouin in Wadi Rum live in goat-hair tents, and these were the shade provided for our dining. Dinner was cooked in a hole in the ground, and the gracious Bedouin were our hosts for an evening of entertainment and good company. Dining was on cushions on the ground, with a slightly raised platform.
The high point of the evening, and perhaps the trip to this point, was the rising of the nearly full moon over the tall pillars of stone. Silence prevailed as we all watched this magnificent sight.
After dinner and goodbye to our hosts, off we went across the desert by night to find our bus and make the trek back to the ship in order to fall into bed so we could get up early the next morning and head off for our last overnight trip for a while, to Luxor. That is the next installment.
Side note: I am indeed keeping an eye on the news (mostly via a satellite version of the Washington Post). So this quote from T.E. Lawrence seems apt not only for the politics of the region in his day, but for today and elsewhere as well:
“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence, from Seven Pillars of Wisdom
So why does the name Wadi Rum ring a bell? Did you see the movie Lawrence of Arabia? It’s where T.E. Lawrence encamped to launch the attack on Aqaba. It’s also where some of that movie was filmed (“The Red Planet” also was filmed here).
Upon our arrival at the Rum Desert, which the Bedouin call the Valley of the Moon, we piled into 4-wheel drive, open backed trucks for a jiggly but fun ride. Stark and beautiful, the desert changes mood as the light changes in the course of the day. Even in the duration of our trip of barely more than an hour, we saw these shifts a number of times. Our stop at Wadi Rum was particularly memorable, as we explored the gorge where T.E. Lawrence and his men sought shade and looked on the red sand and stone pillars (as in the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his famous book). A breathtaking sight.
Piling back in our trucks, off we went to a Bedouin camp for dinner. The Bedouin in Wadi Rum live in goat-hair tents, and these were the shade provided for our dining. Dinner was cooked in a hole in the ground, and the gracious Bedouin were our hosts for an evening of entertainment and good company. Dining was on cushions on the ground, with a slightly raised platform.
The high point of the evening, and perhaps the trip to this point, was the rising of the nearly full moon over the tall pillars of stone. Silence prevailed as we all watched this magnificent sight.
After dinner and goodbye to our hosts, off we went across the desert by night to find our bus and make the trek back to the ship in order to fall into bed so we could get up early the next morning and head off for our last overnight trip for a while, to Luxor. That is the next installment.
Side note: I am indeed keeping an eye on the news (mostly via a satellite version of the Washington Post). So this quote from T.E. Lawrence seems apt not only for the politics of the region in his day, but for today and elsewhere as well:
“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence, from Seven Pillars of Wisdom
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