Let’s explore together the magic of Wadi Rum, also known as the Valley of the Moon! Wadi Rum is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, near the border with Saudi Arabia.

A day of hiking and jeeping around the desert, complete with a homemade lamb stew for lunch, an after-lunch nap in the shade, petroglyphs, Lawrence of Arabia’s house, mushroom rock, the guides playing volleyball, and more desert. Wild camels and baby camels up close, more hiking, and sandboarding. What can you ask for more?

My first time at Wadi Rum in Jordan

Sunset in the desert complete with tea boiled over a fire and local pastries, then one night of glamping in the desert. A lady and her nephew from the Netherlands invited me to join them at their dinner table and then I made some new friends around the fire pit under the stars. There in the desert, there’s minimal light pollution so the view of the stars was incredible.

A day offline in nature was just what I needed!

Camping in the desert… Jordan edition

As is typical for me, I knew very little about this experience when I signed up. So I imagined it would be similar to when I camped in the Sahara desert many years ago, but it was not. When I checked in they asked if I wanted a king-size bed and I thought they were kidding. But they weren’t. I thought I would be sleeping on a blanket in a tent in the desert with other people. I didn’t even bring soap because the possibility of there being a shower or gourmet food did not cross my mind. So I was quite impressed with the camp experience. I loved it.

What to do at Wadi Rum?

Having just one full day and one night in Wadi Rum is enough to see most of the typical spots. There are many tours and I think they visit most of the normal spots. I purchased mine through my hotel in Petra, and then they coordinated a bus that would pick me up and take me to and from Petra. The bus made a pit stop at a rest area/cafe/shop about halfway, which was fortunate. The bus was quite lively and fun, and I enjoyed the ride.

I wished I had gotten the tour guide’s name from the hotel front desk staff, as I was waiting at the bus drop-off point for the pickup for quite some time before I finally asked another guide and he got the guide to come pick me up. I was a little late to join the tour but only missed one hike. We spent the whole day riding around in the pickup truck “jeep” and it was lovely. I enjoyed the experience and was quite satisfied with one day. I highly recommend this. It was one of my favorite experiences in Jordan.

If you have more days, you can also check out Petra. Here’s my 3-day itinerary at Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world!

Solo travel to the Valley of the Moon

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