From the desert. Seeing Wadi Rum for the first time was like arriving on another planet. I had never seen rock formations like this before. What I was most excited about was getting to look at them from above...in a hot air balloon!

Hot Air Ballooning: Just before sunrise we arrived in Wadi Rum. We watched the flight crew unroll and inflate the balloon in less than 10 minutes! Then, we climbed into a big basket for take-off. I was really excited for my first hot air balloon flight.

Take-off was so gentle I could barely feel us leaving the ground. The balloon climbed to about 1,000 feet and we watched the sun come up over the desert mountains. The flight was almost silent. Every few minutes the balloon captain would use a gas burner to heat the balloon to take us higher.

During the flight, the crew on the ground followed the balloon in pick-up trucks so they could meet us for landing. When the basket finally touched down, several crew members held the basket in place as we climbed out. Then, the balloon was detached from the basket and deflated. (Be sure to watch the deflation video!)

4x4 Tour of Wadi Rum: After our hot air balloon adventure, we met Ali. Like a number of Bedouin men who live in Wadi Rum, Ali makes his living giving tours to visitors. We piled into Ali’s jeep and headed out on the desert sands for some exploring.

Wadi Rum is around 80 miles long from north to south. It is only around 1 mile wide. Like most deserts, there is very little plant life. Wadi Rum is covered with soft, deep red sand and giant mountains. These mountains, called jebels, are made of sandstone that has been eroded by wind and weather for over 50 million years. The erosion has left strange twists and knots in the mountains. With a good imagination you can start to see cool shapes and figures in the rock!

More of the desert landscape: The Desert Castles.

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