We moved on to the desert, more precisely Wadi Rum.
We organized transport from Petra to Wadi Rum at our hotel in Petra. On the way to Wadi Rum a friendly driver called Ahmed wanted to sell us some arrangements in Wadi Rum, including sleeping in the desert and all the activities. By now we were very skeptical about these special offers made by taxi drivers. The first strange thing: we wouldn't sleep inside the desert area but somewhere outside. The second strange thing: Ahmed also showed us notes written by other tourists who were all extremely satisfied with what he offered and among these notes there was not even one negative comment. The third strange thing: we read in Lonely Planet that everyone who visit Wadi Rum need to register by authorities at the entrance to the area. So we decided to not to accept Ahmed's offer. Suddenly his friendliness stopped. Ahmed literally threw us out of the car and some other guy pick us up. These guy was constantly arguing with someone on the mobile phone. Even though the argue was in Arabic language we knew it is about us not accepting Ahmed's offer. Fortunately we arrived to the entrance of Wadi Rum. As soon as we got out of the car two "Bedouins" came to us and explain to us what they were offering. Actually it was not really an explanation but more showing prices of tours and sleeping places. We agreed to do the six hours desert activities on the first day, oversleep in the desert and do one hour camel riding on the next day.
We changed car to more desert appropriate vehicle.
And off we go to the first sight - The King Lawrence Springs. The rocky mountain with water near to the top.
We just went up and down while driver was waiting for us in the vehicle. During the drive he was quiet and he was nothing more than just a driver. We were on our own. Luckily there were some other people on the sights, so we know where to go and what to see. Anyway our next stop was the sand dune.
After some pictures in the hot sand we proceed to the next stop: wall inscriptions. With all the other tourists the driver was also a guide. That's why we simply joined one group to see all the pictures and inscriptions in the wall. We heard that nobody really knows who did this inscriptions and how old they are.
The next two stops were well known small rocky bridge and large rocky bridge.
Both bridges included some climbing experience. Nevertheless we saw all 5 sights as we arranged at the entrance to the area. But it was far less than promised six hours tour. If we remove first part where we were searching gasoline for an hour the tour was 2 hours long. That's way we came to the camp far before expected. Being first in the camp had an advantage. We could choose out tent.
It was too hot to do some activities so we were just relaxing in the shadow and drinking tea.
Finally sunset!
And the dig for the dinner called Zarb has started.
After delicious meal we found some nightlife...
... and eventually fell asleep.
After sunrise and breakfast we went for a camel ride.
After 15 minutes of camel riding we arrived back to the entrance of the area. We tried to take some more photos of camels but the owner was in a hurry.
Anyhow this was the worst experience so far. It started with Ahmed and just continued with all Wadi Rum experience. Wadi Rum is very nice and it offers a lot but somehow we had bad luck. If you plan to travel to Wadi Rum, try to book everything in advance.
Greetings from the desert,
Boris & Jerneja
We organized transport from Petra to Wadi Rum at our hotel in Petra. On the way to Wadi Rum a friendly driver called Ahmed wanted to sell us some arrangements in Wadi Rum, including sleeping in the desert and all the activities. By now we were very skeptical about these special offers made by taxi drivers. The first strange thing: we wouldn't sleep inside the desert area but somewhere outside. The second strange thing: Ahmed also showed us notes written by other tourists who were all extremely satisfied with what he offered and among these notes there was not even one negative comment. The third strange thing: we read in Lonely Planet that everyone who visit Wadi Rum need to register by authorities at the entrance to the area. So we decided to not to accept Ahmed's offer. Suddenly his friendliness stopped. Ahmed literally threw us out of the car and some other guy pick us up. These guy was constantly arguing with someone on the mobile phone. Even though the argue was in Arabic language we knew it is about us not accepting Ahmed's offer. Fortunately we arrived to the entrance of Wadi Rum. As soon as we got out of the car two "Bedouins" came to us and explain to us what they were offering. Actually it was not really an explanation but more showing prices of tours and sleeping places. We agreed to do the six hours desert activities on the first day, oversleep in the desert and do one hour camel riding on the next day.
We changed car to more desert appropriate vehicle.
And off we go to the first sight - The King Lawrence Springs. The rocky mountain with water near to the top.
We just went up and down while driver was waiting for us in the vehicle. During the drive he was quiet and he was nothing more than just a driver. We were on our own. Luckily there were some other people on the sights, so we know where to go and what to see. Anyway our next stop was the sand dune.
After some pictures in the hot sand we proceed to the next stop: wall inscriptions. With all the other tourists the driver was also a guide. That's why we simply joined one group to see all the pictures and inscriptions in the wall. We heard that nobody really knows who did this inscriptions and how old they are.
The next two stops were well known small rocky bridge and large rocky bridge.
 |
| The small rocky bridge |
 |
| The small rocky bridge |
 |
| The large rocky bridge |
 |
| The large rocky bridge |
It was too hot to do some activities so we were just relaxing in the shadow and drinking tea.
Finally sunset!
And the dig for the dinner called Zarb has started.
After delicious meal we found some nightlife...
... and eventually fell asleep.
After sunrise and breakfast we went for a camel ride.
After 15 minutes of camel riding we arrived back to the entrance of the area. We tried to take some more photos of camels but the owner was in a hurry.
Anyhow this was the worst experience so far. It started with Ahmed and just continued with all Wadi Rum experience. Wadi Rum is very nice and it offers a lot but somehow we had bad luck. If you plan to travel to Wadi Rum, try to book everything in advance.
Greetings from the desert,
Boris & Jerneja
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