UKC

Hi, 

Looking for some information for my first trip to Wadi Rum regarding accommodation. Any info would be great. 

Cheers 

Dave 

Hi Dave ,

I have PM'd you. 

Cheers,

Gwain.

Hi Dave,

Delighted to have chance to respond to this:

I went to the fantastic country of Jordan and to Wadi Rum several years ago with my wife and returned to Wadi Rum for climbing with a group of friends in 2017. I'd go back there again in a shot!  The word magical is often used in relation to Wadi Rum. And it is!

There are a number of "desert camps" and it can be a bit confusing to work them out.  But if you go to Saleh Mosah you just will not go wrong. He and his family run a lovely setup and are the most genuine people who are experienced in ensuring you get the most out of your trip.

 https://www.wadirumtours.com/   

 Easiest for him Whatsapp, as he can write/type basic English but is able to talk fluently if you in due course have a chat with him regarding details.  send him a message:  00962795445966    You'll have an unforgettable trip.  In my personal opinion the scrambling is absolutely the best in the world. The climbing - somewhat less so.

There is probably no doubt that the scrambly "bedouin" routes make Wadi Rum the best climbing area in the world for competent V Diff climbers (though the seriousness of some routes should not be underestimated). However the more conventional climbing is also world class if you pick your routes sensibly. My article on here should give a good starting point: https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=8747

My article is now a bit out of date on accomodation in the village, with there now being plenty of options and I'm sure most will be great. Last year I organised for a group to stay at "Bedouin Village Camp" (easily googled) for a trip that had to be cancelled due to covid - Hamad could not have been more helpful. 

I cannot overemphasise, however, that the best thing about Rum is still to arrange to get dropped off for a few days at a time to camp in the quiet outlying areas. Spending your trip entirely based in the village would be seriously missing out. Please take a few bin liners and clear up any rubbish in the more popular areas.

+1 for spending time camping/climbing in the remote desert. We spent two weeks in the park just before COVID, with two trips out and a stay in Rum Village with Hamad in Bedouin Village Camp.  He was kind enough to drive us to the desert and lend us water containers.

It’s one of the best places in the world for adventure climbing, just don’t expect a clip up. 

Sadly, some clip ups are now available.

I've climbed La Guerre Sainte and thought it to be magnificent, and a valuable addition to Wadi Rum, being on a wall with precious little potential for trad-protected routes.

I've also done and thoroughly enjoyed many of the big trad routes, including first ascents, and thought how terrible it would be were they to be bolted.

Clearly, bolting reasonably protectable lines in such a place is stealing from the possible to create the convenient, but there are whole walls with few options for gear placement.

There's scope for a variety of styles in Rum, and IMO to take absolutist stance covering the whole area is to deny the possibility of some amazing climbing and leave nothing of value in its stead.

I do get that argument. On the other hand, it seems to head towards assuming that we should always "exploit" an area to the maximum for climbing and I'm not sure that should be the case. I think I can live with the idea of bolts in Rum if they really are confined to faces with no real possibility for unbolted lines rather than being squeezed between existing trad lines or providing convenient descents from adventurous routes.

In which case we are in complete agreement!

Good🙂. Though I'm not sure that all the bolting fits those constraints.

There are plenty options now in rum and the desert from luxury bubble camps with jacuzzis, to budget hostels in the village. Guess it depends on your budget. 

I can recommend Atullah from shabab Sahara 0776976356 super helpful guys with options both in the village and desert. 

I also highly recommend biving wild in the desert it's magical. 

I live in Jordan message me if you have any other logistics questions

The discussion should also take into account local climbers.  Most routes done after 2005 have bolted pitches. Foreigners bolting 8b+ mega projects, doesn't really give back to the local climbing community. 

Yes, I get the impression that things have sadly swung towards a "euro" style of bolts where "needed".

It is not bolts but these dreadful and completely out of place developments which are the real threat to Rum. Built by outsiders they often bring nothing to the local economy while destroying the fragile desert which is the livelihood of the local Bedouin both by their traditional lifestyle and by sensitive tourism. Rum is simply not a large enough area for recent developments to be sustainable. Some even encroach on the so called "protected area". The desert does not need the hum of generators or jacuzzis. 

It's all down to budget, most are pretty expensive I thought. Finding somewhere around £15/day was hard. Ours with Atayek was closer to £32, which times 15 nights was pretty expensive for a shack and a meal of rice and chicken. I'd say shop around, try find the cheapest base in town and do a few days in the desert (expensive in a camp, free if you wild camp like we did). Your host will be able to organize night at desert camps. I wrote a blog if you like a read about logistics and routes

One thing to keep in mind is that Jordan is being used at the moment to quarantine migrant workers heading back to Saudi Arabia. Aqaba, Petra, Wadi Rum and even Amman are chock-a-block with Egyptians. Apparently, it's not even worth trying to find accomodation in Aqaba unless you're willing to book into a 4/5 star hotel.

Locals have no idea how long this situation will last, but seem happy to be back in business.

Do you have any links to share on that for further reading ? 

It would seem odd if, living in Jordan, you were not aware of it.

In Reply to Everybody,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I will update this post once i return with any extra information.