AQABA AND THE MARTIAN

Aqaba and the Martian!

We arrived in Aqaba with no pre-conceived idea of what to expect other than Lawrence of Arabia. With that in mind we decided to head to Wadi Rum, which as a westerner, I had heard of because of Lawrence of Arabia and the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Wadi Rum (or Valley of the Moon) is beautiful. This region is inhabited by the many Nabateans (Bedouin) who still roam and live in this area. It is also an area which now has many luxurious camps for visitors to try out Bedouin style tents and oasis life.

We reached Wadi Rum and spent time looking at the amazing desert and trying to figure out how anyone could actually cross the desert and fight and survive. We took pictures of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. We really enjoyed this part of a world we had only heard about. The landscape is red, light and the sand swirls around your feet as you walk.

We then set off to one of the camps for food, drink, and local music. This was another place designed for tourists but pretty delightful in content as it is designed to evoke the feeling of the desert and nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouin – or to be precise, as the Bedouin once were. The food was great (we love Mideastern food, which I am sure I have repeated more than once, lol) and the music haunting. We had a great time

The Bedouin reality we saw on the way to and from Aqaba city, though, was less than great. Hovels covered by tarps, camels and livestock next to the hovels, and trash tipped into nearby ravines. The wind comes along and blows the trash everywhere. We have no great insight into whether the Bedouin are content or unhappy with their lives, but outward appearances were upsetting.

Actually, Aqaba itself is rather dirty and sad, but I again plead ignorance of political and demographic knowledge of the lives of Jordanians, in general. We were told that many, many Syrian residents have moved into Jordan and is causing a strain on the population. Again, I must plead ignorance of whether this is even true.

With all of the above, we really were happy with what we saw and what we did in Aqaba, particularly Wadi Rum.

Oh, and the Martian reference? The move “The Martian” was filmed here. Ha!