On the way, we passed a slow moving train (1.5 mph) moving phosphate to the port in Aqaba on an ancient narrow gauge track. Hazim said he'd actually had train aficionados walk alongside the moving train to ask questions of the crew.
A wadi is a valley or dry river bed, while "rum" means high desert. So Wadi Rum is the valley of the high desert. Our destination was a Bendouin settlement that provides 4-wheel drive excursions into the desert.
This is Lawrence of Arabia country, both historically and for production of the epic film. T.E. Lawrence met
Abdullah (later the first king of Jordan) here during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans.
This was also the trade route from Yemen to Petra.
Without references of scale (a tree, a camel), distances were impossible to judge.
These petroglyphs, the oldest dating to 1000 BC, were primitive road signs to help caravans navigate through the desert.
In the 1960s, 50% of Jordanians were nomads. It's a vanishing way of life, with only about 1% remaining. Camels continue to be highly valued, however, and are worth about 3000 dinar ($4500). For nomads, they are essential, providing transportation, clothing, food, freight transport, tools and status. Our 4x4 caravan was met by a group of camels for those who wanted to experience a mile long ride through the sand.
Greg and I elected to continue bouncing along on the benches in the back of our little truck. (did the camel thing in Morocco.)
Lunch was cooked in the Bedouin style, and presented in a big reveal.
A fire was built in a deep hole, a can set into the hole, the tiered raw food (lamb, carrots and chicken) lowered into the can and the whole assembly buried with sand. Delicious!
These structures were at first evocative of Luke Skywalker's boyhood home,
but on closer inspection, they are comfy little modules for tourists spending the night in the desert.
We boarded the bus for a 4 1/2 drive north to Amman,
Most of the drive was on a divided highway, but sometimes the lanes were adjacent, leading to some creative interpretations of right of way. Drivers using the left land in either direction seemed to have the option of drifting over one lane further (into what we'd consider a lane for oncoming traffic) to pass. Our bus driver did not partake, but it was still a little harrowing to watch.
We arrived in Ammon as the beginning of rush hour. Four million people live here, and another half million commute into the city daily. Buses provide the only mass transit. Drivers seem pretty gracious about merging, which keeps things slowly shuffling along.
The buildings are uniformly white, which probably helps things keep a little cooler in the summer. We're in a modern 12 story Marriott, happy to be settled in for the night.
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