Wadi Rum, sunset and moonrise

Departed Wadi Musa with my new driver, Raed. Older than Osama, and more fluent in English. We stopped for a cup of strong, black oily coffee flavored with cardamom. Surprisingly tasty. Hit the highway and after an hour or so, abruptly pulled off in the middle of nowhere to meet with Mohammed, my Bedouin guide into the desert. Mohammed is a charming man in his 50s, with many children (expensive, he says). He is easily able to straddle the traditional with the modern. Outfitted in the scarf and gown thingy, he juggled 3 or 4 cellphones and piloted that 4 wheeler like an Indy 500 driver. And we were driving where there are no roads.

So off we went into the desert, the magnificent Wadi Rum, characterized by tall, long and dark mountains and rock outcroppings that litter the desert. The expanse between mountains is filled with scrub brush and the occasional pile of camel poo or the ubiquitous, indestructable plastic bottle. We traveled past a mountain that looked like the Sphinx, a giant rock bridge (that he made me climb, applauding when i jumped off into the sand), and visited one of the all-important wells (a simple affair, a cemented pit, covered with a piece of sheet metal, with a rubber bucket and rope attached, vital for their survival).

At one point, Mohammed gathered sticks, and after stopping the truck, told me to get out, examine some ancient hieroglyphics, and walk a little around the mountain until I find him making bedouin tea. Of course, the thought flashed through my mind that he was an Al Qaeda operative and he was ditching me so that I could waste away in the desert. Alas, I was wrong and as I rounded the bend, Mohammed was indeed making tea in black burned pot, over a fire made using the sticks he gathered. The tea was good, with cinnamon. He also showed me how to use rocks to start a fire, scrape makeup from another rock (?), and make shampoo with lather from one of the many scrub bushes nearby. So that is how they survive in the desert...

After about 2 hours, Mohammed returned me to my driver, Raed, and we headed to a desert camp for lunch (delightful, with lots of hummus, my version of heroin). After lunch, we checked into the desert camp to spend the night. It was midday, and the place was empty so we had a look around. Delightful place with maybe 50 or so Bedouin tents of the same design forming 2 separate sleeping areas. A third space, lined with low sofas was where we would eat.

I couldn't wait to see my tent, of course...to be continued.