 Bedouins in the wadi | ||
| Wadi Rum | ||
| Governorate | Aqaba | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | unknown | |
no value for residents on Wikidata:  | ||
| height | unknown | |
| no value for height on Wikidata: | ||
| no tourist info on Wikidata: | ||
| location | ||
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The Wadi Rum is a desert valley (Arabic wadi) in the south of Jordan.
background
The Wadi Rum (pronounced: ramm) is actually just a narrow dry valley, which gave its name to an entire region with an area of approx. 720 km². In this area lies Jebel Rum, the second highest mountain in Jordan at 1754 m. Bizarre rock formations protrude from a relatively flat sand surface, consisting of porous sandstone at the top, but of water-impermeable granite in the lower part. This allows water to collect, which emerges from the ground at a few transition points and enables life. This is why you can also find the frankincense bush here, animals have a few wolves, hyenas and, more recently, the oryx antelope again. Ancient rock carvings as well as Thamudic and Nabataean inscriptions prove that in earlier times this area was much less hostile to life than it is today.
Had during the First World War Lawrence of Arabia his headquarters here, and from here the one a little further north Hejaz Railway and the one to the south Aqaba to attack.
The Wadi Rum was repeatedly the scene of film recordings. Besides the movie Lawrence of Arabia, which was filmed here in 1962 on the original locations and is about the Arab revolt against the Ottoman-Turkish rule in the years of the First World War. It is more extraterrestrial in science fiction productions to us, where scenes that take place on the red planet Mars were filmed in Wadi Rum: Red Planet, The Last Days on Mars, The Martian; in Transformers 2 - The Revenge the scenes acting in Egypt were filmed here.
Today several thousand nomadic Bedouins live here. In terms of infrastructure, there is practically only the small village 1 Wadi Rum Village and the village outside the area 2 Disah (or Diseh, Disi). Fixed houses are the exception, usually Bedouin tents made of goat hair and goatskin are used as dwellings.
getting there
| Distances | |
| Amman | 320 km |
|---|---|
| Petra | 120 km |
| Aqaba | 70 km |
Access to Wadi Rum is only a short one 1 Detour from the desert highway ("Desert Highway" 15) between Amman and Aqaba. A side street leads a bit along the narrow-gauge railway to the entrance to the wadi, where it is at 1 Visitors' Center there is a parking lot, police station and possible guides; the access road continues to the 3 Wadi Rum Village with numerous providers of desert tours and overnight accommodations.
mobility
There are no solid roads through the wadi.
Probably the most original way of traveling in Wadi Rum is on camel back. It's a little faster on horseback.
The drive with open off-road vehicles, mostly Land Rover or Toyota off-roaders with two longitudinally arranged benches on the loading area, is adapted to our times. The easiest way to start a tour is from the Visitor's Center. The ready-to-drive vehicles are available as if at the taxi stand and you are assigned to the vehicle in front that is waiting; The duration of the tour has to be agreed with the driver, the sights you want to visit and off you go. You can signal a stop request by knocking on the cabin roof. Of course there are countless other providers who offer hourly or day tours, so the choice is difficult.
If you dare to hike, you should bring enough water and sun protection with you. There are also countless climbing opportunities of all levels of difficulty.
A little more exotic are the possibilities to view the desert region in a hot air balloon, in an ultralight aircraft or from a self-piloted sports aircraft (if you have a pilot's license).
Tourist Attractions
- 2 Lawrence's fountain. A small spring 2 km southwest of the village of Rum. The pond is rather unspectacular, but the view over the desert is fantastic.
- Nabatean temple in Rum. In the area around you can find Thamudic and Kufic stone art.
- Canyons. Khazali, Burrah, Siq Um Tawaqi.
- Sand dunes
- Rock bridges. Burdah and Um Frouth.
- 3 Rock formations. How the seven pillars of wisdom, named after the description in the book of Lawrence of Arabia.
- Siq Um al Tawaqi. Lawrence of Arabia had set up his hidden camp in the gorge, a stone with his portrait reminds of it.
activities
The attraction of Wadi Rum is the desert landscape, best seen in a rented jeep (JD 75 per car with driver) or from a camel (JD 15 per camel per hour). Some visitors are only in the wadi for a few hours, but a guided tour of several days with an overnight stay in a tent is also recommended.
kitchen
There is a restaurant at the visitor center where you can get simple Jordanian cuisine in the form of bread, yogurt, etc.
Restaurants are operated at various Bedouin camps.
accommodation
There is the possibility to stay overnight in Wadi Rum:
- several firmly designated Tent sites are spread over the whole area, these are usually without any comfort.
- if you want it more convenient, you can also go in Bedouin camps Spend the night in comfortable tents, which actually only lack the mini-bar and running water in the room. When you walk to a nearby toilet at night, you also have an enchanting view of thousands of stars in the clear desert air.
trips
Web links
- http://de.visitjordan.com
- Website the Wadi Rum Reserve
- Website the guides of Wadi Rum, with an overview map
