Waking up in the middle of a desert is an experience, let me tell you! Especially when it was dark when you arrived and went to sleep! I had not a clue the views my eyes would feast upon when I awoke, and if I had any expectation, it was easily surpassed!
We stayed in a Bedouin Tent Camp in Wadi Rum, Jordan . The night was rough…it was very cold (Patrick and I slept in one twin sized bed to stay warm!) music played loudly until about 11 PM, a neighboring tent housed a loudly snoring person, and there was no toilet paper in the women’s rest room, which was located a ways from our tent…the morning was beautiful though! We emerged from our tent to a beautiful sunny day, surrounded by majestic mountains of rock! We climbed the mountain to get a view of the entire camp. Just WOW!
Talk about a desert oasis! Taking in this beauty made up for any discomfort of the night before!
Two pickup trucks arrived at the camp to take us on our “Jeep Tour” into the dessert. Each was equipped with seats which allowed us to sit in the back enjoying the views with no restrictions.
We made many stops along the way, including Lawrence of Arabia’s cave, an abandoned camp and a rock shaped like a mushroom!
I joked that the new Vandy hashtag should be #sanderbilt…how’s that for witty hashtag game in the middle of the desert?!
I just couldn’t stop wondering if I was in real life! I mean the beauty is unparalleled! It totally looked like we were on another planet! Speaking of other planets, have you ever seen The Martian? It was filled in Wadi Rum! The red sand comes from the red rock mountains. This photo below is my absolute favorite showing the different sand tones! Gorgeousness!
After our amazing tour, we headed back toward Israel. Before crossing the border we had a super yummy lunch in Aqaba. If you plan to visit Jordan, Aqaba is the place to stay! We didn’t get to explore too much, but it looked pretty happening.
Crossing the border back into Israel was an experience all it’s own…Eek! Patrick and I decided to bring our big backpacks for this little trip so we didn’t have to unpack and repack. Another student, Jack, was thinking the same and brought his big rolling luggage. Naturally, the three of us brought up the back of the group since we were lugging so much more than everyone else. I asked Jack to take this photo for us since we got one on the other side going into Jordan…
Somewhere between the luggage and stopping to get the photo, we fell behind the others in our group. Everyone else passed through with no problems, but the three of us were stopped and questioned by three officers for about 15 minutes! They wanted to know why we were so far behind the rest of the group, why we were carrying big luggage when the rest of the group just had back packs, what we did in Jordan, where we were going in Israel, when we got there, when we planned to leave, what hotel we were staying at…it was INTENSE! They then went through all of our luggage – twice! It was pretty crazy! Security getting into Israel is tight! When we went through the line to get our passports stamped, my officer questioned the validity of my passport (apparently I don’t look like my photo anymore – after 5 years and 2 kids Patrick joked!) and wanted to see another form of identification. I was very relieved when all of that was over!
Once back in Tel Aviv, we showered (SO NECESSARY!) and walked to a Sushi restaurant. The rest of the group hit up the Tel Aviv night life, while Patrick and I headed back to the hotel to call it an early night. Unlike the others, we had to be up early for our trip to Masada and the Dead Sea the next day…which is where I will pick up next time 🙂
Stay tuned for my next post on those amazing places!!
Be Blessed + Be A Blessing
PS
A collection of my most favorite landscape shots!! Enjoy this beauty!
