Walk to the village of Wadi Rum

Just sixty kilometers from Aqaba is the entrance to one of the most interesting desert regions of the world – Wadi Rum. It is not only a place for paying the entrance fee, but also for meeting with the agreed tour operators who drive tourists in jeeps in the desert among mesas.

The village is situated about 7.5 kilometers from here and lies about 120 meters higher, although you would not guess so in such endless plain. If you do not want to wait until all the tourists in your jeep meet or you just simply want to have a pleasant walk, it is not bad idea to go for about 1.5 hours long hike to the village on foot. However, this is possible only early in the morning, because later there may be unbearable heat.

A decent tarmac road bordered with orange mountains leads to the village. Mesa of Jabal Rum (1734 meters asl) towers on the horizon. It is the second highest mountain in Jordan. If you go to the village on foot, it's really better to go at least 500 meters off the road in the hinterland to enjoy a little bit the desert atmosphere. In addition, the road meanders a bit, so you'll save time as well.

In the east direction there is a famous rock formation „Seven pillars of Wisdom“, but early in the morning it is in a large backlit.

Some views evoke Monument Valley in the USA.
 

On the otherwise barren desert you can occasionally see hints of green vegetation – especially in places where water occasionally flows in the season.

 

Even here you can come across the scarab.
 

Desert anthill is interesting and confirms that ants are really the most successful species – they are everywhere – however these desert ants are not so numerous.

Roughly halfway between the visitor center and the village of Wadi Rum you can come across the „true“ bedouin tents. That means not the ones designed for tourists, so you can make a nice idea of ​​how right bedouins live here.

Views on this walk are really nice and it is still just a „warm-up“ for what comes next in the depths of the desert.
 

The more is the mountain, or rather village, approaching, there is more and more vegetation. There is even one single tree standing alone on this whole walk.

Sometimes you come across the skeletons of animals to whom the desert has not been merciful. After about 90 minutes you finally arrive to the village and you can buy some refreshing cold drinks here. Food prices in the shop are here, despite the fact that it is such a big attraction, comparable to the rest of Jordan.