Move over, Lawrence of Arabia...

A hokey title to an entry which will undoubtedly fail to give justice to what has felt like a wonderful, profound adventure into the desert... the desert of Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum ("Rum Valley") is a desolate, bleak, shockingly beautiful desert, lying just north of the Saudi Arabian border. The area was made famous by T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), who who was based here during the Great Arab Revolt of 1917-18 and wrote "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom." Wadi Rum is also the site of the reknowned film "Lawrence of Arabia" - which I haven't seen, but I figure having visited the desert site must give me some credibility.

We first drove into the village of Wadi Rum; a cluster of small, one-story, adobe-like houses, surrounded by low walls. The Jordanian government has been making an effort to bring the desert nomads into these type of villages, so their children can receive an education, and to provide medical care and other services.

The village of Wadi Rum is inhabited by the Bedouins - a nomadic tribe that has roamed the deserts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and places east, for centuries. After visiting the village, I quickly noticed that there were no women to be seen. After asking after the women, I was told that they are kept inside - it is generally disrespectful to "them" and their family, to be seen in public. Therefore, the only people I saw were the men, in their long, white thobe and red, checked keffiyeh, who greeted us with "As-salaam alaykum" ("peace be with you").

In the village, we met Eid, a tall, 30ish year old Bedouin, who had agreed to house us in his bayt char - the goat hair tents that each Bedouin family lives in, out in the desert - for the evening. We got into his very old Toyota Land Cruiser, dodging camels and goats along the way, and drove several miles out in the desert.

Wadi Rum is a palette of dramatic colors from black to white, from brown to crimson, from gold to yellow, depending on the angle of the sun. Surprising cliffs dot the terrain, pushing their way straight up from the ground, falling over onto themselves, forming strange, moonlike peaks, crevasses, and craters... it's hard to remember that you're still on the same planet.

Driving through the dunes was like driving through fresh snow. The truck was rocking back and forth, jumping hills, skidding around, requiring a great deal of expert maneuvering.

On our way to the camp, we stopped to see one of the natural bridge formations of Wadi Rum. I asked for the way up, and Eid pointed out the best climbing route, so off I went. Parts of it were terrifying, but I was rewarded with a picture of me on top of the bridge, arms stretched out in triumph. (Fortunately, Eid didn't use the zoom, so you can't see my face, which was clenched in semi-disguised fear, as I thought "Oh. It turns out that I'm kind of afraid of heights!")

The rest of the day was spent visiting various stretches of dunes and desert, formations, and climbing cliffs with Eid. And finally, we arrived at his tent.

The tent lay at the base of a tall cliff, sheltering it from the wind. Inside, there were numerous rugs covering the red sand, and a long, low table, around which people sat on pillows and tapestry-covered mattresses. Lanterns were hung around the periphery of the tent to provide a dim light.

Dinner was prepared by Eid's cousin, including very strong, sweet tea, rice, vegetables and beef, eaten with pita, scooped up with our fingers.

Evening melted into night, as we lay around on the mattresses outside of the tent, watching the sun set, the moon rise, and the stars emerge. It was a spectacular show, and even though I was exhausted, I couldn't bear to close my eyes. I now know what it means when one says "the silence is deafening." I have never heard such silence in my life... and to have this silence, surrounded by thousands of miles of dunes, desert and cliffs, drinking tea with Bedouins, makes one forget about time and place, and want to just lie there forever.

I ended up dragging a mattress out into the dunes and sleeping in the sand. I had to sleep on my side, with my back facing the moon, because it was so bright. In the morning, I saw that there were fox tracks circling my mattress...

How do I say this, without sounding trite? It's easy to understand the profound faith of the people in this area of the world. They are surrounded by such natural beauty, that it's easy to believe in God...

And today, we drove to the Dead Sea. We have said good-bye to Minh, and will be staying here for a few days.

I hope you're well...