Wadi Rum

Traveling the world involves mostly good days, but sometimes there are some unexpected ups and downs—meaning what goes down, sometimes unexpectedly comes back up again.  Channing ate a little funny business between here and there and required recuperation time.  Luckily, we just happened to rent an apartment in Aqaba near the Red Sea with a very comfortable couch suitable for wallowing.  Wallowing ensued and brighter days returned after a three-day hiatus. 

The days were so bright in fact, it felt as if we left the earth’s atmosphere and traveled through space to Mars.  Matt Damon, or Mark Watney in the “The Martian”, is not the only dude who took shelter in Wadi Rum to live a life reflecting Mars.  We lived the Martian life too.  Wadi Rum, in southern Jordan, is an out of this world, sun drenched, desert-scape with an extraterrestrial vibe.  The red and white sands seem to stretch forever, and the green screen-like mountain backdrop is shadowed and contoured so unusually it is hard to mentally comprehend as an earth-bound environment.   

We spent our time in Wadi Rum living in tents like a Bedouin and marveling at the woven designed fabric interiors, while at the same time, puzzling about why our mattresses had the store plastic wrap still in place with a sheet over it—resulting in the sheet twinging off many times during the night and Gary sounding like he was sealed and sleeping inside of a Doritos bag.  We also rode oddly gurgling, but confidently striding, camels into the sunset and ate some veggies and meat cooked under the sand, which seemed to leave them just above jerky, likely considered moist in these parts.  Thanks to our friendly camp and energetic hosts, Channing tried some jeep sledding and slow-motion sand boarding and we all took a truck “safari” through the canyons of Wadi Rum.  The truck sped and fishtailed through the dunes, leaning too far left and too far right, while in the bed of the truck we clung to the mostly welded canopy fearing for our lives.  It was an exhilarating and fun trip and led to the important conversation, “What should Channing do if her parents don’t survive this jeep ride?”  Figuring out how to continue the trip and getting to the next location was not the correct answer. She finally settled on, turning on cell data, paying the $10 per day charge, and calling her brother.  Luckily, we all survived the “dune bashing” and Channing didn’t have to surrender $10 from her inheritance to Verizon.  Our ridiculous and exuberant smiles in the photos show this was an excellent stop on our around-the-world trip. “My Favorite Martian” is no longer Matt Damon, but the three new planetary arrivals from North Carolina.