Rock versus Snake, or Day 5 of the Epic May Adventure

Wow. Another great day. And I'm sitting and writing this in a tent in the middle of Wadi Rum. (Clearly it is not going to get uploaded tonight... no wireless networks in range!)

So the Petra to Wadi Rum bus this morning was super easy, though not as cheap as it could have been (gasp! an extra $3 a piece!). We got to Wadi Rum, found our tour operator, and hopped into a jeep (after sipping down some tea pretty quickly). Also in the jeep were a couple from Holland on holiday and a pair of law students on their way to Tanzania.

The great part about meeting new people is that there is a whole host of easy questions with interesting answers to ask. So the law students were interested in human rights, this was about the middle of their trip to Tanzania (after Amman and Syria), and they chatted about the US versus Middle East differences with me. The Dutch couple was a teacher and a priest, and the priest was a go-between, creating Muslim-Christian dialogues in church and mosques throughout Holland. They chatted about their daughters and their education, the religious differences and difficulties, and how much they liked Petra and Egypt.

All in all, a successful social day.

Now, to attempt to explain the wonder that is Wadi Rum. In the past, when I've described a wadi, it has been one particular canyon. Wadi Rum is an entire nature preserve, over 200 square kilometers of scrub next to sand nestled among imposing rocky mountains. The sandstone of the mountains has worn away, through water and through wind, to create rock bridges and canyons, as well as craggy peaks and slopes. I was in awe when I got to Rum Village, a complex of houses inside the park, and there were mountains all over. The jeep tour we took just completed my joy.

"Lawrence of Arabia" was filmed here, so we got to see a few different places used in the movie. We also got to scramble up some rock faces: the first Abdalla and I didn't finish, because the spring at the top was too far and not very interesting; the second was to the top of a rock bridge, and was amazing. On our first hike, we started up some steps thinking the spring that our minimal-English-speaking guide pointed to (thank God for Abdalla again) was pretty close. However, as we continued up the trail (in sandals) we encountered a couple in full hiking gear (with bottles of water, which we had left in the car) saying that they turned back because of a snake. A snake?! I was excited, Abdalla was... I don't know, Mari was forging ahead regardless, and Matt picked up a rock to defend himself against one of his big fears. We were told it was by a tree 200 meters away, but more the one tree and more than 200 meters passed without a glimpse. I was disappointed, Abdalla was... I don't know, Mari was still checking out every piece of grass and rock, and Matt was still carrying his rock (and had even switched it out for a better one). The spring, once we got to the top, was a tad disappointing. There was water dripping off the walls, and moss, and... a puddle. No waterfall and no majestic pool. (And did I mention, no snake?) The other places we went had shorter hikes, though I opted out of climbing straight up the first sand dune we came to. The second sand dune of the day was more my style. We picnicked in the shade of a canyon in one of the mountains, creating a potluck of our various breads and spreads. Abdalla told a version of his family history to keep us all entertained. Our arrival at the camp at about 3 was a bit unexpected for me. I thought we had a few more sights to see, but next on the "agenda" was a trek to a nearby mountain. Abdalla and I had had enough walking and hiking in Petra, and it was pretty hot out, so we opted to chill in the big tent and chat. The law students left, so it was just us four. At about 5 o'clock, we decided that we were here for the nature and the beauty, which we couldn't see very well within the tent. A nearby rock face provided us with a nook to shade us from the sun and let us watch the various 4x4s coming and going from the other camps around us. The Dutch couple emerged at bit later, and a German girl came out too, to watch the sunset. We were completely satisfied with the angle, so Abdalla, Nora (the German girl), and I walked a bit over to another rock close to another camp. The orange and pink of the sunset glow was also met with hoots from a Beduoin guy who ran the camp we were close to. He came out and chatted with Abdalla, and, surprisingly, with the German girl who knew some Arabic. I was too fascinated by the beauty of the sunset to care that I was the only one not understanding. A meal in the big tent (meeting the American volunteer) and we were finished with our planned activities. However, the sky full of stars called, so we walked out to see as many stars as I've ever seen before.

I didn't know many constellations, but there were a few satellites and shooting stars. The desert grew chilly and silent at night; the silence was pulsating in my ears. It was only interrupted every so often by the annoying buzzing of a fly.

When the chill was too much for our long sleeve shirts and the rock was too hard to be comfortable, we retired to the tent, now happy that it was well-insulated and kept in the heat of the day.