The young guide looked barely old enough to drive. He was dressed in the traditional Bedouin garb and spoke only two phrases in English: "Four hour tour," and "It is good." But he had water in his van, and was willing to take us for a ride in the desert. This was a last minute plan hatched when we showed up at the visitor center of the Wadi Rum Protected Area in southern Jordan. It could be because I was tired from the full day hiking Petra, but today I was willing to leave the sight seeing decisions up to our young local guide.
As a guide he was awful; he spoke no English, chain smoked and sang along to his own taste in music, drove a truck with no seat belts or window glass, and obviously had no knowledge of the carefully planned itinerary outlined on the brochure we had just paid for. He first drove us round to the back of his house on the edge of the village Rum, which also doubled as a gas station. Then he drove off the end of the last paved road and into the desert.
Our stops were in no particular order, and I rather think our guide was making up the route as he went along. Once he drove around in circles for a while, before deciding where to go next. I believe our first stop would normally have been the last stop. It seemed to be a watering place for camels and tourists. We got out and awkwardly approached the tent. We wanted to avoid having someone try to sell us something, but there was nothing else to do. We sat down on the low colorful floor cushions and accepted some hot black tea. The server asked us where we were from, then proceeded to tell us about all the recent American film activity in the area. One crew had just finished filming last week. He had met Matt Damon when he was here filming 'The Martian'. I suddenly began to imagine our tour guide driving Matt Damon around, and felt fortunate to have this information.
I also realized that this tour would take us where ever we wished, regardless of what we had paid for. We stopped by a large sand dune, then a canyon, before tackling the large rock bridge. We drove right past the small bridge without stopping, our guide correctly assuming that we would be more impressed with the bigger rock formation. Ben climbed one after the other, filling his shoes with sand, scaling sheer rock walls, and threatening to find 'alternative' ways down.
I felt both small, in the grand scale of the rocky landscape, and drawn to delight in the smaller details to be discovered in it. For those familiar with "The Martian" movie, it does seem an appropriate backdrop. Nothing grows, moves or is cultivated. The place looks dead and deserted. Yet, while sticking to the shade to avoid the worst of the hot sand, I encountered clumps of wild flowers growing without water or soil. Entering a canyon, we came across small crude carvings of animals in the rock face. And water trickled out of the rock. The rocks themselves seemed to be painted in stripes of color ranging from red to yellow, blue and green.
I mentioned that the place seemed lifeless, but it had its own movement. As we climbed the rocks and dunes we were whipped by the wind, yet no sand blew in our faces, no trash swirled around. The rock faces bore the scars of being weathered by sand, yet the sky was clear and clean. I realized I was in a place where nature was in charge and the Bedouin were doing a good job of taking care of it. They are making sure that tourists like us, as well as film crews, are getting the authentic natural experience they want.
Our last stop was another awkward stop, with nothing new to see or climb. It was supposedly the ruined site of Lawrence of Arabia's house. We went into the tent to sit and have tea. No one tried to sell us anything or tell us stories of famous film stars. We just watched as the Bedouin sat round the fire, used their phones, drank tea, painted henna tattoos, and showed Ben how to wear a traditional headdress. This was how they spend their day and it didn't look like they would rather be anywhere else. We bought two head scarves from them and tipped the driver very well.
I felt like my 'four hour tour' had given me a behind the scenes look at Wadi Rum and was an experience, rather than just a collection of pictures or video. (And I was so glad not to have to exit through the gift shop, or read about the future plans for a theme park!)
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