Wadi Rum

It would appear that the main claim to fame of Wadi Rum is that it was the location for filming (part of) Lawrence of Arabia. This odd rock formation is also supposedly the inspiration for The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, although T E Lawrence himself makes no such claims, just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Regardless, it is a rather beautiful landscape, all the more so as the sun is setting.

They have built a rather tasteful visitor centre, although the compulsory video is one of the movie industry's less sophisticated offerings; admittedly I have not seen any other Jordanian movies!

Just like all those other places where they have not got round to building roads, the Landcruiser is king, and I was surprised at how well these 40 year old vehicles kept going; no brakes or door handles of course, but they chugged their way through soft sand just as well as our rather newer (17 year old) TLC had done in the Sahara. For some inexplicable reason, our guide insisted on taking us about another hour by bus and 4x4 to enjoy a "Bedouin" meal, seated on plastic chairs in a sort of tent; I found it hard to believe there was nothing closer, particularly as there was a small if rather messy town just by the visitor centre.