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wadi rum
jordan tours - route map
A journey to Wadi Rum is a journey to another world. A vast, silent place,
timeless and starkly beautiful Wadi Rum is one of Jordan's main tourist
attractions being the most stunning deserts cape in the World, lying 320 km
southwest of Amman, 120 km south of Petra, and only 68 km north of Aqaba.
Uniquely shaped massive mountains rise vertically out of the pink desert sand,
which separate one dark mass from another in magnificent desert scenery of
strange breathtaking beauty, with towering cliffs of weathered stone, the faces
of the sheer rock cliffs have been eroded by the wind and water into faces of
men, animals and monsters. Wadi Rum is probably best known because of its
connection with the enigmatic British officer T.E. Lawrence, who was based here
during the Great Arab Revolt of 1917-18, and as the setting for the film that
carried his name "Lawrence of Arabia".
Everywhere in this moonscape place are indications of man's presence since the earliest known times. Scattered around are flint hand axes, while on the rocks at the feet of the mountains the names of ancient travelers are scratched. All around, there is emptiness and silence. In this immense space, man is dwarfed to insignificance. The valley floors are some 900-1000 meters above sea level, and the great sandstone crags raise sheer, a further 500-550 meters. Jabal Rum is the highest peak in the area and the 2nd highest in Jordan. Others are some 27 km north of the Rum village like Jabal Kharaz and Jabal Burdah with its Rock Bridge which is one of Wadi Rum's most popular attractions. is on the southern part of the wadi. in iniquity, the wadi was very green, grape vines, olives and cereals were cultivated.