Camping in the Wadi Rum

On my recent trip to Jordan, my friend and I went camping in Wadi Rum. I have to admit that I'm not much of a camper and I used to dread the camping trips with my parents to the south of France back in the 70s. Ah, those summer holidays spent with my whole family on less than 16 m2. Dinner prepared on a gas cooker, eating from plastic plates with plastic cutlery and then hauling all that plastic in a bucket to the shower/loo/washing up  facilities to queue to do the dishes next to some random and usually very nosy fellow camper. And let's not leave out the walk of shame to the loo with a loo-roll under your arm. Not much privacy there, I tell you.

However on my trip to Jordan last week, I decided to let all my hangups on camping go and booked a camping trip with the Bedouins in Wadi Rum. I do realise that our experience was hardly a veritable Bedouin experience, but it was a lot of fun nevertheless.

After long consideration and researching Tripadvisor and the likes, my travel buddy and I had decided on camp Rahayeb. A disappointment it was not.

Wadi Rum at sun set

We'd booked a transfer from Aqaba to Rahayeb camp, on to Petra and then back to Aqaba. Everything was as smoothly organised as an undercover operation.

We were promptly picked up from our hotel, met by another driver at the visitors' centre in Wadi Rum, who swiftly transferred us and our bags to his four wheel drive. After a short drive through the magnificent Wadi Rum desert, we were met by a friendly Bedouin gentlemen and two cups of tea, so sweet my teeth almost fell out. (That's Arab tea for you). We were shown to our tent where magically our bags were waiting for us already.

Camp fire

This tent, wasn't just like any tent. There were proper beds with warm duvets and blankets, which you do need during a desert night. A comfy little couch and coffee table and carpets throughout.  And since we'd booked the VIP tent, we had our own private shower room with loo, including loo-roll on a sophisticated loo-roll holder.

New desert friends

We felt so comfortable and warm in our tent that after the delicious dinner prepared by the camp staff  we hurried back to our home for one night and totally forgot to watch the stars in the desert sky. But hey, stars are the same everywhere, tents aren't!