Glamping on Mars

Our MENA trip in 2019 was spontaneous and fluid after my husband wrapped a business trip in Riyadh. After our time in Saudi Arabia we did a very quick hop through Egypt, Jordan, & Palestine before heading back home! While we were visiting Petra, I made spontaneous plans for us to also stay a couple nights in Wadi Rum – I mean we made it all the way here right?! It was about a 2 hour drive from Petra and just like that.. it’s like we were transported to Mars! Red sand, massive rock formations.. and just HUGE! The protected area is the size of New York City but completely barren! The landscape looks so alien; so many movies have been filmed here like The Martian, Dune, and Aladdin to name a few – Wadi Rum is nicknamed The Valley of the Moon.

We stayed at Memories Aicha Luxury Camp, a 5-10 minute drive from Wadi Rum Visitor’s Centre, nestled between two massive rock faces. From the quick research I did on camps, Memories Aicha was definitely the most bougie of the bunch! Everything you’d expect at a nice hotel is provided for you here.. glamping indeed!! The only thing missing was wifi OR phone service, great for those looking to get away from it all but it was anxiety inducing for us lol. Luckily a quick drive around the mountain near Rum Village gave us a bar or two of service to catch up on emails and phone calls.

Memories Aicha was an incredible and otherworldly experience while remaining very family-friendly and comfortable for us traveling with a toddler. Meals at the on-site restaurant were buffet style with endless options, included in the room rate! You can even request packed lunches to take out on your desert excursions! Speaking of which, we scheduled a camel ride tour of the desert right at reception and a local Bedouin arrived with two camels to take us on our journey! He even took some photos for us!

The owner of Memories Aicha is also a great astrophotographer and takes all the guests out every night for a stargazing tour. My daughter was so sick most of our trip so we decided to stay in and rest.. I still have fomo over it but I just know we’ll be back sooner than later!