Early in the morning we say goodbye to Jolanda and we leave Petra for Wadi Rum in the south. Most of you may never have heard of it, but many of you have seen it. For the old generation: It was one of the places where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. For the new generation: It was the backdrop of the Martian (starring Matt Damon)..

Of course I am more of the Lawrence of Arabia type ...

The King's highway, flanked by magnificent views of the mountains and deserts, brings us to Wadi Rum. There the landscape changes and steep rocks jut up in red colors from the desert sand.

At the entrance of the park our Jordan Pass does its job and we drive to the welcome center, where a bedouin appears who owns the company that drives some jeeps through the area. I read that the number of jeeps has increased to about 300, and in spite of being a protected area, there is fear of degradation with so many 4-wheel drive vehicles.

Our guide Atallah (Gift of god) appears We jump on the back of the jeep, safari-like, and drive into the wadi. 

The land is hard to describe. It is a mixture of nature and history, but looks as from a different planet.We are dropped off at various points, but it is not so much that we want to see a particular hill of red sand, or a narrow canyon through a massive rock . It is more that by climbing the hills and walking through the canyon we start to become part of the surrounding. We feel the intense heat. We hear the immense silence. Our eyes become accustomed to the pervasive red or yellow glare.

Atallah shows us the spring where Lawrence refused to drink water, after his bedouin guide told him that white people need to drink, but a bedouin can do for a long time without water. Lawrence decided to imitate the arabs and he ended up being their leader.

I ask Atallah his opinion about Lawrence. 'Captain Lawrence was a good man. He kept his promises, but the british empire did not.' Interesting that this bedouin has such a clear concept of Lawrence. I imagine quite a few Europeans may hardly know what Lawrence has accomplished.

In the evening we drive to a steep rock wall, out of the wind, where Atallah prepares dinner on a campfire. The sun sets and soon the first stars appear . As I walk around, I see countless animal tracks in the sand. Atallah tells me they are of foxes, chicken, rats, snakes, beetles and lizards. For me it looks like a desert, but for a bedouin these are grazing grounds,

Over the campfire, after Sisi falls asleep with her head on my lap, I ask Atallah about his tribe. He tells me the story of his great great great grandfather, his quest for a woman from a hostile Saudi tribe. The fights, fleeing north in desperation, the new chances when he met a good chief, who gave him protection and a new wife, a new son who reclaimed the lost desert area. Ah, the stories are fascinating and real. I feel we become friends as we exchange very personal experiences.

The night is brilliant with stars and the cool air softly blows over my face as I cover myself with a thick blanket and turn in for the night. The campfire still has some glowing ambers.