Aqaba

What a long day today! Sunrise to sunset. It started with a 5:00am wake-up. We took off in the bed of a modified 4x4 for a 4 hour sunrise tour of the south end of the desert. Red desert everywhere with rock formations very close and tightly packed. Phenomenal. This is such a unique area.

Once back, we rested during the hottest part of the day, and then went back out for a 3 hour sunset tour of the north end. This part of the desert is yellow sand and has larger valleys. We got caught up in a huge sandstorm, which wasn’t pleasant at all, but only lasted for 30 min or so

We saw lots of unique rock formations, some filming locations of Lawrence of Arabia, the Martian and Star Wars and recognized a lot of them from the movies. we climbed to the top of some really high natural arches, and then jordan took a ride on a sand board behind the 4x4! Needed a shower after that one.

This has been such a unique experience here. At times felt very vulnerable as two of the only women here amongst A LOT of men. Even the majority of the tourists with us were men. The Bedouin women aren’t allowed to be seen or be near any man who isn’t their family, so basically aren’t allowed to leave their homes - so we literally haven’t seen any women or girls for days. They can have only one job - school teacher - teaching in the girls only schools. 😢 I was told as a woman driver I needed to be very careful not to hit a man’s car (which is all of them) because “human rights aren’t the same here”. Concerning. Can’t wait to return the rental car and be done with the stressful act of driving here.

If I were to do it over again, I would choose a more primitive camp deeper in the desert for a more authentic experience tho - next time!Read more