Wadi Rum is known as the “Valley of the Moon” because the landscape resembles the surface of the moon. Wadi Rum has the tallest mountain in Jordan standing at 1,854 meters (6,083 feet)! The mountain is called Jabal umm ad Dami and translates in English to Mother of the Blood Mountain. On the summit of the mountain when its a clear day, you can even see the Red Sea! The cliffs were formed over millions of years by tectonic uplifts and weathering, creating the rocky cliffs. Wadi Rums cliffs and sands are red because the high amount of iron oxide in the stones and sand.
We visited T.E. Lawrence’s house and his monuments in the desert. He was a British soldier who came to Wadi Rum during World War I and learned how the Bedouin people fought. Later after learning, he created a strategy for them to beat the Ottoman Empire who tried to take their land away from them. He is very respected for helping them win and because of that they call him Lawrence of Arabia.
Our guide pointed out petroglyphs which are carvings in rocks and a way to communicate.
We also climbed lots of rocks and sand dunes (some barefoot). We started getting small itchy bites and everyone was freaking out because we thought they were bed bugs. Our dad went and checked all the pillows, sheets, and blankets to see if he could find them and luckily he did not find anything. We kept searching the internet and found a common fly that bites you and leaves small itchy red dots called a Sand Fly. We were happy that they were not bed bugs!
