UKC

Hello all,

I'm in the early stages of thinking about a trip to the Wadi Rum and I'm looking for some information from anyone who has been or who has good knowledge of travelling and / or climbing in Jordan and the Wadi Rum.

a) What do people think about the current safety issues there? looking at the foreign office there does not seem to be anything too worrying? ( i.e the terrorism threat is the same level as for France) Political unrest related to Syria seems to be a bigger issue and I've gathered that Jordan is generally pretty safe. Anyone have any comments?

b) thinking about going at the end of March / start of April - how are the temps at this time of year?

c) I would have 15 days in total including travel time, is this likely to be enough? how long would you expect to take from arriving in Amman to getting to the campsite? anyone have any recommendations for guidebooks / other logistics / travel / etc?

d) anyone have a rough idea of in country costs for a trip of that length?

e) I am trying to convince my dad to come as its on his bucket list of destinations. he's getting on a bit but probably happy climbing VS to E1 as long as its not too strenuous, and is still OK with big hill days out in the UK. Would there likely to be enough in that grade range for it to be worth a trip for him? and finally, this is a bit of a difficult one, but how 'big' do the days feel?

Thanks for any information,

Graham.

I've been six times, most recently in December. I'm in fact in the middle of writing an article aimed at people in your position. If you email me through UKC, I'll send you back a draft of the general information section I have so far written and you can be my guinea pig and let me know whether it answers all the right questions!


I wouldn't be at all worried if you follow the FCO advice. If you fly in to Aqaba with Turkish Airlines and only visit the south of the country, it should feel as safe as anywhere.


Great time of year to go with the spring flowers blooming in the desert. It will feel hot but probably manageable in the sun but perfect in the shade.


Get the Tony Howard guide - old now, but does the job. If you fly in to Amman, you can pick up a taxi straight to Rum which will take about four hours. You could arrange a taxi in advance, but I've never had a problem doing it on the spot at about £100. Bus would be a faff and take a day. From Aqaba airport it is only an hour and about £40. Fifteen days is plenty of time for a great trip.


Once in Rum, camping at the rest house is £2 per night, though some people now rent a room in the village. Food from the local shops about the same as UK prices. Main costs will be transport to the desert - do spend plenty of time camped in outlying areas! Depending on distances, £50 upwards for a round trip. Easily arranged once there, though I can give you a contact if you like.


The brilliant thing about Rum is that there are great routes of all grades from a couple of pitches to big, committing undertakings. The long, scrambly "Bedouin" routes are about as good as it gets and not to be missed. There really is loads to do for any competent climber. There are certainly fantastic conventional routes with uncomplicated descents in the VS to E1 bracket.

In reply to GraMc:

Don't know about the climbing but if your dad is happy with a walk/sightseeing rather than climbing then Wadi Rum is a great place. Just remember to take plenty of water - I think I set off with about 4 gallons although that was for a few days and very heavy to carry.

In reply to GraMc:

I remember there being some stunning routes to do there in the VS to E1 range - if that was all your dad is wanting to climb, it would still be an unforgettable trip for him. Get him to go!

In reply to GraMc:

Left Wadi Rum last night & currently on our way home. Our 2nd trip & this time a quickie 6 days so your 15 should be plenty. Agree w what was said above (& look forward to reading the article). Safety is a non issue - felt way safer than the city we live in (US).

In reply to Robert Durran:

Agree with all this - and thanks for the indirect reminder, Robert!

In reply to GraMc:

Assuming no particular security concerns associated with visiting a very obvious tourist hotspot, it would be a shame while in the general vicinity not to include a trip to Petra. It's do-able in a day by bus, or was in 1999. As I recall you get the bus at the junction where the Rum road turns off the main highway between Aqaba and Amman; I can certainly remember hitching a lift back to Rum from there in the evening, although I'm a bit hazy on how we got there in the morning. Although you could easily spend an entire holiday exploring the place in detail you can still see quite a bit in the course of a short visit. Handy for a mid-trip rest day, perhaps?

In reply to GraMc:
Hi Graham,

I've just returned from 2 great weeks in Jordan and so I thought I'd share some of our experiences. The country is so safe and everyone is amazingly welcoming (a huge contrast to our experiences in Israel). The turmoil in Syria has caused a massive drop in tourism, meaning that Wadi Rum and Petra were almost completely dead when we were there.

You should certainly have enough time for travel/sightseeing/climbing. Robert mentioned about taxis but we found that the Jett buses were great and pretty cheap. Amman - Petra (£10), leaves around 6.30am. Petra - Wadi Rum (£7). Most hotels in Petra will arrange the bus to pick you up around 6.30am. Also Petra is amazing and worth spending a couple of days there at least. Getting to and from Aqaba by bus is also pretty easy.

In Wadi Rum, we stayed in a large but very basic house for £10 a night. We chose this rather than the camping at the resthouse as it worked out only marginally more expensive for 2 people. There is loads of climbing available within walking distance from the village, but to get further out into the desert you'll need to be taken out in a 4x4 (although we did meet a Spanish couple who walked 3 hours to climb Merlin's Wand!) This is the most expensive part of Wadi Rum but as with everything, prices are negotiable. I think we paid £40 to get taken out to Burragh Canyon and picked up a few days later. You can also camp anywhere in the desert and there is plenty of firewood.

We met a lovely guy called Majed (majedtours@gmail.com) who helped us out with our accommodation in the village and trips to the desert. He made us dinner on a couple of days and invited us to his Bedouin camp, where we spent hours drinking tea. Also, just by having him around during our shopping, we were given local prices.

March/April sounds perfect weather-wise. We certainly felt pretty cold during the nights, and was almost too cold to climb in the shade. There are also loads of great Bedouin and VS-E1 routes.

Anyway I hope this helps and if you do go, have a wonderful time. I found it to be such a friendly and hospitable country.
Dan

In reply to dannyboy83:

Yes, I think buses might be worth considering if you are working round a visit to Petra (very definitely worth a day or two), but the reason I've always used taxis is that all the flights in to Amman (and now the Turkish Airlines one in to Aqaba*) seem to arrive and depart in the small hours of the morning, so a taxi still gives you a full day in Rum and then you can set off back to the airport after dark and another full last day.

It is worth bearing in mind that if you fly Turkish airlines from Edinburgh (but not from anywhere else), you get a double 2x20kg baggage allowance (at least I assume this is still true)! Odd, but great for that big rack of cams.........

In reply to GraMc:

I can echo all of the above, absolutely amazing country and wonderful people.

One tip - take any old rope or longer lengths of tat you can get in your luggage - The bedu love it for tying stuff to camels with! I bartered a camel ride (not recommended, its like riding a square-wheeled bike that wants to bite your kneecaps) and a 4x4 trip with an old 50 half rope I'd just brought as ab tat.

In reply to willworkforfoodjnr:

That reminds me. Take lots of slings and loads of ab tat if you are doing anything at all aadventurous; threads abound and you will get through a lot of tat if you do any abseil retreats.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Carrying a few nuts that you don't mind leaving behind can be useful too, as can practising abbing off jammed stones!