Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a famous desert in Jordan, best known to people outside of the country as the filming site for movies like The Martian and Dune. I think they filmed some Star Wars things there as well. It looks otherworldly, that's for sure. Scattered throughout the desert are "glamping" resorts where you can stay in modern bubble domes or more traditionally styled Bedouin tents. The styled part is key, because the one we stayed in had air conditioning and a bathroom and was sheltered against a huge rock cliff.

The drive from Petra to Wadi Rum was quite scenic, and we got some good pictures when we made a pit stop.

We got to our camp right around sunset.

The highlight of the camp was the sand dune which the kids immediately started climbing all over. There were also plastic sleds for coming back down. Jeff and Elena went up to explore, while Viv and I stayed at the camp to watch the fun.

Eventually, everyone came back down and got cleaned up for a nice, al fresco dinner.

We got our favorite seat again the next morning for breakfast.

Elena insisted on playing on the dune some more before we went out for the day, but she had to get all the sand out of her shoes before we would let her leave the camp.

Our group had booked a train ride experience. They used the old trains and had riders "attack". Honestly, it was a little disconcerting giving everything that's happening in the region right now, but the train was really cool, and the horse riders were absolutely fantastic. 

Elena was mostly interested in getting back to the sand dune as soon as possible.

In the late afternoon, we got back in our pick up trucks (the main mode of travel in the desert) and went out for sunset exploration.

Our photographer extraordinaire got many sunset pictures, but my favorites are the ones with the girls in them.

We also had a guided explanation about the constellations, but we couldn't take any pictures in the dark. The most memorable thing we learned is that star gazers hate the moon, and if you want a good star gazing experience, make sure that there is little to no moon.

We definitely had a lot of fun exploring the desert.