What do these three movies have in common? Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, The Martian. They were all filmed in Wadi Rum, Jordan, which is where we are now, staying in a real Bedouin camp.
Getting here from Amman took about 4 hours, on a well maintained highway which, however, provided no stimulating sights to behold. Only a barren, powerlines lined desert environment. Even the numerous villages we passed held nothing worth noting.
Coffee stop on the desert highway
Sometimes it's hard to follow roadside directions
We stopped for lunch in a large town called Ma’an. You know when a place is not a tourist destination when signs are only in the native language, and no one seemingly is able to speak in a foreign tongue. We could not find a diner, although we drove for miles within the city limits. Eventually, I parked the car and found a helpful young man who escorted us to a local place where they served pita pockets filled with falafel and French fries. They were surprisingly very good, and the cost was ridiculously minimal.
The main mosque in downtown Ma'an.
Hole in the wall, but great pockets!
Eventually the landscape changed. Mountains began to appear, and when we took the Wadi Rum turnoff, we were suddenly transported to a truly Martian landscape. We had to leave our car parked at a gas station a few miles from here, and wait for the Bedouin driver to pick us up in his 4x4 pickup to bring us to the tented camp.
The scenery changed dramatically
Someone's old rock-house
Common scene
Our tent is really cool. It has a large window with an incredible view. This place is really wild!
The weather has definitely turned chilly, though. We are hopeful that tomorrow things will warm up a bit, as we have a 6-hour jeep tour in this protected area, which we are looking forward to discovering.
The rock you see is where "The Martian" was filmed. This is the view from our tent.
The ceiling of our tent
Our dinner was cooked Bedouin-style under the desert sand. I may post a fb video later. It tasted wonderful. We then sat in a communal Bedouin tent with a central fireplace. What a terrific experience! A lovely cat came to sit on my lap; there was music, and dancing, One of the local fellows was taken by my cigar, and I offered him one. He was hysterical as he was puffing on it, creating smoke clouds all around his face.
lol
Readying the communal tent for the few guests
Other views from the camp
An educator doing a web documentary about Wadi Rum. His website has 1 million viewers.
As you would expect, wi-fi, though supposedly available, is so weak that there is no way I will be able to upload any photos. It may be a couple days before I can post, but in the meantime I’ll write each day’s blog, and post all when we’ll return to civilization. We are in no hurry.
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