Wednesday 6 Feb. overcast

Had a great nights sleep and feeling much better this morning. The hotel is huge with swimming pools facing the beach of the Red Sea. We have a leisurely breakfast as we don’t leave today until 11.30. 

We depart Aqaba and head for wadi rum. The start of the drive as we leave the town is scenic in a different way. The road skirts between large mountains on either side of the road. There is no growth on the mountains just rock and dirt, mostly sand stone. As we move further into the desert the mountains give way to large sandy tracts with the occasional rocky hill popping up or away on the horizon. We have a short stop to view an outcrop known as the seven pillars. Then it is on to Wadi Rum. 

We were supposed to leave our suitcases on the bus and go by Toyota utes 4 wheel drives to the camp, but they are expecting rain and where the buses park they could get bogged so the buses are sent back to Aqaba. They send an extra Ute for the luggage. Each Ute takes six of us sitting on benches in the in the open tray. We drive for about 15 minutes through the desert and some amazing rock formations. After settling into our tent, which has an en-suite it is time for lunch. Lunch is a buffet style where it is served in a large tent and then we move to another large tent to eat. 


After lunch we again drive further into the desert to areas where Star Wars  and the Martian were filmed. It is easy to see why with the stark landscape. We visit a Bedouin outpost for tea and souvenirs. Then we have a camel ride back to our camp site. What an experience, another great day. Only downfall is that it is overcast and we will be unlikely to see any stars tonight. It is also very windy in the open and getting quite cool, but the tent feels snug and we have an extra blanket.

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