Hi All,
We caught our bus to Wadi Rum at 630am and were instantly offered a trip in the desert by the assistant. We weren 't that interested but there were 3 others on the bus who were booked. Vanessa was still sick so after holding out for a better price we decided to book as it wasn't that much money. There are so many people trying to get work in wadi rum and so you can probably get a better deal by playing off the operators against each other. Oh well. Cost us 30JD each and the others 35 (suckers).
The trip was great. We got dropped off at someones house which was a little uncomfortable then got picked up, got some supplies and headed out. The area was scattered with camels and it seemed that in the town of rum itself camels were in the back yards rather than dogs.We drove around the desert for the day and found nice hidden valley, towering cliffs and climbed an eroded rock bridge. It wasn't hot and we were in the back of the ever reliable old toyota truck for most of the time. Our guide was a bedouin.
Turned out that the others on the trip were sydney uni students and the girl was the one that vanessa had rescued from a locked toilet in the middle of the night in amman. Small world.
In the afternoon we pulled up at a desert camp which was about 10km from the town and to be our overnight stay. Our guide prepared a lot of food for us then played some traditional bedouin music on a lute around a fire in the tent. Very nice. Then the family turned up. grandma, grandpa, brothers sisters and lots of kids. Amazing how many people can fit in a vehicle. The kids just wanted our pictures and we started giving them koalas before one of the older women stopped us which then almost started a riot with the kids who didn't have gifts. Oh well. Tough for them.
The family cooked up heaps of food then got the traditional music going again. Plenty of clapping and dancing and sooo much sweet tea was drunk. We eventually made our way off to bed feeling quite satisfied.
We woke to a lovely sunrise, more tea and a nice breakfast before saying goodbye to the families and getting dropped of in rum. Didn't give out a tip as we were short of money. Probably wouldn't have tipped anyway because we are tight.
Ooooops. It was friday which it was the muslim weekend. No buses running so we were stuck. Managed to arrange for a trip to the main road in a short wheel base toyota. Fitted 5 people, driver and all our gear. Wasn't easy but for 2JD each it was worth it as the taxis were wanting 25JD with a max of 3 people per taxi. The driver said it was just like bedouins!
Got to the road and waited for a while with plenty of buses passing us by before waving down a bus to aqaba. Cost us 2JD each so it worked out well!
The others left to catch up with friends in israel which was not far away.
Bye.
David & Vanessa
