The drive from Wadi Musa to Wadi Rum was easy with no traffic. After parking our car in Rum Village our host for the next few days loaded us up in the back of his pickup truck. The truck had welded benches with cushions in the back. We were taken to his house where we sat in the guest room enjoying some tea while he explained how the next few days were going to work. We had booked a Wadi Rum Desert cave camping experience for two days and two nights.

Our first activity was a full day desert tour with a different guide. All the guides, cooks, and drivers we interacted with were all cousins or brothers. Our desert tour was on the bench in the back of another pickup truck, a mode of transportation we soon got used to in the desert. It was great for taking in the views and quite windy. The first stop was Lawrence Spring, where caravaners used to stop to switch their horses for camels and get water for the animals.

We drove to Alkazali Canyon next which is a Holy Place. There were engravings on the walls in the canyon and writing. My favorite was one of a woman giving birth. Next was a natural bridge/arch. We climbed up from the side and posed for some family pictures, it was pretty high up.

Our guide then dropped us off seemingly in the middle of nowhere for us to hike to a view point of the desert while he drove ahead to make our lunch. We walked through sand and rocks to get to a nice viewpoint of the Wadi Rum desert, with lots of beautiful red sand. We made our way along to where he said we would find him. He had made a fire and was cooking a large lunch for us with many side dishes. We enjoyed the large spread on a picnic blanket in some shade. Luckily we were there in March so it wasn’t too hot in the middle of the day.

The tour continued with a stop at another arch, a stop with panoramic views of where the red and white sand meet, a rock shaped like a chicken that lost its head, and a spot to sandboard. At one point during the drive our guide drove a little too close to the edge of a small sand dune rather than on the existing tire marks and we did slide off of it sideways, but continued on our way like nothing happened, which was pretty funny. For the panoramic view spot I accidentally went too high as I thought we were supposed to go to the top. It became very steep but luckily Nick interjected before I made it too far.

It was close to 6pm by the time we made it back to the camp where we would be spending the next two nights. We got taken to the caves we could choose from and left our stuff there. Nick and I got the cave that used to be the main one for cooking and hanging out. Deb and Jeff got the one that had a portable heater, and a nice view of the sunset and surrounding mountains. We couldn’t help but laugh when we saw Deb & Jeff’s cave though, as the word cave was used very generously. For us, we pictured a cave as something with three walls and a roof. This was more like a wall with a gentle slope with maybe a one foot roof over head. It was still nice and cozy with all the blankets though.

Since it was Ramadan dinner was served after sunset. It was a big pot of rice with chicken, vegetables, bread, desserts, yogurt, dates, and other side dishes. After dinner they roasted coffee over the fire, ground the beans after they cooled, boiled this, then moved it to a serving kettle with cardamum. It was cozy sitting on the cushions around a fire drinking tea and coffee, and hoping the clouds would clear for some star gazing.

In the morning we were served a large breakfast and got to watch our hosts make Bedouin style bread. The dough was flour, salt, and water kneaded together. They had a paddle that looked similar to a pizza oven one, and they heated this up over the fire. Once it was hot enough they put the dough on, spread it out, then dough side down roasted it over the fire until the top was crispy and hard. They then buried the dough in the ashes and coals to finish cooking. The grand finale was smacking it to get the ashes off.

Our activity the next day was a full day of hiking, or that’s how it was advertised anyway. The 6 hour hike turned out to be more of a 3 hour hike and 3 hours of cooking and eating, which was funny but we didn’t mind. We did a trail they called the Hidden Springs hike because its a route that goes past many of the springs that the Bedouin use to get water. There were even some that had small pipes leading down to the homes in the valley below.

The hike had views of Rum village, lots of white flowers that smelled amazing, loads of wild mint plants, and, as the name implied, springs. We had a fika stop with tea and cookies. The guide poured us all a cup then to his own cup added about 1 tablespoon more sugar, stating, “Bedouin tea much more sugar than your tea.” I gave the Bedouin amount of sugar a try and needed to add more tea just to dissolve it all, even after stirring with a nearby stick.

After that we each carried some small branches to a viewpoint for where our guide made our lunch, using the branches as firewood. He made goat meatballs with vegetables and some sides. We had never eaten so good on a hike before. Nick climbed a viewpoint only him and the guide were confident enough to do. They saw a view of the valley and some carvings. The hike itself was nice. Not a lot of elevation gain, but it had a lot of scrambling and rocks which slowed us down.

On the way back to the desert we stopped and looked at an old cemetery and church ruins. After that our host took us to his house to check out his brother’s hive of bees. He and Jeff had chatted about bees the night before so he was excited to show us. His brother learned how to bee keep by watching youtube videos. They used burning cardboard to smoke the bees so we could take a look at the hive.

Dinner was amazing once again. They had made a fire in a deep hole, then lowered a tiered tray with seasoned chicken and vegetables down on top. This was covered with a lid, a blanket, and then sand to keep the heat in. This cooked all day and the grand reveal was fun!

The next day we sadly had to leave the desert after another wonderful Bedouin breakfast. Everyone there had been so kind and were amazing hosts. We had one last animal visit before our departure: a group of camels! There were a few adults and some babies making their way through the desert and passing by our camp. They were so cute and the one adult even went straight to the kitchen area as if he was familiar with it. On our way back to Amman we stopped at a viewpoint of the Dead Sea where the shoreline is white from all the crystallized salt.

After arriving in Amman we had a final dinner all together at Sudra. We walked along Rainbow Street first for Deb to do some souvenir shopping. Dinner was a set menu and it was way too much food. The restaurant was nice, though, and the band was playing lovely music. It was nice to try so many new dishes on the final night with Nick’s parents.