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"Jordan Jubilee" Jeep Tours at the Visitors' Centre Climbing and the Bedouin Roads GENERAL INFORMATION
Weather in Jordan
GENERAL INFORMATION
JORDAN OUT OF DOORS
Trekking in Jordan Two Bedouin friends and their camels
HISTORY OF JORDAN MEETING THE PEOPLE
THE MIDDLE EAST AROUND
THE WEBSITE FUN
STUFF The Gates of Damascus More Jordan links
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Towns and Tourist Sites in
Jordan
ALL THE PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE CAN BE ENLARGED First and foremost of course, the general atmosphere of the place. What follows are only some of the sights that you could expect to visit in a standard 4x4 tour - there are many other beautiful places which are really only accessible on foot. There are many more that I have no room to mention here. You should look at the page on "Tours offered from the Visitors' Centre" if you are interested in the tours organised from there, or at the section on "Reliable Guides" if you wish to reserve a guide in advance.
The usual
tours take you past "Lawrence's Spring", the great red sand dunes in Wadi Um Ishrin,
to the Thamudic inscriptions at Annafishiya, to Jebel Khazali to see the Canyon. Note that
the "Lawrence's Spring" that is offered in the normal tour is at Abu Aina; this is where the
water from the spring actually comes out into the desert. It is a watering place
for the camels that wander around the desert, and you can often see them there. If you want to see the
spring exactly as described in "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" you need to take the path
behind the Resthouse which
Khazali Canyon always seems to me to be a bit overrated. OK so there are some special Nabatean inscriptions there, but the canyon is less than 100 meters long (depending on what exactly you are measuring.) It is true that there is nothing similar anywhere else in Wadi Rum. Jebel Khazali is a very dignified mountain, it always reminds me of a king wearing a crown! This is the mountain that is very often shown as "typical of Wadi Rum". See the photo higher up. Um Fruth is a rock bridge which is very easily climbed. It is quite different from the bridge at Burdah which is over 300 meters up from the desert floor. As you see here, Um Fruth must be about 12 or 15 meters up, and there is a gully giving easy access to the top. On the other hand the bridge is pretty narrow, so people who don't like heights are advised to be careful and/or have a sympathetic companion who is willing to lend a hand.
Incidentally, it was in the Barragh Canyon that the meeting between "Lawrence" and "Prince Faisal" took place in the film "Lawrence of Arabia" - NOT in reality, let me point out, although a very respectable (official) website asserts that it did!
Most climbers stop there, but if you can summon the energy to continue to the top of the mountain, the views are even more spectacular. If you are with a guide, obviously the price will be higher for this. For walkers there are very many more possibilities, for those willing to tackle rougher ground, more still. See the page on "Trekking" in the section "Out of doors in Jordan" and the "Tours of Wadi Rum" page. See the page on "Tours offered at the Visitors' Centre" for prices for these tours. Some longer trips possible by 4x4 in Wadi Rum It is easy to sneer at the 4x4s available for visiting Wadi Rum. When one first sees them, one's inevitable reaction tends to be "they date from the time of Lawrence of Arabia". In fact, however primitive or ancient they might look, most of them are kept in prime condition (in the driver's own interest!) and work very well indeed. A good number of them are of fairly recent date, and many of the guides who could afford a "landcruiser" type of transport actually prefer the pickups as being more versatile. I admit that the comfort tends to vary a bit, but a breakdown is all but unknown, and while punctures are an everyday risk, the drivers seem able to change a wheel in the time it takes one to smoke a cigarette. "Lawrence's way to Aqaba through the mountains". This can be done by 4x4 (the usual price is 35JD/person in a jeep with a minimum of 2 people, but this price will come down if there are more of you), by camel 100JD per person (minimum of two people), (the camel has to come back afterwards) or by hiking it with a guide - the usual hiking prices apply. Horses find this route more difficult, two days is a minimum. [Incidentally, this wasn't the route that TE Lawrence took to attack Aqaba, but who cares?] The desert track will take you to Wadi Itms and here you are usually met by a taxi to take you the rest of the way; you can expect the price of the taxi to be included in the price quoted. One point : the rules of the Nature Reserve do not allow this trek to be done in the other direction ie Aqaba to Wadi Rum. It's a pity, but the authorities are quite inflexible about this. I'm not quite sure of the reasons, there are a number of possibilities, running from the non-payment of entrance fees for visiting 4x4s, to the lack of control on entries, and to the Bedouin smuggling duty free goods from Aqaba. In any case no authorization is given and there is a police post there now to stop anybody trying it.
(You can see some more photos of Um Adaami on the page on "Tours of Wadi Rum" and the photo gallery page ("Some favourite places in Wadi Rum") It is also possible to ask for a drive "to the south" where you will be going far from Rum Village, perhaps 30 or 40 kilometers out. This area is almost entirely unfrequented by tourists, you may see an occasional Bedouin tent, but nothing much more. This drive might come expensive, a fair charge would probably be 50-60JD for the car. It depends also on how many you are and if you want your guide to provide lunch or if you are bringing your own picnic. The cheaper guides do not usually offer the option of any of these longer trips - some of their colleagues claim that they don't know the way!
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