Jordan – February 2014 – Wadi Rum

Hamza picked us up in his Nissan Sunny taxi (after having driven early in the morning from Amman – 3.5 hours) in Petra around 8:30, a reasonably early start as it is a long drive of about 3.5 hours to Wadi Rum. We were about 500 metres down the road from our hotel, excited about the next stage of our Jordanian adventure when a taxi headed in the opposite direction start yelling abuse at Hamza. Chris and I looked at one another “What the heck was that all about?” we think to ourselves. Next we know there is the same taxi alongside us forcing us into the kerb. Hmmm! – Chris and I look at one another again. “Great start to the day!” we are thinking. Within moments the robust, aggressive ape of a taxi driver is at Hamza’s window and they were having a very animated discussion. Hamza was visibly starting to shake. He then proceeded to get out of the car as another taxi arrived to join in the party. Hamza assured us that he would only be a few minutes and everything would be OK. Well it didn’t quite work out that way as we had to wait for the police to sort the matter out. We were starting to get a gist of what the problem was but still a little uncertain as to Hamza’s innocence, not knowing what the exact problem was and unaware of local regulations. There were a few phone calls between Hamza and Saleh, our contact in Jordan who had arranged our driver and was to be our host at Wadi Rum. Saleh spoke to me on the phone and instructed me in a very excited broken English as to what to say if the police should ask us any questions. It was a little confusing but I think I had the gist of what was required and so prompted Chris to the story. We at this stage are still sitting in the back seat of the car while pandemonium is happening around us.
Well not long after the police arrived the problem was sorted and we where on our way, but Hamza was visibly very upset. He remained upset for most of the Journey to Wadi Rum.

The village of Wadi Rum – main street.

Arriving at Wadi Rum around 11 am, we were met and welcomed by Saleh Mosa who I had spoken to and emailed several times from both Australia and Dubai arranging our Jordan adventure. He filled us in on the drama in Petra between the taxi drivers. All taxis have colour coded bumpers and certain taxis are allowed only to pick up passengers in certain towns/areas. Hamza was a taxi from Amman who picked up a fare in Petra. However the exception to this rule is if the driver has made a contract with a customer to do all the transfers for that customer while in Jordan as was the case with us. To try and not delay our journey to Wadi Rum, Hamza had offered, paid and had accepted a sum of money to the ape taxi driver to make the problem go away. The sod accepted the money then still insisted on the police. Once Hamza proved to the police his legitimacy, we were on our way. Hamza could have reported the guy to the police and he apparently would have ended up in gaol for accepting a bribe. However that would have meant somewhat of a bureaucratic nightmare and delayed us half the day, so Hamza took the hit to his back pocket and got us on our way. I can only assume that giving or offering a bribe is less of an offence than accepting a bribe. To make matters worse it was apparently the guy on reception at our hotel that dobbed Hamza in to his relative in the taxi that got the oaf stirred up.

Saleh introduce us to his older brother Atig who would be looking after us for the day and taking us on a tour of the Wadi. Now a wadi is a valley or depression or even an oasis (I think). The mountains that we were to visit are the Rum mountains. So the area is known as Wadi Rum. To add to the confusion the village at the start of the Wadi is called Wadi Rum. The bitumen road ends at Wadi Rum and from there on, it is all desert requiring travelling by 4WD or Camel. We elected to forego the camels.

Wadi Rum Village nestled in the Rum Mountains – From this angle Wadi Rum looks a whole lot better.

Even the scenery at the village was amazing and helped prepare us for the sights that were in store for us.

Looking back at Wadi Rum while heading into the desert.

We jumped into the back of the Toyota Ute and headed into the desert for the day and a camp that night. Seemed like a dodgy start to the day was now well and truly behind us and Hamza, now amongst friends was in a very cheery mood. It was just Chris and me with Hamza and Atig heading into the desert to see the sights.

Hamza Chris and I head up a sand hill for the apparent obligatory ride down on a snow board. Photo by Atig

Atig stopped the Toyota at a rather large sand hill and proceeded to produce a snow board from the rear of the ute. So off we set up the hill, Hamza kindly carrying the board for us. Was good fun but Chris chickened out on joining me for the down hill ride.

Yours truly – sitting was the safest option.

This small gallery below is a small taste of the

main gallery here.

Stopping in the middle of nowhere, Atig asked us if we would like to go for a “Hike”. We said “well yes maybe”, not sure what he had in mind. He followed up with some instructions. Go down that gorge over there until you reach the end, turn sharp right then walk down that gorge until you come to the end then turn sharp left and we will meet you on the other side of the mountain ridge.

We could see the headlines now, “Senior Australian Tourists, lost in Jordanian desert”.

Nevertheless, off we headed, and to our delight when we turned the last corner we could just sight the Toyota way off in the distance about 1.5 km away.

When we arrived Atig had a fire going for a cup of tea and pretty much had lunch prepared. Sensational.

Atig prepares lunch and a cuppa.

It his hard to describe the wonderful, relaxed time that we spent during the day with two very nice fellows, Atig who has some English and Hamza hardly a word  of English, but the communication via sign language and body language was delightful.  A genuineness that was impossible to ignore.

Atig took us to a spot that is normally very good for sunsets but while I gained one good shot from here it was not the sunset that we would have liked.

Sunset in Wadi Rum

Once the sun had set we headed to our overnight camp. When we arrived we were met by Saleh.

Saleh’s wife had prepared our evening meal which was fabulous. After dinner we were entertained by Saleh’s wife playing a drum and then we sang some local folk songs with instruction from Saleh. Religion was prominent in the words but it was all great fun.

A wonderful night but we headed for the sack fairly early and Saleh and his wife headed into  town as they still had school children at home while we stayed with Hamza and Atig in the Bedouin camp.

What a camp spot. Our Bedouin Camp

Saleh’s family are Bedouin who have in modern times turned to tourism to try and eke out a living. However the story that was impressed on us time after time both in Petra and Wadi Rum is that the Syrian crisis is having a disastrous effect on tourist dollars everyware and while Jordan is very stable, the West sees all countries in the region as a risk to visit.  Saleh’s mother and other members of the family still herd goats and get income from them.

The next morning we awoke and went out and checked out the landscape.  Soon Atig and much later Hamza rose. We think there was some chemicals of the alcoholic form involved in their fuzziness that obviously took place after we retired. Atig prepare breakfast and a cup of sweet (as usual) tea. As we had a fairly demanding drive to the dead sea in front of us we headed into town fairly early to fix the financial matters with Saleh and say goodbye. We then set off for the dead sea in the ever reliable Nissan Sunny taxi that seems quite happy doin 145 km/h down the highway.

Atig prepares breakfast.

We arrived at our Dead Sea Spa Hotel at around lunch time.  After checking in we had lunch then checked out The Dead Sea.

It was like a mill pond and people were enjoying the questionable health benefits of covering themselves with Dead Sea Mud and then floating in the 40% salt dead sea waters.

So, when in Rome, we headed back to our room, donned our bathers and headed down to the waters edge.

No we weren’t going to be stupid enough to cover ourselves in mud, we will leave that to the Europeans and Scandinavians who seem to be into these health kick things.

Well eventually you get sucked into joining in. Covered ourselves in Dead Sea mud, head to tail, then washed it off in the very dense Dead Sea waters, not an easy task as the mud was not very soluble and the water very hard. However the photos that we took are not deemed to add to the appearance of this blog and so are restricted from public view.

Before visiting we were a little “Ho Hum” about the Dead Sea but it was really a unique experience. Being able to fold you legs and arms while floating in the water in a sitting position was very intriguing. Standing bolt upright in water that is over your depth had you bobbing around like a cork with the water coming half way up your chest. But don’t get the water in your eyes or mouth, it is not nice.

Following Wadi Rum, a 4 hour drive and a night at the Dead Sea – here ovelooking Palestine on the opposite shore.

The next morning we woke up and checking my emails (in house WiFi) find that our flight scheduled for late that night had been postponed around 12 hours which meant that we had to find an extra nights accommodation after spending our planned day at Jarash (Gerash). A very well preserved Roman City, apparently one of the best in the world.

Wadi Rum Locality Map below

Error: a marker with the ID 19 does not exist!

So Jarash – and our interesting emergency accommodation next post.