The Rise of Skywalker: on location in Jordan’s Wadi Rum, home of many a film set
- The dramatic desert landscape has stood in for otherworldly locations in movies including The Martian and the final Star Wars instalment
- Also known as the Valley of the Moon, adventure-seekers are drawn to its sandstone cliffs and Bedouin culture
In a trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, the Star Wars film that opens on December 19, we see Rey racing across a desert landscape, light sabre in hand, trying to outrun a spacecraft. The landscape is familiar to me, and for good reason: I visited this dramatic desert on holiday in Jordan. Wadi Rum is just four hours south of Amman.
After a long, flat and mostly unremarkable drive on the Desert Highway, you arrive at the crest of a hill to behold this remarkable site, also called the Valley of the Moon. It feels like you’ve landed on another planet.
As far back as Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, filmmakers have flocked to this site for its magnificent scenery. For tourists, Wadi Rum also offers a chance to experience the traditional Bedouin culture of southern Jordan.
I had never heard the term “wadi” before arriving in Jordan: It refers simply to a valley carved by water. But Jordan is famous for its wadis, most of which are narrow canyons that provide great hiking and an escape from the sun. Wadi Rum is vast, the largest in Jordan, taking up 280 square miles, almost exactly the same size as Singapore, and extending south to Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia.