Thursday 22 December 2011

Cycling the dead sea route from Amman to Aqaba

We start on a early morning and leave the city before traffic rush hour. Madaba is the first stop before heading down, down and down to the dead sea. Some 1200 m lower we reach the lowest point on earth: -400 m below sea level. Beautiful green colors and very very salty water. Luckily it's dry and much warmer than in Amman.
For the next 350 km we follow the valley to Aqaba. The landscape is changing between sandy dust and green oasis's, traffic is low, but beware of the truck drivers trying to be multitasking (drive, take over, be on the phone and wave; men can do everything at once, we know that!!!). They are also the ones to invite us for tea. 
Villages are very scarce, finding camping spots is easy. In comparison finding food can be tricky: we would never have guessed that there is a supermarket in that hut! 
Wherever we stop, we are often surrounded by men; women are not very commonly seen in public. And if, they don't usually talk to us which is very sad...
On our way we have been invited for tea by the police, the civil defense or the military. It's difficult to make some progress, so sometimes we pretend not to hear their invitation call. The poor guys are simply BORED!
We reach Aqaba four days later and take the ferry to Nuweiba, Egypt.

beautiful downhill to the dead sea

sleeping at Wadi Mujib chalets

The Dead Sea: green, blue, beautiful

let water make the desert bloom

arabic advertisement

this is a men's world

camping in the dead sea valley


water makes the whole difference

supermarket !


watch the driver: multitasking is possible, even for men!




3333 km! and a  still sleepy Yann.

a donation from the people of China to the people of Jordan ? (in the middle of nowhere)

use skin cream, or you will look like this (Yann!)

bye Jordan; hello Egypt

Petra - Wadi Rum

When visiting Jordan, it's nearly impossible to leave out Petra and Wadi Rum. The first one because entrance fee is so high, the second one because Laurence of Arabia was there and climbing is at its best!
So, off we go. By bus to Wadi Musa which is the entrance village to Petra. Taxi prices have doubled compared to Amman. It's normal, there are ONLY tourists with lots of money coming here! 
We spend the evening in a bedouin camp near little Petra eating some food cooked in a hole in the ground. Excellent!
The next day we visit Petra which is astonishing! Beautiful colors and sandstone canyons along with some truly amazing buildings in the rock.
Next day: off to Wadi Rum. We meet our friends who have come out for the weekend. By chance there are 2 cycling couples at the same campground. We share some stories and information. They have sooo much more kilometers in their legs!! 
Trekking Wadi Rum is astonishing and the bedouin trails involve some easy climbing. We leave out the hard stuff and take it easy…
The last evening is spent eating some delicious food before heading back to Amman the next morning where we left our bicycles to cycle the dead sea route.


Bus stop on the way to Petra
little Petra




Petra







Wadi Rum - camel waiting for...?



the way? - follow the arrow!






some way finding scouts (without success)



where's the TOY? (no, it's not Chantal!)