Is Wadi Rum some kind of drink?

After nearly being run over by a young punk on a camel, in downtown Aqaba, the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I should mention that when we arrived at our hotel, Al Captain, (don't stay there, they charge a lot for Wifi which only works if you are within twenty feet of the front desk, and not very well then, also the A/C leaves a lot to be desired) the streets were deserted and many of the shops were closed. As soon as the sun went down, it was a different place. The streets were humming, the stores were open and horse carriage rides were everywhere. Interestingly enough, each carriage came equipped with a loud speaker system which blared Arabic music as they drove up and down the streets. It was kind of like a battle of the Good Humor trucks in Arabic.

Early the next morning, we headed out to swim in the Red Sea. We went to a nice looking public beach, but only the most hardy made it into the water, because the rocks began where the sand ended, and the water was still a ways off. I for one, don't have the feet that can tolerate that kind of challenge. I might have gone in off the pier, except that it was full of new recruits for the Jordanian Marines who were their, apparently, to familiarize them with the idea of water and swimming. I don't think the desert prepares one for a career in the Marines. Anyway, it was pretty entertaining just taking in the nice warm sun, and watching the drill instructors coax, cajole, compel and otherwise harass their new troops into this alien medium.

A short stop at an Episcopal mission for seafarers, and we were off to Wadi Rum. I've learned that wadi is an arabic word for a dry riverbed, or more often, a valley. But I had no idea why we should go there. According to our guide, Maha, it was the next stop after Aqaba for the Israelites leaving Egypt. I still didn't know what to expect.

Wadi Rum is a desert landscape of incredible beauty and solemnity. It is the bed of and ancient sea, now, of course, all sand and these momentous rock formations. There are rock paintings and writings which predate the Nabateans, and we toured the place in jeep trucks. I'll include some pictures which will speak for themselves. In the evening we went to the Jabal Rum Hotel, an encampment of tents which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable. We had a great dinner with so much food we nearly made ourselves sick, all cooked Bedouin still, underground. After dinner, the staff, all dressed as Jordanian soldiers, brought out the hookas and many partook of this after dinner tradition. I'm not sure what was in the bowls, but it didn't smell like any tobacco I've ever known. Afterwards, there was dancing, and a staged wedding complete with processional drums and dancing by the staff. We all fell into bed, after an exhausting but quite memorable day.