My Head In the Clouds

The Middle East was never on my radar. And if you’ve been following my blog, you’d know I landed here after marriage- a reluctant NRI, learning to build a life away from home. Yet, what I once saw as a detour became one of life’s most beautiful redirections. This region opened doorways into lands that transported me into the glorious past of ancient cities and civilisations.

History has always held me captive. There’s something about the old, the layered and the storied that quietly calls to me. I love the meeting of old and new, though never quite the ultra-modern. Growing up in India and being a diligent student of history, my imagination often wandered; wondering what life might have been like in the ancient Harappan era or the mystical Egypt.

Little did I know that time, circumstance and geography would eventually lead me to walk through the pages of those very history books. Standing before the timeless pyramids of Giza, exploring the ancient Egyptian temples and tombs of Luxor, wandering through the old city of Cairo, the rose-red city of Petra and soaking in the mystical romance of Wadi Rum; all of it has been surreal.

Glamping in Wadi Rum was ethereal – raw, unfiltered and otherworldly all at once. Sleeping under endless stars, surrounded by silence and sandstone, felt both grounding and dreamlike. I could almost hear the camels’ bells, see men trotting the ancient trade route from Egypt to the Levant, seeking food, water, shelter.

I’ve long been drawn to natural landscapes like caves and canyons. While I haven’t yet seen the Grand Canyon, walking through The Siq – the dramatic passageway to Petra, a modern Seven Wonder felt like a moment suspended in time. The Red City is undeniably breathtaking, a marvel to be experienced at least once.

And yet, it is Wadi Rum that etched itself deepest into my heart. A place where history, landscape and stillness meet; a reminder of why some journeys stay with us forever.