Wadi Rum, Jordan

Wadi Rum, just a short trip from Petra, is a nature reserve famous for its desert scenery and being the site for the film Lawrence of Arabia (or maybe just near it, I'm not sure). The route there on the King's Highway is quite scenic as well, winding through and on top of the desert hills with views for miles around.

The Visitor's Center arranges 4WD tours of the area, which you pay for per vehicle. Unfortunately, when I arrived, no one else was there even after I waited several hours. Luckily for me though, I found a fly-by-night driver to give me the same ride for half the price and I have to say, having a private tour of desert landscapes, rock formations, and sand dunes is unreal. I stopped at a Lawrence's Spring, where supposedly TE Lawrence (of Arabia) stopped to drink. Not knowing what to expect of a desert spring, I was quite surprised to find just a crack in the side of mountain with water in it. But scrambling up there was fun and the view great (left). The next stop was the sand dune, a 200-foot pile of fine, orange sand blown up against a rock ledge. Hiking up sand dunes is surprisingly difficult with infirm footing and constantly sliding backwards but an adventure in its own right.

Next was the Khazali Canyon, which you can't go very far into... unless your OK with a little adventure. So I did a little bit of rock climbing to work my way back until one wall was just a little too high to safely get up (left). The last stop was a little rock bridge (right), which I scrambled up to and walked over.

The whole area is gorgeous in an usual way and to do it true justice, I would have needed at least a week there, which I would have readily done but for a plane flight I had to catch. Even the half day I was there was enough to love the place, though. Here are more pictures:

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Details:

Since I had the rental car (explained in the Petra posting), I just continued on the King's Highway for about an hour to the Desert Highway, for a little bit, then there is a turn off and sign for Wadi Rum, though you will have to do a U-turn and a right to get there, rather than a left coming from that direction. You will get to the visitor's center and need to buy an entry ticket, just $3/2JD. The best if you are on your own might be to have a reservation, because if you can't find people wanting to do the same trip as you, you will be stuck paying a hefty amount and not being able to split it between multiple people. But you can show up pay the fee and either arrange the nicer 4WD cars from the visitor centers or approach the younger drivers (usually they will approach you though) for a cheaper deal. Mine was $56/40JD for seeing Lawrence Spring, the Sand Dunes, Khazili Canyon, and the Small Rock Bridge, about 3 hours in the Nature Preserve. The visitor center charges $78/55JD for the same trip. Be prepared to drive into town, following your guide, to negotiate details.