Wadi Rum, Jordan
We spent the day yesterday speeding in a 4-wheel-drive jeep to destinations around the beautiful desert of Wadi Rum. We fish tailed in light sand (to the collective yells of all passengers), launched off of bumps, and struggled to move forward in the deepest of the sand.
After seeing ancient carvings in the basalt mountains, natural arches of sandstone, and places visited by Lawrence of Arabia, (or 'Awrence' as they pronounce it), we settled into our camp for the night; a large, open tent made in the Bedouin style.
As we sat around a blazing fire, the sun set and the stars came out in all their brilliance and clarity. But here is what was most unique. It was totally and completely silent. Not a car, machine, animal, or even the desert wind attempted to break the silence. It was peaceful and wonderfully disorienting to a brain accustomed to the constant presence of sound.
Three of us choose to sleep out under the stars that night, and got the extra welcome of a desert sunrise. As I woke at 5am to the first light, the almost-silence of the desert greeted me. I could count the few sounds around me; 1 fly buzzing (persistent insect), 1 pair of song birds chirping, and one dove cooing (a desert version of 'The 12 Days of Christmas' - but very short).
The desert overall seems quite frugal to me, and in that, very beautiful -- frugal in water, how its creatures use resources, in light, and in sound. It is a place of subtlety in an environment that is most extreme.
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