Jordan Middle East Travel Changing the Soul Part 7
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything on my trip to Jordan last year. That’s because I cannot find the SD drive that housed the photos from that trip. I’ve looked and looked and yet I don’t see it on any of the ones that I’ve saved and I’m not sure if I’ve uploaded it to the cloud. I was smart enough however to have started on photos of my trip to the beautiful desert of Wadi Rum.
As we drove toward this area I was surprised by seeing watermelon growing above the sand in some sort of hydroponic area where water had been irrigated to. Quite ingenious in a land not known for its its fresh water. Driving further along I felt as if I’d been transported to an area straight out of Arabian nights. We were suddenly the lone transport vehicle out, as we passed by camels standing on the side of the road…waiting. For what or whom I do not know, but they had saddles and bits, as so we obviously not roaming the sandy plains or playas. They watched me, and I watched them until it was time to move on.
Once I finally arrived at the camp area, Wesam made sure that it was in time for the pit cooking reveal. One of the oldest methods of cooking food, this is the second time I’ve witnessed and partook of such a meal the first being in the Azores. There something about it that makes you feel at one with the past and time. Going into the dining tent and taking my meal alongside Wesam while looking at the large boulders in the distance, I could have just as easily been traveling though the desert in 1116 as nearly as 2016.
I then decided to went on an amazing desert driving experience with Musa (Moses in english), who let me take the wheel on a manual (not something I’m used to) I did this for a while and then spent time in the back taking photo and video on the amazing expanse all around me. There was a small spot in the desert with a tea tent, there I was able to buy some amazing scents, Bakhour quickly becoming my favorite.
Musa and I then hiked up a large rock face about 100+ feet in the air and watched the sunset. The beauty of that over the red sands was something I’ll never forget, in fact it’s something that I know I have to see again. I’ve seen sunsets around the world, over water and land and I can honestly say that a sunset in the desert is one of the most heart and soul moving I’ve ever seen in my life, there’s is something eternal about it. It sticks in my mind the way the night sky and stars did while I was in the outback. They are sights that I can never forget, they’re seared into my consciousness and for that I am grateful.
There is more to this story, and when I find the photos that help describe the wonder of the beautiful tent that I slept in, the moon over the desert that I watched and the feeling that I had while there, but that’s another story for another post. For now I’ll leave you with these parting words and these photos.
Visit Jordan, visit the middle east. Create bridges with people of different backgrounds, make friends, learn about the world outside of where you live both in your mind and in the physical world.
Travel Kindly,
Travel Xena
All Photos, Text and video are Copyright © TravelXena.com 2017
Pit cooking meal, even full of veggies.
Light fixture in the tent.
Dining tent. Note how the tapestries are reminiscent of native weavings in Central America and the Southwest of the US.
Jordan Middle East Travel Changing the Soul Part 7
What are your travel thoughts?