Jordan: Wadi Rum, Valley of the High Mountains

The mountain on the left is Mount Rum but more famously known as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a name given by Lawrence of Arabia, for its shape of, surprise, surprise, 7 pillars!

This magnificent virgin landscape of Jordan is known as Wadi Rum (Valley of the High Mountains) and is also known as the Valley of the Moon. The place became famous when Prince Faisal bin Hussein and T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia) made it as their base during the Arab Revolt against the Turkish and German armies in World War I.

Going down the valley on a hazy summer day, travelling along the highway from the capital, Amman, towards Wadi Rum in the southwest of Jordan. The journey by car took about 3 to 4 hours.

After a few hours of travelling down the highway with nothing to see but desert, desert, and more desert... Welcome to Wadi Rum Protected Area! (Yes, another desert area :-))

View of Umm Ishrin mountain & Lawrence Spring from the entrance area of Wadi Rum



Trailing down the road further into Wadi Rum with a driver & guide who is a bedouin who has settled down in Wadi Rum with his family.

View from Lawrence's Spring

Natural rock formation resembling a face with a crown.

Checking out petroglyph figures (mostly of humans and antelope) on the rock in Khazali Canyon

Petroglyph figures, supposedly done by the Nabateans, so these figures should be about 2000 years old or possibly older

One of the few "rock bridges", natural rock arcs

Despite the beauty of this place, my guide had noted to me that apart from Westerners, not many Asian and Arab tourists come here or include Wadi Rum as part of their itinerary while travelling in Jordan. When asked what could be the reason, I was told, “Asians don’t really like deserts, and Arabs have their own deserts”. Probably true enough.



What is left of Lawrence of Arabia's "house" in Wadi Rum. A friend had noted that the bloke wasn't really a keen gardener, was he?



The desert valley is just beautiful, and has been used as a location for many films, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen although in that film it's depicted as being in Egypt.

The shadow above, by the way, is that of Optimus Prime ;-)

Follow the footsteps (to Petra...)

Further Information I stayed here just for an afternoon before leaving for Petra in the early evening. There is however an option to stay overnight in the desert. For more information and tips on visiting Wadi Rum, check the Official Website of Jordan Tourism Board here. For other www.RambleAndWander.com travel blog entries on Jordan, click here.