Take-Aways

To the East of Aqaba, in the South of Jordan, not far from the Saudi Arabian border is the dessert of Wadi Rum. It is Bedouin and camel land, a real dessert but surprisingly full of life and riches. Sandy but with big rocks, endless horizons, gorges and canyons, rocky bridges, Bedouin carvings and hidden springs. We were driven here from Petra. On the road we stopped to taste the best coffee in the land at the truckers and driver’s pit stop. A shack right on the highway serving coffee perfumed with cardamon. We were delivered into the capable hands of Sayel and his rusty 4x4 that ended up serving us extremely well. Sayel is a Bedouin in his late 20s. Crisp and fresh in his white tunic despite the 30 degree heat, he is new in the tourist driving business. It might explain his obvious enthusiasm for the job. So far he had been driving an ambulance. He is the son of a third wife and the experience seems to have left its mark since for himself he only wishes one wife and two kids. He has learnt his English by himself. And with tourists. He is fun and he is our guide for our dessert stint. Our first stop is at his makeshift camp where he leaves us for a bit to go and get organised. We do not want to sleep there tonight but it is our first contact with the dessert and we savour it. Red sand, bushes that he makes our tea from and the rocks. It is hot but it is also windy so that it is not unpleasant. When Sahel comes back we load 3 foam mattresses at the top of the truck and we are off. Every now and then he jumps out of the car, fiddles with the front wheels and we are off again. It takes a while to realise that he does that every time he puts the car in 4 wheel drive mode. Also, he knows every body. It is an uncommonly crowded place, the dessert. In the middle of nowhere, completely out of the blue people bump into us or we into them. They are his cousins, his friends, people that just bum a bottle of water off him. In the middle of the dessert his cousin with his 2 kids are tinkering with a car and keeping an eye on two adult and two baby camels The best thing in the dessert is the sleep and the food…..and the dishwashing. Take a plate and just sink it in the sand and rub it with it. It comes out spotless and sparkling. At lunchtime, after a meal of canned sardines and tuna, moutabal, bread, tomato and cucumber we had a nap. Laying in the shade of a dessert hill, made all the more precious by the breeze, on the soft, warm sand looking at an endless blue sky caught somewhere between sleeping, dreaming and being awake. Not a sound in the air but the sound of the air. Wake up, grab some twigs and light a fire for the tea. Then drive off to visit Lawrence of Arabia’s house, luge on my bum down the red sand dune and set camp against a hill for the night. Camp is throwing the three mattresses on the sand and lighting the fire to cook chicken and tomatoes, grill the bread and drink some tea. We then just laid on our backs looking at the stary sky, each on our mattress and covered by two blankets. Absolute silence but the sound of the air and the night. Sleeping between dream time and night time. Unforgettable!