Wadi Rum Tourist Traps

Having just returned from a 10 day independent tour of Jordan with its wonderful history and charming people - a night spent in the desert at Wadi Rum was the highlight.
We booked via www.wadirumdiscovery.com - Ayesh is a Bedouin who's family have lived in the area for many years. Infect we met many of his brothers, cousins and family whilst there - everyone seemed to know Ayesh!
He was a charming and hospitable host who made sure we saw the best of what the desert had to offer. Ayesh can arrange a trip tailored to your needs - 4x4 ride, mountain climbing & trekking.
Having read other reviews about the noise from other camps and even from the roads - the experience at Ayesh's camp is a world away from all of this, and you will not hear another sound......... we had the luxury of being his only guests that night and felt incredibly privileged. Lying in the desert looking at the stars is a truly magical experience that you will never forget.
The camp whilst basic offered far more facilities than we expected. There are toilets and showers (which we didn't' t use due to water being such a precious resource in the desert). The food - cooked by Ayesh - was delicious and plentiful which we ate around an open fire.
I would highly recommend Ayesh if you want to experience the true charm of a real Bedouin.
Name: Ayesh Ali Al-zalabih
Phone number: +962 776 924 937
info@wadirumdiscovery.com
www.wadirumdiscovery.com

best wishes

Hello
We have been in wadi rum last week with Ayesh (www.wadirumdiscovery.com) and we spend a great tour and camping. His camp fantastic and he speak English very well.
E-mail- info@wadirumdiscovery.com
Ayesh have been a desert guide for many years already. he know where to find the most beautiful and impressive places of Wadi Rum and also its secrets .Wadi Rum is his homeland and he love it very much.
Ayesh will answer all the questions that may come to your mind - about bedouin dress, customs, history or any other aspect concerning the Bedouin you are interested in. On wadi rum discovery tours, Ayesh will be catered original Bedouin food and if you like, you can learn about bedouin traditional ways of dealing with everyday life.
This is still not enough for you. To teach you more about the modern Bedouin life, Ayesh can arrange home stay with families in Wadi rum desert.

wadi rum village- Aqaba-jordan
phone number: 00962 (0)776 924 937
hiking,jeep tours,camels trips,scrambling and trekking and jeep tours, camping.

thank you very much

2 more images

This was an event offered to us by out tour company.
Basically, we were driven to a Bedouin camp (hardly a temporary affair) where we we entertained by very distant musicians and very distant dancers! Our Bedouin tent was a long way from the action.
Food was served ----but it was not good! Extremely tough meat, stale bread, apples and drinks.
To make matters worse, Italien campers, staying on site, ran through the food area and took lots of it ---imagining it was for them too!
The music and dance looked fun but if I hadn't bothered to wander away from my group then I wouldn't have known that this was a live event!
A final insult: our tour group had to leave after less than 3 hours.
Do not waste your money!

Unique Suggestions: Try to get close to the action and eat a lot before you go there!

Fun Alternatives: Stay in Aqaba or wherever and enjoy a local meal with genuine local entertainment.

I used Aodeh for my Wadi Rum jeep tour and overnight stay. It was the worst mistake in Jordan and really made my Wadi Rum trip a disappointment. Here are my reason why:

- He was totally uninterested in explaining anything when I asked him - he just pointed out things (canyon, sand dune, etc) and would not give any explantions about anythink. All I got was one word answers, eg, I asked him what animals live in the dester and he said hyenas did but not in Wadi Rum. What a stupid answer!!!!
- His general attitude was that he was totally uninterested and I felt like a burden on him.
- He never gave me a clear structure for the day and seemed irritaed whenevr I asked him where we were going next.
- He told me not to buy much food for lunch (this was at 11am) as he would prepare the evening meal. He didn't start cooking until 8pm and I was starving the whole aftrnoon. He never offered any food or drink.
- He took a 2 hour nap without informing me because he said he didn't sleep the night before because of a wedding. Hardly my problem.
- Whenever we stopped, he read my Lonely Planet guide and said that all the other guides were rubbish!!
- At the camp in the evening, he said that he wanted to leave me whilts he visited his friends for a few hours. This was my first time inthe desert and I was nervous about staying alone. He kep saying it was safe but I didn't feel safe enough to let alone, especiallly since he insited on carrying a dagger!!!! In the end, I told him I didn't want to stay witrh him and asked him to drop me off in the village.
- Food consisted of the blandest fried chicken ever - no spices, no taste. Chicked had been fried in oil without anything ie any coating. Got upset stomache next day.

- the only 2 positives were that he spoke good English and he had a covered jeep, which helped with the hot weather.

PLEASE AVOID THIS MAN AS HE WILL RIP YOU OFF AND IS THOROUGHLY UNPLEASANT. THERE ARE MUCH BETTER GUIDES OUT THERE.

I loved Wadi Rum, the only down side is that I used Aouda Abdillah as a guide. He is listed on the great Jordan Jubilee web site. I'm thinking he may have paid for that spot as he's a liar and thief.

In an email he promised to be my personal guide on the trip. When I got there he gave me to his younger brother who only spoke a few words of english. He then claimed he never agreed to be a guide and only offered to provide a driver. I have the email so he was lying. His brother was a terrible guide. He did not take me to many sites (eg the map of wadi rum in the cave). He took me to a few places where he would get out of the truck and then lay down and nap for 20-30 minutes. On a 5-6 hour trip they provided no food or water. I heard great things from other travellers who had better guides. they were also provided with simple but cooked meals and water. My driver could not answer questions or carry on the simplest of conversations. The best i got is that he would point at something and say "Bridge 1" or "Bridge 2". After the trip when I met him again I complained about these things, not loudly or aggressively but letting him know i was disappointed. At which point he became verbally abusive and confrontational.

Aodeh Abdulla Al Zlapeh
Desert Service, Camping, Hiking and Camel Trips
Wadi Rum Village - Aqaba, Jordan
mobile: + 962 (0)79 5617902

Unique Suggestions: Wadi Rum is one of the top sites in Jordan. Try to get a personal recommendation from someone who's been and enjoyed their guide.

Fun Alternatives: I don't believe there is an alternative. You pretty much need a guide to see this area.

We, 2 women travellers, booked a tour through the Jordan desert from Aqaba/ Wadi Rum to the Syrian border for many thousand pounds. What we should have got was a tailor made holiday of a lifetime instead a package tour through the Wadi Rum following the tourist tracks was all that was on offer.

Unique Suggestions: We have come to believe that if you want something special and adventurous this is not the place to come!!

Fun Alternatives: As we threw good money after a bad cause, and have now to resort to the courts, we urge to be very cautious to whom one is entrusting one's money.

You don't really have choice. Officially everything is centralised in the visitor's center. The only thing you can do there is chose what kind of tour you want to do and pay the regular price.
Worse, you don't even chose your driver (I wouldn't call him a guide!), he is assigned to you!
If you are unlucky he will barely speak English. In my case I had the chance to be with an arab friend who could do the translation...
Don't expect too much explanations from this guy neither, his job is to drive you around and that's about it!

Unique Suggestions: Be ready and check before the different things to be seen and what you can expect in any given tour.
At least you could maybe negotiate to include some more spots in the regular tour and you are sure you don't get fooled by the driver.

During the different halts, take your time and don't be afraid to walk around if you feel this is going too fast.
Our 4hours tours was indeed a 3h30 tour!

Even worse before the end, our driver passed by his own house, showed us his kids, expecting some kind of tip!

Fun Alternatives: To bypass the visitors' center, there are some local guides you can contact before arriving, either by phone or via the web!
Make some search and try to find one of those, in any way, they can't be worse...