Wadi Rum

 

Now, you may have noticed that I rarely mention the fellow members of the group we were traveling with, this is mostly out of respect for their privacy. One person though was quite trying. Dominique and I get along very well with Suan and Shann from Malaysia and for the most part get on well with the others in our group - the large majority of which are under 30. 

And then I lost it.

We were back on the bus today and headed toward Wadi Rum aka the valley of the moon. We were going to stay in a Bedouin-style camp in the desert. Ayman (our guide) tried to describe the wonder of sleeping in the desert; the quiet, vast expanse of the sky above you, the wondrous silence, the magnificence of the stars and the milky way, the peace and tranquility... it sounded like bliss. 

Usually on the bus we would talk to our seat neighbours quietly, and Ayman would sometimes point out interesting things or tell us historical facts about the area we were traveling in. Today Jennifer was machine-gunning questions at Ayman, this was nothing new, but for some reason it really, really got under my skin. I was watching Ayman's face getting more and more tense - tense and upset guides are no fun. Jennifer was relentless. I finally snapped and yelled, "WHY DON'T WE TAKE AYMAN'S ADVICE AND APPRECIATE THE SILENCE OF THE DESERT UNTIL WE GET TO CAMP?!"

Well, a hush fell over the bus. I was kinda embarrassed because it wasn't directed at everyone... but when I looked back at my fellow passengers they were all smirking and I even got a thumbs up from Suan. Jennifer shrank back into her seat and mercifully she shut up. Ayman's face remained impassive, but a while later when we were off the bus and playing in the sand he said thank you to me. Actually, a few people did.

 

There were two options available to us this afternoon and evening; the first was a camel ride in the desert and the second was a night walk in the desert. I declined both of these and I was just a little annoyed when I learned that everyone EXCEPT Jennifer was going on the first excursion. But my ire was misdirected as Jennifer, on seeing the disarray in camp, proceeded to clean up. Good on ya Jennifer! 

After dinner everyone went on the night walk. Except me. Our driver was there and one other Bedouin gent but they stayed to themselves and retired early. The stars put on a fantastic show - you never realise how many are in the night sky when you're in a city. The crackling of the fire was the only sound I could hear. Bloody brilliant.