Mountains, not dunes
Sandstone and granite massifs rising hundreds of metres in vertical walls off the valley floor.
Raya Sharbain — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Steffen 962 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · John Romano D'Orazio — CC BY-SA 4.0 · SinanDira — CC BY-SA 4.0
A desert reserve in southern Jordan of some seven hundred square kilometres, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list under both natural and cultural criteria. What defines it is not the sand but the mountains: sandstone and granite massifs rising hundreds of metres off the valley floor in vertical walls. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years, and Thamudic and Nabataean inscriptions on the rocks record the passage of caravans. In the twentieth century its name became attached to Lawrence of Arabia and the Great Arab Revolt, and later to films shot here because it resembles Mars. A visit rests on two things: a four-wheel-drive tour with a Bedouin guide, and a night in a camp. The overnight is what turns the visit from an outing into an experience — sunset on the massifs and a night sky with almost no light pollution. Camps vary enormously, from simple goat-hair tents with shared facilities to bubble domes with transparent roofs and private bathrooms. Read what you are booking carefully, because the difference in comfort is large and promotional photographs do not always reflect it.
Sandstone and granite massifs rising hundreds of metres in vertical walls off the valley floor.
Thamudic and Nabataean writing recording the passage of caravans across millennia.
Among the clearest star viewing in the region, and reason enough to stay the night.
Wadi Rum Protected Area, Aqaba Governorate, southern Jordan
Stay if you can. A day tour shows you the rock formations, but sunset on the massifs and the night sky are what stay with people, and both need the overnight. Anyone with half a day sees something beautiful but incomplete.
The differences are large. Simple goat-hair tents are cheaper and closer to the Bedouin character but have shared facilities and can be cold in winter. Bubble domes cost considerably more and offer a private bathroom, heating and stars from the bed. Read exactly what the package includes: dinner, breakfast, the jeep tour and transfer from Wadi Musa, or not.
Yes, and that is the usual order: Petra, then Wadi Rum, then Aqaba, with about an hour and a half by road between Petra and Wadi Rum. Many people spend two days at Petra and one night in Wadi Rum, which balances a southern Jordan trip well.
