i'm heading to jordan next week and planning to spend 3 days in Wadi Rum. i'm looking into what i can climb/scramble...i'm comfortable scrambling 3/4 class and top roping outdoors 5.8/5.9 since i'm a noob at this game i don't have any multi-pitch climbing exp. so my plan was to do the bedouin roads w/ a guide:

1. JEBEL RUM TRAVERSE
2. JEBEL UM-ISHRIN
3. JEBEL KHAZALI

- should i nix any of the above to do Burdah Arch or are there good top rope possibilities not to pass up?

- best place to stay in wadi rum (ie. rum village/bedouin camps)?

- recommended climbing/scrambling guides?

- costs?

- best/cheap transport to/back amman - wadi rum?

i know there are tons to do and different routes to take so just wanted to hear from those that's been out there and any suggestions/thoughts are welcome so please post up here or shoot me a PM...any help/info. about jordan/wadi rum would be much appreciated...look'n forward to the desert...mucho gracias!

i'm just back from 3 wks. in jordan and a week of bouldering/scrambling/climbing in wadi rum, outside petra, and dana reserve. here's the 411: i couldn't find any other climbers to join me on my itineary at the hostel i was stay'n in downtown amman and at rum village so i knew going into it solo that it was going to cost me some dinars! what i found out is that its an obstacle just to get to wadi rum by bus so go the way of jett bus from amman to aqaba then minibus to wadi rum...trust me this the route to go! also, try and arrange/set your itineary w/ final costs/price with your bedouin guide via email before you get to wadi rum or your at the mercy of the wadi rum office selecting a guide for you...its a roll of the dice is what i saw so depends on your climbing exp. or comfort level and how much you JD you want to fork over. i found out that there were only two bedouin climbing guides available after i practically emailed every guide via jordan jubliee site and any/all sites that had climbing info. on wadi rum...so the two guides were: Mohammed Hammad of bedouinguides.com & mosalam of bedouinsofwadium.com. here are the price quotes i got from mohammed hammad which included jeep transport and guiding only:

* 150JD Jebel Rum
* 140JD Jebel Khazali
* 70JD Jebel Burdah to Arch


however, i went with bedouinsofwadium as they seemed to have lower prices stated on their website and seemed like they would be negoiatiable on the total package price. my problem was that i ran out of time to work out a deal before i got to wadi rum so when i got there i found out that i had to deal with suleman abu musalam the younger brother instead of the acutal climbing guide mosalam. it was already a bad sign that he didn't want to meet me at visitor center and told me to meetup w/ him at the village and ended up having to negoiate my deal under his used car salesman tactics and pressure sales of trying to sell me camel/jeep tours which i completely wasn't interesed in...since i was stuck in the village and wanted to get climbing they hit me up for 230JD for the jebel rum climb which included transport/lunch/stay at their house. i mentioned that his site had listed it as 150JD for single which included all the above but, said that was wrong and couldn't do it for less...later he had his cousin change the website or remove the climb all together...shady!

anyways, i've climbed and done some mountaineering trips in different parts of the world so i'm familar w/ using the local guides,etc...as for comparing the bedouin guides and the prices they charge to the guides in europe/alps...the difference is that they are usually UIAGM certified/trained and have some sort of insurance and up to date equipment. i brought all my equipment except for the 50m ropes and glad i did since most of the "extra" equipment he had was sketch at best. long story short i still had a blast on the mountain and mosalam was a knowledgeable/safe climbing guide...it was one long azz day but, truely beautiful climb/scramble on jebel rum and route finding coming down and finding the rap anchors is a baitch so yes it would be adviseable to go w/ a local bedouin guide. i later stayed one night at suleman's desert camp which was basic but, nice spot in the desert and shared it w/ another couple...the whole problem i had was dealing w/ this kidd who was always too busy running around trying to think up ways to scam or short cut things instead of providing a quality experience w/ his clients...the guy only had 3 clients including myself to handle! the dood is immature and constantly baitches like a baby about how foreigners are not staying at his camp or using his services,etc...hmmm wonder why! the last straw was on my last morning i needed to catch the one minibus out of the village and barely caught it in time because i ended up having had to find and wake up that fool who was sleeping in the desert w/ his little french ho whose stupid enough to shack up w/ this punkazz. to top it off when i settled up payment w/ the guy before getting on the bus he tried hitting me up for additional 25JD for the jeep ride to/from his desert camp...dood's got ballz! this guy shouldn't be running the business and unfortunately you have to go through this little boy inorder to arrange anything so my advice would be to go w/ Mohammed Hammad as he seems more straight up and stay at the rum village at one of the tents w/ other climbers at 3JD/day and have the guide pick you up from there.

i came back to wadi rum towards the end of my trip and had complete different experience at another desert camp and bouldered/climbed at khazali and barrah canyon which was simply a brilliant and unforgetable experience. i understand the bedouins want to keep it real and its their desert land but, if they expect to charge big time moola to guide like in the alps or himalayas then there needs to be more qualified/trained mountain climbing guides available and with a more professional way of running these outfitters.

two weeks prior two english guys got stuck on the same mountain and had to be helivac out and the next day after my climb an israeli climber fell and broke her leg in multiple places and i saw how there was no official search/rescue party...blame the jordanian govt. and it took all day for a helicopter to finally arrive from aqaba which made an unsuccessful 1st attempt at extraction and wouldn't have been possible to extract the injured if it were not the help of the true peeps of the mountain...the bedouins. i heard both sides and going guided vs. unguided and i believe its one's choice and paying 3k for an evac means you should always have global rescue insurance...this is a whole other arguement that i don't wanna startup here so i'm just sharing my 2 pesos here about my exp. in wadi rum...i talk no b.s. and just tell'n like it is...feel free and hit me up if you need any climbing info., spots for good falafel, accomodations, transport, etc. in wadi rum or jordan. peace.