The Wadi Rum Desert: Jordan

The Wadi Rum Desert: Jordan

If the landscape is already magnificent, at sunset it becomes majestic, the sensations change again and it is best to enjoy it in silence, in communion with the elements, if it can be you and the desert alone and thus follow a part of the night, fromHaima, observing the stars, or the moon, or both, although one takes prominence to the others when it is full.Wadi’s desert magic – Rum starts to perceive long before they reach it.

What will it really be like? The mind does not stop in conjectures while the bus moves at good speed, southern, on the King’s Highway. Gone is the fascinating Petra, a world heritage more than deserved and so much whaled by writers, journalists, visitors and everyone who arrives. The biggest Jordanian treasure.

To the west we begin to see what constitutes the desert of the Wadi Rum, with its mountainous formations and its large sand valleys, just perceptible still, by the remoteness, which will be close in a few kilometers and flood our senses.

The sensations are different, the perception of the landscape does not correspond to the typical desert, which we imagine, in which the dunes abound.

We have 840 square kilometers of sands, sandstone mountains similar to those of Petra, basaltic formations that retain rainwater forming authentic natural aljibes;More mountains, now granite, now of slate and then, to complete the variety, of Pyrita Quartz, although these are much more scarce. The dunes are counted in this desert although there are some.

The remains of salty lakes appear of a dirty white color in the landscape.

The vegetation is scarce, as it could not be less, although in certain places there are abundant and in its surroundings various tribes were settled throughout the centuries being the most characteristic Bedouins and those that still last.

Human settlements are known in the Wadi since 700 before Christ, corresponding to the tribe of the Zalmudiines from the Arabian Peninsula, which left their imprint in the rock in the form of sizes with various reasons, being one of the main huntingand everyday way of life.

One of the most important places with sizes in the rock is Khazali, an immense ocher mountain that retains channeling of the Nabatean era, sizes of the Almudines, where the hunting scenes of the Orix of the desert appear, disappeared in 1.940 and currently with a semi -liberty breeding program in the Shaumari Reserve, for its reintroduction in the Wadi desert among other places in Jordan. This breeding program also includes the Persian onagro or donkey, ostriches and gazelles.

From the marine past of the area, they realize the findings of fossils of shells, some of a majestic size.

Traditional passage zone enters Aqaba, entrance to Jordan by sea, and Damascus in Syria or Egypt, the desert is part of the great route of silk and the route of species from India, where merchant caravans try to be controlledFor the Nabateans, inhabitants of Petra.

The railway line that comes from Aqaba and is directed to Damascus, with a peculiarity, in its southern part is dedicated only to the transport of merchandise, especially phosphates and is from Amman that is also used to also be used by AmmanTravelers Transportation Damascus.

Any route that we do for the desert will be done in the company of a native guide, since the tourist exploitation of the WADI corresponds to its own inhabitants, according to a decree proclaimed by King Hussein.

You can perform walking stretches, ascension sections, 4 × 4 tours and camel. Thus we can visit the different points of interest in the area, always understanding that the desert is very hard, it is very hot, walking through the sand becomes very heavy, riding in camel, if we are not accustomed (normal) is a guarantee of pain of pain of pain ofEverything, but is worth it.

Following the steps to Lawrence from Arabia for this desert is expensive work, in the broad sense of the word. Thomas Edward Lawrence, which is his real name, was Welshman, and became a character, extolled by some and denied by others, very important for the Jordanian people for his work exercised in the War of Independence.

There are remains of the aljibes used by Lawrence to store water, what is called Lawrence well, although the highlights are the surroundings of its location, spectacular mountains that can be climbed in a couple of hours and obtain magnificent views of theValley of the moon.

In this extraordinary landscape, how could it be less, there are capricious forms. In different places and with different accessibility, there are 5 bonds of struggles sculpted naturally by water and wind, one of them demanding for their enjoyment, the Burdah Jebel located at 1.754 m. of altitude and another four more accessible and only known by local guides.

If the landscape is already magnificent, at sunset it becomes majestic, the sensations change again and it is best to enjoy it in silence, in communion with the elements, if it can be you and the desert alone and thus follow a part of the night, fromHaima, observing the stars, or the moon, or both, although one takes prominence to the others when it is full.

And the dawn, early, at six, ideal time to enjoy dawof the wide landscape, now until we lose ourselves on the horizon, and beyond.