Day 14: October 25, Petra to Eilat via Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum viewpoint

Baby camel came too!

Lunch with Ali

Wadi Rum is a huge national park. Wadi means dry river bed and Rum means a high place; the altitude is about the same as home. We spent the day driving across the sandy desert and between high rocky sandstone mountains, with our guide Ali, a couple from Belgium, and a man from Paris. It was mesmerizing and starkly beautiful. We stopped at viewpoints, petroglyphs, arches, an ancient well, ancient foundations, and sand dunes. Ali was well educated and had been an officer in the Jordanian army for 16 years. As one of his friends said, he is not just a driver, he is a mountain guide.

Ali was also our chef, creating 3 salads, roasted vegetables and chicken on a fire of twigs and briquettes. It was delicious as we all sat around on a carpet Bedouin style.

For most of the day it felt like the 6 of us were alone in the desert, only occasionally seeing another vehicle. At one stop there were two Bedouin and 5 camels and we both had a short (about 1/4 mile) camel ride across the sand - our own mini caravan, the Bedouin guide, two camels and one baby. We also had sweet cinnamon tea in a Bedouin tent/ souvenir store. It is hard to compare this day with Petra, one was the majesty of ruins built 2000 years ago, the other a wild, empty and dramatic landscape.

Ali drove us back to the border along the Kings Highway - lots of trucks moving supplies in and out of the port of Aqaba. Our tour company again met us, shepherded us through the border (although it seemed very straight forward, at least for us Canadians) and then drove us to our hotel. We walked down to the beach and sat drinking a beer and watching the lights twinkle on the Gulf of Aqaba. Tomorrow it is a long bus ride to Tel Aviv.