WHS#57

Deserts have always been a bit of a mystery for me. I'm from a wet tropical place, and I hate the heat, but desert landscapes have been quite enchanting to me lately. Ever since the experience of dune-buggying and sandboarding in Huacachina in Peru, the dunes have been calling me. But as cool as dunes are, by far the most enchanting desert landscape for me was Wadi Rum. Yes, more so than the canyons of Arizona, oases of the Atacama, or makhteshim of the Negev, the various formations of Wadi Rum have been the most memorable for me. The sandstone mountains just glow gold with a certain magic, drawing you to look closer and explore deeper into the desert. i visited in April 2018, taking a detour from Petra to Amman to enjoy a half-day jeep tour of Wadi Rum. Obviously, half a day is too short to explore this huge protected area, but it was a decent taste test, if you will. And from that taste test, I can easily conclude that this is one delicious dish of a site. From the visitor center, I could already see the huge sandstone mountains in the distance, but even their scale from there isn't enough to let you imagine what it's like to be among them. Wadi Rum is a labyrinth of the valleys formed between these mountains, and it's exploring these valleys that truly sets it apart from any other desert. Yes, the nearby Negev and Sinai, and pretty much every major desert has exceptionally scenic areas, most notably the sandstone forests of the Sahara, but I think Wadi Rum is just on another level of scenic value.

The first stop on the jeep tour was this towering slope of red sand on the mountainside. It was such fun trying to summit it, almost in vain, as the sand is so fine, you just sink with every step. The view from above is worth the struggle, though. The next stop highlighted the cultural heritage in a small surface of a great sandstone outcropping. These were the petroglyphs of Wadi Rum, testament to its role as a crucial trade route and home of nomadic peoples. A few drawings of camels here are snapshots of history preserved. Next, I visited a valley that narrowed into an incredibly scenic canyon. The last stop was the Bedouin camp which offered a nice hot complementary cup of roasted sugar tea. All throughout, the perpetual vistas of the mountains of different shapes towering over us made it impossible not to enjoy being there. It's such a scenic place that even though it doesn't fulfill any other natural WHS criteria, the beauty of the whole landscape alone is enough testament of OUV. Throw in the fact that this is a mixed site, as a historic place of great significance to prehistoric, historic, and modern people who are lucky enough to pass this extraordinary site, and you've got a solid WHS.