Where We Be
After lunch I get to drive the jeep through the shifting sands of the desert
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The House of Lawrence has a gorgeous view
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Notice how the leaves and stems of these plants are all covered with specks of sand
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Lawrence of Arabia is said to have used this Nabataean structure during the Great Arab Revolution to store weapons
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Wadi Rum, Jordan -- Jeep Tour
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Our guide prepares a traditional dish for us called fuul -- fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice
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We also enjoy this tuna, tomato, and cucumber appetizer
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We awake to this lovely view as the shadows begin to grow longer
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The mountains cast long shadows as we get underway again. It's about 4 pm -- what a pretty time of day!
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Goats come traipsing through our temporary camp, gobbling down the leftover orange peels from our lunch
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The Red Sand Dune area is beautiful, with many differing colors of rock and sand
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Climbing the sliding sands to the top is a real challenge in the heat. I run back down, which apparently is expected of tourists. Afterwards I empty each shoe of about a gallon of red sand!
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View from halfway up the Red Sand Dune
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Numerous inscriptions cover the rock face, including petroglyphs of camel caravans and desert warriors
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Dramatic view out the back of the jeep
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Our first stop is Khazali Canyon, a slot canyon once used by the local Bedouins to rest in the shade
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The narrow canyon walls contain many petroglyphs. Our favorite is this impression of two small feet.
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Our guide strolls back to the jeep past some gorgeous desert scenery
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The flat vertical slab of rock in the distance is the site of the Anfashieh inscriptions
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These free-range camels are going for a distant drink of water
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We love the fact no one is leading them -- they're making their own way through the desert
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What a picturesque sight! One of our favorite moments in Wadi Rum.
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Enjoying our desert safari
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Our jeep is old-fashioned to say the least, with a hoop-shaped canvas covering in back and brakes that are questionable at best
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We spend two hours in this quiet and beautiful place eating and resting on a mat in the shade
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Our guide prepares lunch for us in the shade during the hottest part of the day
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This camel is taking himself for a walk to a distant watering hole
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Wadi Rum is Jordan's second-most popular
attraction after Petra and for good reason.
There's just something romantic about the idea
of spending a night in a Bedouin tent, sleeping
under a starry sky -- or in our case a full moon.
There's also something appealing about getting
to explore one of the world's great deserts not
only by camel but by jeep. By camel is fun for
the sheer novelty of it, but a jeep tour lets you
range further afield and see the best the desert
has to offer.
We particularly enjoyed our jeep tour because
at each stop we could get out and wander to
our hearts' content. This let us experience
different parts of the desert in a relatively short
period of time. As soon as we met our guide, we
could tell from his relaxed pace and soft way of
speaking that we needed to slow down our own
tempo. Everything about his manner said, Don't
rush, take your time, you're in the desert now
where life isn't so hectic. "Sunset is a long way
off," he told us as we were getting ready to go,
so we simply let ourselves relax into the
moment and enjoy each stop along the way.
Then it's time for a nap. We're happy about that!
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