(Two gold stars if you recognize that musical theater reference.)

Today I wrap up my coverage of the enchanting and mystical Wadi Rum desert.

I have absolutely loved my two full days here. This landscape is one of the most fascinating and complex places I’ve ever laid eyes on, and it’s especially transcendent at sunset and sunrise. Twice a day, the warm desert sand glows deep crimson as the sun makes its way up or down and casts deep, sprawling shadows. It’s the magic hour.

My first Wadi Rum sunset happens at the end of our day-long jeep tour. Nadjah, Hussein, and our fellow guests gather together to relax on matts and sip sweet Bedouin tea. There’s no better way to enjoy it.

Rather than meddle with words, I’ll let the photos tell this story.

The next morning, I get up very early — around 5:30am — to catch sunrise.

Confession: I am SO embarrassed by this, but I have to fess up. The night before, I mention to my tent-mate Ashley that I intend to get up early and watch the sunrise. She asks if I’d wake her up too so we can go together; that sounds like a great idea. Cut to 5:30am — my alarm goes off, and I purposely let it ring loudly for about five extra seconds, until I hear Ashley stir. I proceed to get up, use the restroom facilities outside, and come back to change into warmer clothes. At this point Ashley still hasn’t gotten up, but I’ve made a lot of noise over the past 10 minutes by coming and going from the tent, so I assume she’s changed her mind and wants more sleep — perfectly reasonable, as it was not fun to wrench myself from my cozy bed when the alarm went off. I grab my camera and quietly step outside. The door has a latch on either side, and one of them has to be closed or the door won’t stay shut. So of course I flip the latch because I’m not going to leave the door wide open when it’s freezing outside. … Unbeknownst to me (STUPID ERICA!), I have just locked Ashley inside our tent. In our short time at the camp, we hadn’t realized that if one of us stays and the other goes, the person INSIDE has to get up and lock the door, or else they’re trapped. I go on my merry way to watch the sunrise, completely oblivious to the fact that Ashley is now stuck in our tent. When I return over an hour later, she tells me what happened and I’m SO EMBARRASSED. It turns out right after I left she hopped out of bed, intending to come along too, but found the door locked. She went back to bed until she heard other people stirring outside, at which point she shouted for help until someone came to her rescue and unlocked the door from the outside. YIKES. I repeatedly apologize and Ashley — bless her heart — assures me it’s fine. But I feel so guilty.

Cut back to 5:30am. In near total darkness, I walk about 20 minutes around the corner from our campsite and climb up to a higher vantage point. I then wait nearly a full half hour before the sun actually rises. It’s SO COLD but at this point I’ve committed to sticking it out.

The final moment before sunrise…

And there she is!

I’ve never seen my shadow cast this long before so, naturally, I photograph it over and over. Looking back now, I wish I’d been more creative and done some funny poses.

Yup, this was worth getting out of bed for.

ASHLEY, I AM SO SORRY!

Back at camp, it’s time for breakfast.

Our sunset on day two is also impressive. At this point we’ve summited Jebel Al Hash and are on our way back down to the jeep.

Once back at the jeep, we drive about 45 minutes back to camp. At one point I ask Nadjah to pull over and he kindly obliges so I can snap a few photos of these intense colors on the horizon:

What a spectacular way to wrap up two days in Wadi Rum.

The experience has blown me away. Before coming to Jordan, I had never even heard of this magical place — and I’m so grateful to Nadjah and Green Desert for sharing their home with all of us. No trip to Jordan would be complete without a visit to Wadi Rum.

In case you missed one, here’s a recap of my Wadi Rum posts:

• Welcome to Wadi Rum!
• The Bedouin Experience: Camping in Wadi Rum
• Epic Hikes in Jordan
• Sunrise, Sunset… in Jordan

Green Desert graciously hosted my two-day visit in exchange for photography services. Opinions are my own and I have no hesitation in saying this Wadi Rum experience is truly fantastic.