The journey begins

As Rum was an important site in the history of Arab revolution, it is important as a tourist site. Variation of rock formation and cracks in mountains, sand dunes and their glamorous colors to several springs and inscription sites attracts the visitor of the place. The usual tours take you past "Lawrence Spring", the great red sand dunes in Wadi Um Ishrin, to the Thamoudic inscriptions at Annafishiya, to Al Ghaza'ali area to see the Canyon.

A Nabataean temple is found only 500 meters from the rest house, which is a sign of goddess Allat. It is built of huge sized-stones. Archeologists discovered ruins of a village dating back to 4500 BC.

Um Shallalah, the nearest to the village of Rum, springs from the cracks of the mountain behind the rest house and its water falls in good rainy winter seasons. Dewy pleasant air is felt near to it especially during hot summery days, it is complemented by fig, artemisia, retem and other trees. Some carvings and drawings are also found. Another spring is Abu Aiyneh (or Lawrence spring). It is about 3 kilometers south of Rum village. Near to this spring there is the permanent camp.

Al Ghaza'ali Rose-Red Mountain, 8 kilometers far from the Rum village, is a very beautiful place to see, it is not very long less than 100 meters and it is where some inscriptions have been found dating back to Nabataean period. This is the mountain that is very often shown as "typical of Wadi Rum". 3 kilometers to the south of Wadi Rum is Traif al Marag. It is an archeological area where Nabataean inscriptions where also found, in addition to a carved birds' head. This particular area is important because it connects Rum village with the rest of the surrounding desert. In it Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. To the south of Rum village about 4 kilometers far you reach al Kharetah, it has ancient inscriptions and drawings one of which is a map of Wadi Rum.

Al-Brairah is almost 8 kilometers to the southeastern of the village. It is a 1 kilometer square area of soft red sand hills and beautiful small white stones between the high sky mountains. These sand dunes are huge in the size of mountains or are very small. If you dare, and have the required gear, you may enjoy sliding down from top to bottom of these dunes. Near al Brairah of about 1 kilometer one comes across Annafishiya, where more carvings and drawings are found. These carvings present a war scene.

There are three towers in the area of Al-Burj: Burdah Tower is about 25 kilometers southeast of Rum village. It is the highest; measuring about 300 meters. It connects the two mountains with a rocky bridge. Several of the Bedouin Roads-Rum Guides tours will take you up to the bridge. You usually need about 4 hours to climb and to come down again. Most climbers stop there, but if you can summon the energy to continue to the top of the mountain the view from top of the bridge is spectacular seeing very large plains, valleys and mountains. Um Fruth tower is much closer to the ground a gully makes climbing to the top easy. It is about 15 meters high. On the other hand the bridge is pretty narrow, so people who don't like heights are advised to be careful and/or have a sympathetic companion who is willing to lend a hand. The third and smallest tower is Ruqaibat Al-Wedk. It is 10 kilometers southeast of Rum village.

Um Ishrin is the third highest mountain of the area. It reaches the height of 1753 meters and located to the northeast of Rum village. To the east of Um Ishrin you see al Haram Mountain. It resembles the shape of the pyramids of Egypt. The sunset point (Um Sebtah) is a must see spot. It is 14 kilometers far from Rum village. The sunrise point near Ghazali Mountain is beautiful and attractive. The sight of golden sun rays falling over the mountains is a site not to be missed and never forgotten. The Dam area is where dams are built to collect springs water. Several dams are built in several places for that purpose. Currently they are not in use because the rainfall is scarce and the population is more, so the government drew water from ed-disi for the villagers.

Other places worth seeing are the arch of White Reddah, al Berrah trails and many others.

Mountaineering is a local as well as foreign hobby. Bedouins of the area have developed a variety of methods and routs to reach the summits. Some are easy and others are hard and require experience and special gear. Trekkers and climbers may arrange for a unforgettable experience in Wadi Rum.