Lawrence of Arabia

Jordan has come a long way in a hundred years. This same Hashemite monarchy still rules the country and, although the more recent Arab Spring revolt of 2010/11 did spread into Jordan, the current King Abdullah II took immediate action and sacked the government in response to protests, promising Jordanians to “to strengthen democracy,” and provide Jordanians with the “dignified life they deserve.”

In the film of Lawrence of Arabia, the captain describes the desert as ‘an ocean in which no oar is dipped.’ And one way in which travelers can cross this ‘ocean’ today is in a caravan of camels or donkeys, which retrace the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia in the Central Highlands and eastern deserts of Jordan. Rather than taking two years, they can take on a weeklong expedition, camping in a different place every night. This type of tourist camping in the desert was pioneered by enterprising Bedouin communities where, in modern times, although they still lead very traditional lifestyles, maintaining a livelihood can be challenging. And tourism definitely fills that gap.

Travelers certainly lose all sense of time when they immerse themselves in these wadis and wild, arid places. The most famous of these is the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wadi Rum. Sometimes nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the Middle East, its name comes from the Arabic and translates as ‘High Valley’. The largest wadi in Jordan, the otherworldly reds and oranges that bounce off the sandstone and granite rock that has been eroded to this magnificent natural state, is also sometimes called Valley of the Moon. Whatever you call it, when you lie down at night and look at the stars shooting all around, the moon beaming a spotlight on stark natural features, or the faces of your Bedouin hosts, you realise that you don’t need a cast, credits and costumes to bring this star studded part of the world to life. You just need a camel, and some very welcoming hosts.
Photo credits: [Lawrence of Arabia landscape: Hiking in Jordan Website and Guidebook]
[Bedouin : Hubert Stoffels]
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