Understanding Wadi Rum | What to Know Before You Go

Hey super quick this is just one lesson from an entire free video course on Jordan

which you can watch at the link in the description below. I'm here in what's known as the valley of the moon, Wadi Ra

This national park is in southern Jordan just a two-hour drive from our last stop in Petra

The entrance to this beautiful region is included in the Jordan Pass

You can travel to Wadi Ram on an organized trip from Amman or likely from Petra or Aqaba

Or you can head to the visitor center where tickets are available and where you can organize

a tour, rent a car and driver, camel or horses to take you through the desert

Just make sure that you have plenty of Jordanian dinars before you arrive because there aren't

many options for getting cash. Badiram is considered to be one of the purest desert wilderness on earth

Although it's an incredibly harsh environment, nomadic communities have called this desert home for thousands of years

To them, an intimate knowledge of desert roots, hidden water sources and edible natural plants have become the key to living in this arid place

Critical to this is their relationships with camels. Hi, my name is Y Al-Zawaydah

I am from Wadi Ram The Bedouins in Wadi Ram desert they like the camel first because he has big feet and

he's moving easily in the sand more than the horses or the donkey

The camel can survive in the desert without water from one week until two weeks

Wadi Ram showcases both ancient human presence and geology. The towers and arches that you see are the result of tectonic movement combined with years

of weathering and erosion from sands and floods. The landscape here is incredible, but so are the many ways to experience it

If you'd like to add some adventures to your itinerary, then there are plenty more to explore

Take a 4x4 tour of the desert. Hike to view the petroglyphs

Climb to the top of the dunes. Ride camels in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia

Or rise at dawn for a hot air balloon ride. While in Wadi Ram, there are a number of ways you can interact more with the Bedouin community

For example, you can have a traditional zarb dinner like this where the meat is grilled in the ground

Or you can have a local community member lead you in a stargazing experience to experience how the stars help the Nimaida communities to navigate this land and witness one of the least light polluted areas in the world at night

My name is Fakhri. I work at Ram Sky. We basically introduce tourists to the night sky here in Wadi

Ram. Wadi Ram is a beautiful place that is reasonably far away from the light pollution

of cities and towns, so it gives us a better view of what's up in the night sky. You're in the

desert, it's nice and quiet, and not just see the stars, but also get the ambience of the atmosphere

that goes with it. Behind us, we have the telescopes that we use to show you what the stars look like

what the star groupings look like. Different telescopes show different objects in the night sky

generally what we feel is the nicest thing to look at on each specific night

One of the reasons Wadi Rum is a nice place to see the stars is generally we have good weather for it

Unlike a lot of places like in Europe or in the US where they're plagued by clouds

for us we have, I believe it's over 85% of the year where we have clear skies

so the probability that you will be able to see what you came to see

is much higher. The stars above us unfortunately are less known to people than in older days so by relearning about the stars we are relearning about ourselves and our history Lastly if you want something that combines history and adventure

you can book a ride on the Hejaz Railway. Originally running between Damascus and Medina

this railway was an Ottoman Empire project. In the midst of the Arab revolt

Lawrence of Arabia knew the Hejaz Railway was a weak point in Ottoman defense and led an attack at Abu Naham station, taking 30 prisoners

and inflicting 70 casualties. This attack cut off the Ottoman ability to send supplies to their

northern armies in Jordan and Turkey. Combined with Lawrence's successful capture of Aqaba in 1917

this destruction of trade routes led to the decline of Ottoman rule and enabled the victories

of the Arab revolt. You can now experience this significant event in the Arab revolt here in

visitors start by boarding a train as a part of the Ottoman Empire heading to

reclaim a fortress that has fallen to the Arab forces. Shortly after boarding

armed Arab fighters on horses begin surrounding the train and this battle ensues

This exciting train experience is included within your Jordan Pass