In southeast Jordan, Wadi Rum is three hundred square miles of protected desert, where you’ll find red sand dunes, mountains, and narrow canyons snaking between sheer towers of granite and sandstone. A small population of Bedouins live much as their ancestors have done for millennia. Tens of thousands of petroglyphs and inscriptions in the wadi are evidence of human habitation going back 12,000 years.

petroglyphs

Spend a few hours exploring Wadi Rum by 4X4 with a local guide or stay over night, or for several days, sleeping in a Bedouin camp. There are countless opportunities for hiking and rock climbing in this vast, wild place.

Ronen at a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum.