Where We Be
After lunch I get to drive the jeep through the shifting sands of the desert
The House of Lawrence has a gorgeous view
Notice how the leaves and stems of these plants are all covered with specks of sand
Lawrence of Arabia is said to have used this Nabataean structure during the Great Arab Revolution to store weapons
Wadi Rum, Jordan -- Jeep Tour
Our guide prepares a traditional dish for us called fuul -- fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice
We also enjoy this tuna, tomato, and cucumber appetizer
We awake to this lovely view as the shadows begin to grow longer
The mountains cast long shadows as we get underway again. It's about 4 pm -- what a pretty time of day!
Goats come traipsing through our temporary camp, gobbling down the leftover orange peels from our lunch
The Red Sand Dune area is beautiful, with many differing colors of rock and sand
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!
View from halfway up the Red Sand Dune
Numerous inscriptions cover the rock face, including petroglyphs of camel caravans and desert warriors
Dramatic view out the back of the jeep
Our first stop is Khazali Canyon, a slot canyon once used by the local Bedouins to rest in the shade
The narrow canyon walls contain many petroglyphs. Our favorite is this impression of two small feet.
Our guide strolls back to the jeep past some gorgeous desert scenery
House of Lawrence
Khazali Canyon
Red Sand Dune
The flat vertical slab of rock in the distance is the site of the Anfashieh inscriptions
These free-range camels are going for a distant drink of water
We love the fact no one is leading them -- they're making their own way through the desert
What a picturesque sight! One of our favorite moments in Wadi Rum.
Enjoying our desert safari
Inscriptions and Camels
Desert Lunch
Our jeep is old-fashioned to say the least, with a hoop-shaped canvas covering in back and brakes that are questionable at best
We spend two hours in this quiet and beautiful place eating and resting on a mat in the shade
Our guide prepares lunch for us in the shade during the hottest part of the day
This camel is taking himself for a walk to a distant watering hole
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.
Wind-blown but happy
Then it's time for a nap. We're happy about that!