Snow on the Sahara

The Bedouin people are renowned throughout the world for their kindness to strangers. It is the Bedouin way that a guest will be offered the very best a family has to offer in terms of food and water. This tradition evolved from the very harshness of the desert; without relying on others' hospitality, a traveler could never hope to cross the treacherous expanses of desert that the Bedouin call home.

The modern day deluge of tourists has made living up to these time honored traditions something of a challenge, but the Bedouin people in Wadi Rum are still without a doubt some of the nicest people I've met while traveling. As is customary, our guide took Ketan and I to a Bedouin tent where we were served a local, and delicious, sweet tea made with desert mint. As I walked into the tent I noticed that our guide did not remove his sandals, and I was unsure if I should remove my shoes, so I asked him.

He replied, "It is not for us to say whether you should remove your shoes or not, such matters are not at all important, all that is our important is that you are our guest, and that you should be comfortable."

I have never witnessed such humble hospitality.

We had dinner that night in another tent, and afterwards were free to place our mattresses where we liked to sleep under the sky. Our guide joked, "Tonight you stay at a 1 million star hotel." He could not have been more right. We were lucky enough to be there on a moonless night, and the starscape above was something beyond imagination. The sky was a scattering of fresh fallen snow on a carpet of black velvet . You could see our very own Milky Way Galaxy strewn out just above the horizon, but instead of a whitish haze you could see shapes and forms almost like clouds made of stars in the sky.

I barely slept that night, but spent most of it staring up at the sky and listening to the sound of quarreling desert foxes in the distance.