Day 15-16: Wadi Rum

I am sure more beautiful places exist in the world, but I have yet to see them. Wadi Rum was breathtaking. Desert extended into desert into desert, only so the horizon could steal its vastness from vision. Sandstone mountains stood haphazardly erect around us, stretching to the heavens and creating a false sense of enclosures in the ever expanding desert. Small shrubs and grasses grew along the base of many of these minor sandstone mountains, which helped to balance the red and brown sands that continuously blew around us. At any given time, we could look out and see no fewer than two dust devils blowing in the distance.

I believe I am getting ahead of myself. We went to Wadi Rum as a weekend dig excursion in order to participate in a camel trek, camping trip, and jeep trek. All three were incredible.

After arriving in a small Bedouin village on the outskirts of Wadi Rum, we were directed to our camels for the day. I immediately selected mine, and with a surprisingly strong lunge, was soon sitting far above ground. We launched our trek from the town and headed to Lawrence's Spring, a famous site that Lawrence met with surrounding Bedouin tribes before launching his attack against the Turkish controlled Aqabah. We then set off across a vast expanse of desert where we ate lunch and enjoyed a two hour siesta. I awoke once and looked around--we were all passed out. The Bedouin often take naps during the hottest time of the day to avoid the heat. I think this is a tradition that should be implemented in the States. After the sun reached its Zenith and began its long fall to the horizon, we set off again. Up to this point, my camel had been tied to three others. I mumbled what Arabic I had learned to try to ask if I could untether my camel and direct it myself. To my surprise, our guide did and let me go. It was a blast and only took 30 minutes of me running my camel (in a taunting manner of course--many of my friends were still tethered and their leaders would not let them take the reins themselves) until I was told not to run the camel so much.

Camels are interseting creatures and I wished I could own one. You sit with one leg crossed over the saddle, with your other leg either crossed over or hanging down to the side. Try to look at some pictures on Facebook if you get a chance to see some of the camel shots.

A little over eight hours after we started our trek (and a failed attempt to cross through a gorge), we arrived at our camp site. We laid down in a Bedouin tent and enjoyed a brief respite until we broke up in groups and decided to hike for a nice vantage point for the sunset. The sunset was beatiful as the waining light danced off the surrounding sand stone mountains. Colors of red, orange and deep purple flickered as the sun bid the world goodnight. Again, it was utterly breathtaking.

Most of us decided to drag our mattresses outside and we camped underneath the stars. Around 1 a.m., we began to notice a large cloud that stretched from one end of the sky to the other. We realized almost immediately that it was not a cloud but that it was the Milky Way. As a graduate of Space Camp and Space Academy (yes, I did just say that), I was taken aback. With hyperbole aside, it was an incredible view that I hope to see again someday.

The next day, we journeyed from site to site around the different canyons in jeeps. We saw several Nabatean remains and inscriptions, and managed to hike for a couple of hours as well (of course with another two-hour siesta at mid-day). Our last trip of the day was to a sand dune (that must have been a mile high--okay, probably not, but it took about 20 minutes to climb). Once we summited (those of us who were dumb enough to do it--it was hot and it was very windy), Dr. Byron McCane looked at us with a smile and said, "There's only one way down." After the last word exited his mouth, he took of bounding down a clear path on the dune at a full gallop. What took us 20 minutes to climb only took about a minute to descend. After building myself up for a sizable chunk of time, I too ran down. It was a blast. It made the horrible hike up to the top completely worth it.

Thanks for reading.