I had contacted Wild Wadi Rum Desert Adventure website by email and ended up corresponding with a young Bedouin man called Salman. I remember saying at work
‘Guess what I just did at lunchtime?’
No answer.
‘Emailed a Bedouin!’
‘What’s a Bedouin?’, was the answer.
I caught a taxi from Wadi Musa (Petra) to the visitor’s centre at Wadi Rum (it cost JD40 = AUD80) and met Salman who turned out to be a 22 year old Bedouin whose family lived in the Wadi Rum Village. He informed me that the Bedouins don’t really live in Wadi Rum anymore as they have all moved into the village. He was very enthusiastic and told me he had studied at university to become a primary school teacher but had not found work yet. As we drove out into the wadi (valley) my jaw started to drop. It was both immense and beautiful.
