The Night Under The Stars – Wadi Rum

The chapter of this trip that was dedicated to him – Jure. While I was amazed by the large rocks of Petra, he wanted smaller ones, and a lot of them – a desert. The idea of sleeping like a real Bedouin, in a cave in the desert, seemed a little wild and harsh to me, so we compromised and booked accommodation at a campsite.
Wadi Rum is a place where photos do not need any filters, where the air smells of sand, the evenings are peaceful and the nights are endless.

A little after two o’clock, we arrive at the car park where the camp owners are supposed to pick us up. There is only one car in the car park. We wonder if we are the only ones? The situation in the Middle East is palpable. An older Toyota pickup rushes in. A Bedouin with a warm smile picks us up, nods without saying a word, and soon we are sitting in the back of the jeep with our luggage. He stops at a shop and buys us cold juice and water, and during the drive he behaves as if he were driving alone. It feels as if every pothole is ours.

The bumpy ride takes me back to my childhood, when my cousin and I begged our grandfather to fix up his old cart so we could go haymaking. I am overwhelmed with emotion. I tell Jure the story I have heard a hundred times before, we laugh and enjoy the views. It is boiling hot, but there is a breeze cooling us down and blowing my hair in all directions. I almost lose my hat. As soon as we reach softer ground, the ride calms down. Reddish sand, and every now and then we see a camp in the distance. It feels like we’re on another planet. We’re still going fast, but it feels like we’re riding on a cloud… After about 20 minutes, we’re here – paradise in the middle of nowhere.

The friendly staff serve us immediately and go out of their way to make us feel at home. And, of course, as befits this trip, we get an upgrade to a better, larger room for six people. Do we need it? No, but we’re not complaining. :-)

We entered what appeared to be a simple tent, which turned out to be only tent-like in appearance; in reality, it was a wooden structure offering all the necessary amenities. Except for air conditioning. Oh yes, reality struck us. And as they had written, they could accommodate all our wishes, but unfortunately they couldn’t do anything about the heat. Well, they did leave us a fan in the room, but it was so worn out that it sweated and overheated along with us, so we quickly turned it off. I was melting like an ice cream cone in the middle of a heatwave. We have a jeep tour booked in two hours. We’re only in this inferno for a short time. I take a deep breath.

We are both impatiently waiting at the reception desk before the agreed time. Well, at least they have air conditioning, good Wi-Fi and free cold drinks here. Maybe that’s why we’re early. :-) We don’t know what to expect. In the distance, we can see the wind swirling the sand, and visibility is getting worse. I feel a little tingle of excitement in my stomach. Then she arrives – a Taiwanese girl, a solo traveller who has been on the road for three months. She says she is tired but extremely eager for new adventures. Apparently, we are not alone at the campsite.

We quickly load ourselves into an old Toyota and drive deep into the desert. At times, it feels as if we are gradually leaving the world behind and entering some kind of cosmic backdrop. They don’t call it Mars for nothing. Reddish earth, occasional lonely rocks rising out of nowhere, and lots of jeeps with tourists on the same mission as us. Every now and then we stop at natural bridges, rocks, hidden canyons, carved inscriptions, tea houses under rocks, and landmarks we don’t understand. It turns out that our Bedouin driver is not only quiet, but also does not speak English. From the first stop onwards, we communicate with him using hand gestures and exchange lots of friendly smiles.

Driving through the desert is completely different from driving on any road. There are no rules, only feelings. Speed, heat, sand between your teeth, in your hair, in your eyes and everywhere else. The driver lets loose again, we already know what to expect, but it’s different. When the jeep veers slightly off the beaten track and into the sand, the fun begins. The driver floors the accelerator, the wheels spin, sand flies into the air and the smell of burnt clutch fills the air. Of course, nothing that Toyota couldn’t handle and we’re out. Then a little downhill. Oh yes, downhill is even better. It’s like we have a slide under the wheels, we just let ourselves go. At that moment, I feel like it’s just us, the landscape and the feeling of freedom.

At times, the two-hour journey seems a little too long, and the driver feels it too, so he turns on what I assume is Jordanian music and even dances a little behind the wheel. Jure wants to record as much as possible, so he doesn’t know whether to take photos, film, use his phone or even his Insta360. The Taiwanese girl, who is persistently filming content for her YouTube channel, encourages him and even joins him in his shots and gives him ideas. Until she also grabs his Insta360 and starts actively filming. I just watch and enjoy the fact that everyone is having fun in their own way.

After the adrenaline rush, something completely different follows – a romantic sunset. We sit and watch the sun go down in the distance. All around us is desert. Silence. Timelessness. After a long time, I see Jure, who is only here in this moment. He is just there. Here. With me. I feel gratitude and happiness.

We return to the camp, quickly wash up and hurry to the Bedouin dinner. The food is simple but incredibly tasty – prepared underground. We fill our plates and finish with delicious desserts. We continue the evening sitting around the fire, sipping warm tea, chatting with the Taiwanese girl, exchanging photos and making plans to meet again.

Wadi Rum at night is poetry. No artificial lights, no noise. Just millions of stars above us. At times, when we look up at the sky, it seems as if it will fall on us at any moment. Magical.

Wadi Rum is not just a desert. It is a feeling. It is a memory of a moment when everything stops. When it doesn’t matter who you are, what you have, or where you are going. All that matters is that you feel – the heat of the day, the cool of the night, the swaying of the jeep, the sand between your toes, and the silence that is not empty, but infinitely full.

For us, it was Jure’s moment, but I will carry it with me forever.