Spending the night in Wadi Rum desert

If you are reading this as you plan your first time visit to Jordan, I’m sure you’re wondering which Wadi Rum camp/tour to go with, how to get there, what happens on the day, how to get to your next destination the following day etc… In this blog, I will write details of how our tour was organised and what happened, in the hope that it might help other travellers who are planning their journey to beautiful Wadi Rum.

We were in Jordan in July 2017. We booked our tour via Valentine Inn hotel in Wadi Musa. It was 35JD per person; jeep tour, accommodation, dinner and breakfast included. As I did not receive any further details about the tour from the hotel, I did some research of my own and found out that the tour will likely be with The Bedouin Meditation Camp. A few reviews in Tripadvisor mentioned about people being asked to pay more than the agreed price when the group was too small. At Valentine Inn, I signed up only after finding out the number of the tour group (8 including ourselves). I made a payment in advance at the hotel.

The public bus goes from Wadi Musa to Wadi Rum. Your hotel will make a booking a day before and the bus will come to your hotel. 

The bus picked us up from Valentine inn at 6:20AM. There was a conductor on the bus who made sure which passenger goes to which camp/tour in Wadi Rum. The bus was supposed to be 7JD, but we’re all charged 8JD each as the bus was not full (happens in Jordan). It’s a 2 hours journey to Wadi Rum from Wadi Musa/Petra and there was one short stop outside the shop where you could buy food and drink. 

We all got off the bus at Wadi Rum visitor’s centre and paid 5JD entrance fee (included in Jordan pass), then went straight back on the bus. The bus then took passengers to their camp offices – door to door service!

As soon as we arrived at the Bedouin Meditation Camp office we were greeted by the owner Zedane who explained all housekeeping stuff – take only what you need in your small bag (your main luggage can be stored in the office), camp’s shower costs 3JD, water 1JD so buy for 1/2JD from the shop next door now etc… He also organised our taxis for the next day at this point which was super helpful as we weren’t sure how we would get to the Aqaba border. Most people planned to head to Aqaba city (20JD per car) so we shared the taxi with 2 other travellers. As the taxi to the border would cost 25JD, we paid 15JD.

The jeep tour started around 10AM. We visited the sand dunes, Lawrence’s house, rock bridge etc… Our guide was informative, attentive and calm. He never rushed us, he took photos for us and let us do lots of crazy climbing! The desert, the landscape, the view… was just amazing. I could just sit in that jeep and ride all day long.

Lunch break was lovely too. We just relaxed in a tent (different to the camp) and plenty tea was offered. You do need to bring your own lunch, but it was so hot I think the most of us were just snacking on crisps and plain bread.

We arrived at the camp around 14:30. It had everything we needed, a private Bedouin style tent (solo travellers were sharing the tent), a spacious shared bathroom had about 6 sinks and 8 toilets which were clean and worked perfectly. In case anyone is wondering about the shower, none of us used it. The weather was hot, but the air was comfortably dry and I personally didn’t feel the need really.

We all sat in the large communal tent, rested, chatted and just relaxed. There was a large rock that you can climb up just behind the camp where you could enjoy a 360-degree view of the desert, and of course the sunset/sunrise.

The chef made us zarb (baked under the sand), chicken, potatoes, onions. Also rice, salad and curry. The baked vegetables were so delicious!

We drunk tea under the stars and eventually went to bed.

I got up at 5:15 the following morning to see the sunrise. I sat in complete silence and watched the sky change colour. It was an experience like no other.

The breakfast was at 7:00, bread and a few different spreads such as cream cheese or hummus, with tea, of course.

Zedane took us back to the village after breakfast. He made a surprise stop at his farm where we could spend some time with his camels and admire his small garden. This was wonderful as I did not want my Wadi Rum time to end yet!

As this tour was a little cheaper than many others, I did wonder about the difference. Perhaps with some others you get to visit a couple more places in a jeep tour and/or broader variety in dinner/breakfast… The Bedouin Meditation Camp was a no-frills Wadi Rum camp and it was perfect for our budget and needs. We went there for the desert, the landscape and tranquillity, we didn’t need any extra entertainments or luxury (shared toilet/sink behind the camp was already a luxury), relaxing in the camp was as memorable as the jeep tour and we actually got the traditional zarb dinner! 

Our taxis were already waiting for us when we returned to the office in the Rum village around 8:00. We quickly got our luggage and said goodbye to each other. Zedane took a couple of group photos for us. It was a little sad and strange to say goodbye to others as we all got on so well. We climbed into our taxi and began our 1 hour journey to Aqaba, but I was still feeling dizzy from the unforgettable experience in Wadi Rum.