Overview
- During a visit on Wednesday, the royals met local tour operators, gathered around a bonfire, and sampled hiking and rock-climbing routes in Wadi Rum.
- They arrived on a replica Ottoman-era Hejaz Railway steam train operated by the Jordan Heritage Revival Company that features a staged Great Arab Revolt reenactment.
- Queen Rania promoted the site on Instagram, calling Wadi Rum a must-see and praising its proximity to Petra.
- Wadi Rum’s sandstone landscapes, petroglyphs, and canyons underpin its UNESCO status, and its scenery has doubled for planets in films such as Dune, Star Wars, and The Martian.
- Coverage also notes reported plans to revive the original Hejaz Railway linking Damascus and Madinah under a Turkey–Syria–Jordan agreement, a development not yet realized.