One night in Wadi Rum – visiting the Beduines
There might be only a few other communities in the world that live so close to nature and so remote.
When my good friend invited me and another friend to visit her home country Jordan with her, I couldn’t say no. Jordan has been on my list ever since I saw an ad during my vacation in Egypt.
Part of our journey was to spend one night in Wadi Rum, the desert – tech and worry-free, as close to nature as the Beduins.
No streets, only sand and rocks.
After a 30 minutes drive from the main camp, we arrived at our camp. It was in September and by the time we arrived, it was pitch-black with only a few lights in the main area and along the tents. We were really excited and looked forward to the traditional Beduin dinner, which is made in the ground, covered by sand. t takes about 3 hours to make, so we had some time to get some rest and explore the endlessness of the desert.
The camp had a capacity for about 300 people with a big place for belly dancers and a separate tent to eat. Unfortunately, nobody else was there, as we visited during the low season. As the evening went on we were told it would only be us – 3 girls and about 20 Beduin men who were living and working in the area.
After spending about two hours in the camp we run out of fuel for the generator and stood sat outside in the darkness. The guard dogs started barking while running away and all the men were running into the desert and returned after some time. I have never been that terrified in my life.
To be fair I was really naive – when I thought about a night in the desert, I was thinking of nice white tents and proper beds to sleep in, a cosy place for a Shisha. I don’t know where I got this imagination and expectation from but I was totally wrong.
The toilet house had no doors and lizards were sitting on the wall, an empty bee nest was hanging above the sing and there was no wood or glass in the window. – it was all open. After seeing our shocked faces, the Beduin men offered us a tent with a toilet inside. It was not great but much better than the original one – at least from what we were able to see with our mobile phone flashlights.
While travelling in Jordan my friends and I had our fair share of experiences, ranging from funny to exhausting. Our night in Wadi Rum, a famous desert, has certainly been one of the most exciting and scariest experiences in my life.
My friend and I had a little breakdown and she wanted to sleep in the car while I asked to be taken to a hotel, however, there is none in the area – so don’t even bother if it ever happens to you. After all, we were in the middle of the desert.
I didn’t understand what happened to me – I was desperate for that trip and the experience, I have been travelling quite a bit, but that was way more than I bargained for.
When I look back I can laugh about my panic. I learned a lot about myself and what I would do differently if, in the unlikely event, will ever find myself in this kind of situation again.
I wish I would have listened more to my other friend – She tried to calm both of us down, showed us the most amazing view into the sky and the milk street and just enjoyed the moments of silence, far away from everyone and everything.
At about 2-3am in the morning, we decided to all sleep in one double bed in our tent. Waking up in the desert the next morning was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It makes you feel so little and all your problems so meaningless. It was great.