Amazing Wadi Rum Desert Adventures: Introduction to Wadi Rum and the Visitor’s Centre

For starters, Wadi Rum is a government preserved and protected area located in the Aqaba province of Jordan. It is the largest WADI or VALLEY in the country, and this is where Prince Faisal Bin Hussein and T. E. Lawrence based their headquarters during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans during the World War I.

We drove from Amman, Jordan's capital city all the way down to Petra and then Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is about 60 kilometres from Aqaba. Map courtesy from Lonely Planet.

Because Wadi Rum is a preserved place and an important attraction, entry is regulated, and of course, commercialised to serve a vital purpose. Unlike its neighbouring Arabic countries, Jordan doesn’t have extraordinary resources to depend on such as oil, but fortunately it is rich in history. Tourism is a major industry in the country and is a big income generator for its economy. Locals are quite aware that their country benefits from tourism so they treat their visitors very well. Tourist police are everywhere in the country.

Entrance to Wadi Rum is 5 JOD per person and I believe this is a per day fee. The tickets are bought at the Visitor’s Centre. In the Visitor’s Centre you will find all information that you would need with regards to various desert adventure tours: 4x4 jeep tours, camel tours and many other types of fun and active activities. The tours and activities can of course be customised according to duration and what you prefer.

The Visitor’s Centre is a good place as well to scour for accommodations in Wadi Rum. There are a handful Bed & Breakfast types of accommodations (they are very basic) in Wadi Rum village run by enterprising Bedouin families, and of course for the adventurers who want to experience Bedouin culture at the core, there are Bedouin-style desert camps with ultra-basic facilities available in the heart of Wadi Rum. I believe there are options to camp in the desert on your own as well.

The Visitor's Centre, a few kilometers outside of Wadi Rum. The foto on the big poster is the King of Jordan, King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein.

The Bedouin brother of our guide.

4x4 Jeeps for rent for Wadi Rum Desert adventure tours.

Next, our Wadi Rum lunch.

Cow Skull & Ojo de Dios

This cow skull was my moms and now hangs on my back porch. The Ojo de Dios, or Eye of God, was my grandmothers, and my parents got it when she was gone. The Ojo de Dios are wonderful craft projects made out of 4 sticks or dowl rods with yarn wrapped around the sticks to make designs. This is one of the best I have ever seen and was made by a man grandma knew in Arizona, I think. But the colors were never what I liked. I am not a fan of the color orange. So it, too, hangs on the porch where it looks nice.

The Birds at Huntington Beach

When we visited Myrtle Beach State Park, we asked about Huntington and the lady who worked there said, "We have a fishing pier and they have alligators". While we didn't see alligators, we did see a lot of other animals including birds.



I love watching birds on the beach. They just go hand in hand to me.



When we visited the store here, I was chatting with an employee. We talked about workamping and what went along with it. She told me her two most interesting things to date were when the alligators were mating and the males went in the campground area and did not want to leave causing quite the stir and an incident involving a snake.



I almost don't want to share the snake one, because it might stick in my mind and I might not want to stay here after all.





Ok, I guess I'll share it. A young man was looking for turtle shells and he came across a water moccasin instead, landing him a nice bite from the snake. By the time he made it to her, his arm was turning black. Can't say I would want to encounter either one of those things, but I still do love interacting with animals in nature.









I am really going to miss this when we leave here!

Lovely garden restaurant in Samos: Anna’s Restaurant and my introduction to Imam Baildi

Dutchman and I have been eyeing this garden restaurant for days already. It has a different ambiance. Most of the restaurants in this area have their dining beside the beach road or on the beach, whereas this restaurant is set off from the main road and inside a garden of flowers and trees. One evening, we finally made a decision to dine here.







Anna’s Restaurant

Website Trip Advisor:Anna’s Restaurant



Anna’s Restaurant is located in Kampos (or Kambos, also called Votsalakia). I don’t understand why the many spellings and another different name, I think this is the old name--Votsalakia, but Greek language is difficult enough to understand, let alone translate it to English! The restaurant is on the main street right on the border to the next town, a little bit further from the town centre.













What do you think of the homey garden ambiance? This is actually a timely needed change of scenery for us after days of sitting on the beach for dinner.



The mother of the house restaurant was excited to show us (moi and another couple) what they had cooked for the evening. Some restaurants here in Samos prepare a part of the food in the menu ahead of time. It is something like a cafeteria setting, and they do heat the food of course before serving. Some people do not like this kind of set-up while others do not actually mind (like us) because this is the style, very organic and 100% local. A pure Greek home-style restaurant.











This home-style garden restaurant even has a stone oven. Beautiful!



Above you will see some of the Greek fares available for picking. For 15 Euros you can have small pickings of everything. We did not want that because that is too much. So I settled for something that caught my fancy for our starter which I am sure the Dutchman would also like.



Imam Baildi and more...



The mother of the house told me that the dish I picked for our starter is called Imam. Hmm, the only imam I know are those Muslim preachers, but anyway, Imam it is, and so I wrote it down in my black notebook so I can remember. After much googling, I came across with Imam Baildi. I do not write everything in my black notebook, only when I have it and when I remember writing down the new things I learned. Most of the times I get caught up with the flow of events that I forget to write them down. Really jammer.










This is Imam Baildi, in English Stuffed Aubergine (Eggplant for you non-Europeans), and yes this is vegetarian. Dutchman and I loved this, partnered with the bread. Great for starters!


For our mains, I settled for grilled fish while the Dutchman wanted some Italian fare, spaghetti with stewed beef on top. Now that is interesting!



My fish was very fresh and it was just what I expected. Dutchman on the other hand was quite happy and satisfied. He said he was tired of Greek food so the pasta was a nice welcome change.









We came from a long afternoon in the beach and did not bother going back to our apartment and change clothes for dinner. We were hungry and want to get over with it.













All in all, this is a very nice and lovely place. A different ambiance away from the beach but equally romantic and divine. We loved especially the Imam Baildi. I highly recommendAnna’s Restaurant. 4 stars out of 5.

Another Sunset

Redbud Tree Blossoms

the redbud tree is one of my favorite trees. They have these tiny, pinkish-purple blossoms in late spring. There are clusters of thousands of the pretty little blooms that sort of look like tiny orchids. The bees flock to them so they must be very sweet and loaded with pollen.

Still Fighting With 5.9+: Jean (again)

(Photo: Trying to get psyched beneath the crux roof on Jean (5.9+), back in August.)



In my last post I wrote about my unexpected triumph over my first trad 5.10 lead, Beatle Brow Bulge. This was a great milestone for me. My onsight success climbing this soft 5.10 also made me wonder if the old rumor might actually be true:



Is 5.9+ in the Gunks harder than 5.10-?



Earlier that same day I found a reason to believe the rumor. The lesson came courtesy of my second attempt at Jean.



Back in August I'd attempted to lead Jean, but I hadn't liked the pro for the crux roof and I'd bailed without attempting to lead over the ceiling. I'd wanted a piece at the lip or above the roof but the best pro I'd been able to get was under the roof and to the right. I felt like a fall from just over the roof would result in a sideways landing onto the slab below the overhang, which would quite likely result in injury.



After giving up on the lead I'd tried the crux on toprope and found it to be not that difficult. Above the roof are a couple bad crimpers but then you get a great jug. I started to think that blowing it might not be so bad after all, because if you fell it would happen at those first couple of poor holds, before pulling over the roof and not too far from your gear.



I resolved to go back before the season ended to get redemption and conquer Jean.



Fast forward to November. With the end of the season coming quickly I figured if I was going to exorcise my Jean demons I had better get around to it soon.



But my memories from August were fading and I wondered if I'd really be any happier with the gear this time around. I decided to start a thread on Gunks.com asking about the appropriate gear for Jean. I'd read that there used to be a ball nut fixed right at the spot where you pull over the roof. I know nothing of ball nuts, but I thought maybe I could place one there myself, so I asked the wise climbers of Gunks.com which ball nut I should buy.



The consensus seemed to be that the cam off to the right is good enough, and that I should forget about the ball nut placement.



Armed with this information I felt somewhat reassured, but only somewhat. When our climbing day arrived I knew that I had to attack Jean right away or I was going to lose my nerve, so when we got to the Trapps parking lot I told Adrian that I wanted it to be our first climb of the day. We found it open and I went right at it.





(Photo: Here we go again. I'm hanging instead of trying the crux on Jean, this time in November.)



I felt strong as I got started. There is a cruxy little 5.8-ish move about halfway up that gets you established in the shallow corner system that leads to the roof. The pro for this move is totally solid, and while the move has pretty good hands, the feet are smeary. In August this move caused me much hesitation but this time, in November, I committed right away.



So far so good.



Then I got up to the pocket right under the roof and placed the key cam out right without too much strain. With this bomber pro in place, I should have been ready for the crux.



Determined to send, I reached up to the shitty crimper with my left hand...



and I couldn't make myself go for it.



Again.



The crimper felt so lousy. And I still didn't like the thought of that fall.



So I downclimbed a step and rested for a minute without weighting the rope. I still wanted this redpoint, in the worst way. I gathered my courage and tried again.



Such a bad hold! Was it this bad in August?



I chickened out for the second time and took a hang.



So much for that redpoint.



I must have repeated this routine once or twice more, going up, testing the hold, not liking it, retreating, and hanging.



Finally I decided to shorten the draw on my top piece of protection. I figured drag be damned, I need to reduce the potential fall. This decision gave me a certain amount of additional (and perhaps irrational) confidence. With the fall distance shortened by a foot or two I could commit to the moves and found them easier than I remembered. The bad crimper feels from below as though you'll pop right off it but once you crimp hard and commit, it isn't so bad. Shitty crimper left, shitty crimper right, then shelf, then jug and you're done. The crux is over in a few seconds.



I left Jean frustrated that I didn't get it clean. But I told myself I'd made progress. At least I finished it on lead this time. And my failure to redpoint had nothing to do with any inability to do the moves. It came down to a lack of faith caused by a combination of that crummy crimper hold and sub-optimal pro. Maybe my lack of faith was actually, in retrospect, completely justified. I wonder if that ball nut placement is necessary after all; theroof movemight bean ankle-breakerwithout it.



Even though I haven't conquered Jean, I don't thinkI need to go back to lead it again. I don't know what I would be trying to prove. And I might be risking a needless injury, unless I buy that ball nut...



IsJean a sandbag at 5.9+? I am torn. The climbing isn't easy. It isn't nearly as sustained as Beatle Brow Bulge. But those two crimps over the roof on Jean are less positive than any of the holds on Beatle Brow Bulge. Jean may require a little more technique, and a cooler head.