Day 6 - Wadi Rum, an unfinished symphony

Lawrence of Arabia once wrote: ‘Captured by awe, our tiny caravan wrapped itself in a dead silence, ashamed of its own insignificance against something so overwhelming. Only in childhood dreams landscapes are so quiet and expansive’.

He described his journey through Wadi Rum, usually called the most beautiful desert in the world. Describing Wadi Rum as a desert is not really true. Technically, as the name suggests, Wadi Rum is a wadi, a valley where water used to be. And that water has created the beautiful lunar landscape to which Wadi Rum is often compared.

This fairy-tale background appealed to many film directors so entire film crews landed here. Think of course about Laurence of Arabia, in which the life of TE Lawrence was filmed. The seemingly endless red plain inspired Ridley Scott for the Mars epic Martian with Matt Damon. It was not the only Mars film that was shot here. There is, for example, Last Days on Mars, Mission to Mars and Red Planet. Perhaps they should have nicknamed Wadi Rum ‘the red planet’. Or maybe the back side of the moon looks like this J.

Anyway, the landscape is unbeatable and is probably one of the most beautiful places on this planet. We therefore have the incredible privilege of spending a day and night in this beautiful piece of nature. Our tented camp is surrounded by mighty red rock formations. 

The soft red sand feels hot on our feet. Fortunately we explore Wadi Rum this afternoon by jeep. Covered with sun milk, a scarf on the head (better than a cap or hat in the open jeeps) and bottles of water, we start our journey. 

Our first stop is what our guide calls ‘the place of silence’.  Everyone seeks their own place in the infinite landscape. First I hear the sound of my footsteps in the sand, but when I stop to admire the beauty around me, I only hear an impressive silence. No animal or human sounds, no roaring of the wind. Only the absolute nothing. And how deafening sound can be,  so deafening is also silence.

The area looks like an unfinished symphony of sand dunes and freakish rocks, molded by water and wind. The sand has unlikely shades of gray to red, under the influence of the ever-changing sunlight.

Some rock formations have the most bizarre shapes. For example, there is the ‘mushroom’, which, like a lone Parisian mushroom, holds itself upright between all those forces of nature. 

The natural ‘bridges’ or ‘windows’, it's how you look at it, but a great example of wind erosion anyway. 

That erosion changes the rock formations of Wadi Rum every day. And the gods like what they see. The Bedouins are the original inhabitants of the wadi. You can find their tents scattered around or their caravans with camels create an enchanting scene.

When the evening falls, we enjoy the beautiful sunset on the now cooled down sand. With her last rays of the day she casts a soft, yellow glow on the unfinished symphony of Wadi Rum and then disappears behind the horizon.

Night falls over the desert. The light of the crescent moon prevents us from enjoying a sparkling starry sky for now. While my eyes have long been closed and I dream of world wonders, lunar landscapes, Roman cities and unique places in this world, a magnificent spectacle of thousands of stars unfolds above our heads, even showing the Milky Way. Thousands of stars who finally complete the unfinished Wadi Rum symphony. The perfect picture.

              Chasing the Milky Way in the valley of the moon - Caption and picture Anaïs Smets