After Petra, we drove 3 hours south towards the Red Sea and near the border with Saudi Arabia. Also known as the Valley of the Moon, it is a valley made of red sandstone and it has an awesome out worldly appearance. So much so that many movies were filmed here including Lawrence of Arabia, The Martian, Dune and John Wick, Chapter 4. Several prehistoric civilizations left petroglyphs, rock inscriptions and ruins in Wadi Rum and it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011.

We stopped at the Visitor Center and climbed into open-air jeeps for our ride through the valley. We saw many Bedouin camps, in fact our drivers were Bedouin and they were very skilled at driving through the sand. We stopped for tea at a Bedouin camp, and then made our way to a “bubble camp” for a traditional Bedouin dinner, cooked in the sand. It was neat to see the cooking process: vegetables on top, chicken and lamb on the second level and rice at the bottom. The food was delicious. The bubble camps are operated by Bedouin and allow visitors to stay in Wadi Rum.

We arrived back to the hotel at 8:30 and we were exhausted. It was a long but exciting day but we had one more thing to do. We headed straight-away to the Cave Bar and had a drink before heading to bed. This unique bar operated in a carved-out part of the entrance to Petra. We enjoyed reviewing our amazing day and enjoying a libation.

Tomorrow: Madaba and flight to Cairo