Day 32: September 25

Woke up to the sun rising over the mountains and flies swarming over our warm, smelly bodies. Was one of the first to roll of their mattress pad and explore the desert plateau around us. We were camped in the crook of a large rock formation jutting out of the desert. And being the adventurous sort, my first instinct was to climb the large rocks. I ran over to the rock wall and started climbing. I got maybe 30 feet up before I decided that free climbing further might be a bad idea. Getting up would be easy… it was the getting down part I was worried about. Falling in the middle of the desert just didn’t sound like a great idea.

I lowered myself back down and walked back to camp, where the others were slowly waking up. As more of us awakened small groups started branching out to explore the surrounding cliffs. I went with Jake and Sam for awhile. Not long after we heard the call for breakfast and speedily made our way back to camp (nothing gets guys moving faster than the thought of food).

Two of the owner’s brothers had come out to serve us breakfast and serve as guides through Wadi Rum. Breakfast consisted of cheese, bread, jelly, bananas and tea. The tea was really, really sweet. We later figured out this was because the Bedouins put approximately two cups of sugar in every kettle of tea! The brothers were really nice and told us some Bedouin jokes while we ate. My personal favorite was Q: why do you go to bed? A: Because the bed doesn’t come to you. Kinda corny but I thought it was funny.

After breakfast we all helped clean up the camp site and packed our bags. The brothers had two trucks to take us around the desert in. We loaded the bags in one and piled into the other.
The first stop on our trip around Wadi Rum was a red sand dune. We arrived and there were a few people dune boarding (snowboarding down a dune). Some of the girls were able to convince the men to let them try. The males in our contingent had no such luck. We decided to explore the dunes and surrounding rock faces. We made our way up the largest dune and onto a nearby mountain. We climbed up and got to the top. At the top we had an amazing 360 degree view of the surrounding desert. Standing up there was simply breathtaking. It definitely is humbling to stand there on top of a mountain and realize how truly small you are.

After some time we climbed down to the dune and rolled/ran down. We got to our cars and drove onward. At our next stop our guides showed us some ancient rock drawings drawn by Bedouins and Arabs alike. Mom would have loved this. The guides said that the drawings were used to warn about dangers in the area (Scorpions, snakes, etc).

From there we were taken to a ledged niche. We all got out and climbed around. The more adventurous of our group worked our way up and onto a small plateau and got a good look around. Nothing as dramatic as the dunes but still amazing. I don’t know how I will ever be able to see another rock formation the same way after this place.

From there we traveled to a large valley. We ate lunch and drank tea in the shade of the mountains and talked about life in Jordan versus life in the USA. One of our guides had been beaten and thrown in jail for possession of Marijuana…. Scary considering he is only 19.

After lunch we had some free time to explore. Our entire group made our way through the valley to a mountain studded plain on the other side. It was like seeing rock teeth come out of a rand mouth. Absolutely gorgeous. The guys split off from the group and did some more adventurous climbing up into the valley. We found allot of rocks and enjoyed throwing them off and making large booms… We also spent time enjoying the quiet of the desert and the scenery.

After our free time our guides took us to two natural bridges in the desert. One was inaccessible without climbing equipment but the other was an easy walk up to. We all took pictures and poked around.

It was getting late and we had to push on to Petra, so we made our way back toward the city to find a minibus. On the way we stopped at the dunes so I could collect some sand to mark my travels. We got back to the small town and caught a microbus to Petra.

The ride was a few hours long but we got there soon enough. We were staying in the Valentine Hotel located in Wadi Mousa (near Petra). The hostel was set up dorm style with 8 sets of bunk beds. We all had sand everywhere and were dying for showers. We all took turns using the two showers and met downstairs in the lobby afterwards.

The hotel made us a huge dinner which we wolfed down while talking about politics and religion. After an hour and a half of talking we all started feel the long day in the sun. Mike and I pulled out our computers and everyone checked their emails. By midnight sleep was sounding good and we all headed up to the ‘dorms’ and slept.