Page 19 - wadirum

We skirted the Dead Sea cruising about
Top opposite: Bait Ali Camp taken at sunrise.
Left: Guest checking into Bait Ali after a long
ride from Israel. Right top: Entrance to Bait
Ali Camp.
way to Wadi Rum and Petra. The border
50 miles though the Jordan Rift Valley crossing into Jordan can be an ordeal as
with Jordan visible across the Dead Sea all papers are triple checked and fees are
on one side and stark mountains pock- collected. It took our group a couple of
marked with caves on the other. Along hours to cross.
the way is the entrance to the Qum-
ran Caves where the famous Dead Sea Across the border, we quickly weave
Scrolls were discovered. through Aqaba and climb into large
mountains, eventually passing through a
Tired and shuttered seaside resorts dot barren wasteland of dirt and squat con-
the sides of the well-maintained highway crete huts that may have been for the
several hundreds of yards from the wa- goat herders and their families. We get
ter. Yet that doesn’t seem to bother some a glimpse of what’s ahead as massive
hardy tourists who hike to the sea to bob mountains and hills sculpted into fan-
in the alkaline water. The shrinking sea tastical windblown shapes rose from the
is slowly leaving these once popular at- desert floor.
tractions high and dry. When we made a
pit stop at one, nasty sulfurous smells as- A small sign and a dirt road between
saulted us, making anything at the snack two imposing sandstone plateaus led to
bar less than desirable. our home for the next three nights, Bait
Ali Lodge. The expansive resort was
Back on the road, we passed the impos- flanked on one side by steep escarpments
ing, and legendary mountain of Masa- of sculptured sandstone hills; the oth-
da, which is climbed by many dedicated er sides merged into the endless desert
young Israelis as a rite of passage. We sands and mountains. Even the kids in
leave the Dead Sea for the biblical bad our caravan were silent as got out of our
lands, the theoretical sites of the former cars and took in the enchanted panorama
kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah -- that -- indeed -- looked a lot like Mars
the good time communities that were de- -- with a deluxe Bedouin resort attached.
stroyed by fire and brimstone. We didn’t
see and fire or brimstone, although we Some visitors opt to just spend a day in
did pass a massive horizontal rock col- Wadi Rum, and head for an overnight at
umn (salt?) with a sign touting Lot’s Petra or go back to the ship for sail-away
Wife. that night. But that would be a shame,
because the place is at its magic best in
After a few more check points we en- the mornings, evening and night.
ter the Red Sea city of Aqaba, the only
port city of Jordan and the tourist gate- There are a number of camps scattered
Wine Dine & Travel 2016 19