Jordan holds numerous treasuries, hidden off the beaten tracks. One of them is located near the Saudi borderline, around al-Omari checkpoint ( al Hadithah in the Saudi side). This jewel is called the wadi dahek, and it is surprisingly mostly unknown, even for the Jordans themselves.
This wadi totally constrats with its surroudings. The wadi itself is white with limestone and chalk, where as the desert around is pitch black, with numerous basaltic dark stones spreaded all over. And in arabic, « dahek » has to do with the idea of smiling…Legend says that when the discovered the wadi dahek after seeing so much dark colors around, the bedouins couldn’t help but grin broadly, revealing their immaculates teeth…in the middle of a desert equally immaculate :-), surrounded with a black east desert.