No, I’m just kidding! It was impossible to go shopping in the desert, only losing yourself in amazing Arabic nights under the Milky Way with camels.
In 2016, after visiting around 15 European countries, I started to ponder more about the culture and civilisation different from mine. Jordan, the fork of East and West, seemed like a compromise destination with a silk road history and bedouin nomadic life, I was wondering how the people live and move. With some knowledge about social media, I wrote to a tour guide suggesting to promote their tours and help with websites if they could give me some discount… And I got it! Packed my stuff and went to the only village in the Wadi Rum desert!
Watching TV in the tent
That was my first time to be in the desert. It is not like the sand beach for sure. What my eyes were experiencing were the thick layers of dust, sand and heat reaching out beyond the horizon. There is no way to measure the size and suddenly the whole notion of dimensions has stopped working.
I went directly to the village, the only one in the desert, surrounded by the big multicoloured sandstone hills, growing from the sand of the desert. This type of rock has been carved for thousands of years by winds and water, most of them acting as huge water reservoirs (if the bedouins are not lying).
The only village in Wadi Rum desert
Many villagers prefer a tent in the desert camps (there are multiple) to their village house. I was invited to stay in the tent of a middle-aged man for three days, experiencing their heart of hospitalities.
The desert camp. Women's section is on the left, men's section on the right
Inside the desert camp
An evening was typically started with traditional food, followed by a very sweet tea and TV watching. The satellite TV is powered by a gasoline generator (there is no normal TV and no cell phone signal). I couldn’t use my laptop because if would be stuffed with sand, so I was just sitting with other men in the men’s section of the camp, while the ladies (wearing cloth to cover everything, yet still shy) were preparing the food for next day in their part of the camp.
Dinner. I'm the second from the left side.
Bedouins in the desert camp (not every camp has TV)
Men and guns, attractive modern accessories
Some researchers have confirmed that Jordan used to be a part of the Silk road, where the group of caravans of merchants were going through the dust and sand with silk, spices, body oils by camels a thousand years ago. I didn’t have chance to see any caravans while I have been there. However, for some money the man was willing to let me ride his camel, slowly going away from the desert “downtown” to visit his relatives. It has taken the whole day because the camels turned out to be extremely stubborn, trying to stop at every bush to have a bite.
Me riding a camel
Most of the bedouin men have guns. Some say, it’s for protection from wolves (I’m not sure if there are any wolves there). But most importantly it’s a symbol of strength, “because you are a man”.
"You are a man" no matter how old you are.
Weapon also makes you look more fashionable.
I'm second from the left. The groom (read more about wedding below) is second from the right
Princess in the dark
Attending a wedding was a real luck, my jackpot. The women were (probably) happy to prepare the full table of the dishes (except for there is no table and the dishes are on the ground). Everyone was wearing the nicest clothes and danced together with very loud music was quietly hanging out because they don’t drink, the music was not really loud and no dancing. Men and women stayed separately, like always.
Following the customs, for the man it’s certainly not easy to meet the girl or see her hair before their marriage. The love matcher would introduce the man to the girl’s parents and ask the permission for engagement and marriage. After reaching the agreement about the dowry at the engagement, the man can start talking to the girl. They are not ‘dating’, they are already ‘half-married’. Certainly, all their meetings would be under the supervision of their parents that watch and listen and make sure they don’t do anything bad (like exposing hair or kissing). Sometimes the parents might be nice to go out for 5 minutes to actually let them do it (seeing the hair or perhaps even kissing very shortly), even though they are mostly too afraid anyway because they don’t know exactly when the parents would come back. But imagine how good it feels to see the hair of your beloved woman for the first time!
Wedding (men's section)
Bedouin culture expects the wives to be obedient. After cooking, the wife typically brings a large dish of food to her husband and a bunch of men sitting there so they can eat (usually just by bare hands, sharing the same dish among 4-6 people). After the men finish, whatever is left is brought back to the women so that they can eat as well, which is a gesture of respect of women to men in their culture.
The wedding lasts for 2 days, and I have not seen the bride because I’m only allowed to be in the men’s section. In any case, I was asked not to take any photos of women if I see them.
Donkey’s eyes and Summer Arabian night
I loved the eyes of the donkeys peacefully lying next to each other while the moon was arising above the rock. I was walking barefoot following the donkey’s footprints and imagining I was a character of a “Thousand and one night” stories. I enjoyed the magical darkness as much as twinkling of the thousands of stars in the Milky Way. I felt it was a reward for traveling. Wadi Rum is an amazing place that makes people have numerous stories in their minds, stories depicting hunting scenes, people riding camels, sandstorms, caravans and oasis's. Sometimes the mind goes calm, matching the Scheherazade’s tales more than any other place. Who would run on a desert night? Who would hide on a desert night? Who would take goat path with a flock spreading out of the haze on the horizon, nibbling at the sparse shrubs in the dawn?
A mountain goat
Desert at the dawn
Me looking ahead to the following adventures
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