Bikepacking Jordan Bike Trail

[English subtitles available] Mit meinem Bruder Jan über den Jordan Bike Trail. Eine wunderschöne, aber auch prägende Radreise zwischen Falafel, fliegenden Steinen und der Frage: Who let the dogs out?

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In a shed in Jordan… Temperature: 3 degrees. Dogs: None. Up to now. Safety: Visible. Comfort: Smells like shed… Yes, maybe the way we started our trip was naive. I did not think a lot about that it might be strange to cycle Jordan. As a woman. And also the fact that there are 5 times more Shepherd dogs than people… We did not know that before. My brother Jan and me wanted to take the Jordan Bike Trail to ride from Madaba to Aqaba on the Red Sea within 10 days. I can tell you now: At least we NEARLY succeeded. We start our first stage now! Trying to find the way… Start is in Madaba And, yeah, the weather is okay not too hot today. 80% of Jordan is desert. The fact that we had to put on our rain jackets after 1.5k, did not fit to our imagination of a desert. I had packed my rain jacket on the bottom… And the sun cap on the top! There are many curves in Jordan. And you find a herd behind every curve. And with every herd, you find at least 10 shepherd dogs. And the DO NOT like cyclists. We push very slowly… Yes… Shit… Since our early childhood, Jan and me are afraid of dogs. What we were confronted here, was the STRONGEST therapy you can imagine. Very relaxing bicycle holiday! Trying to encourage each other did not really help. Hiking with a bicycle is nothing new for me. But, honestly I have to say: There were more Relaxing Hike-a-Bikes than followed by 10 shepherd dogs. Situations like this happened every 500 meters. Our progress on the route: Again only this “upper single-digit speed range”. Yes, the start was pretty sobering. On the countryside, we were haunted by dogs, in the towns we passed, kids threw stones on us. We tried not to lose our courage. There is a perfect turn in our day now! After kids threw stones on us and we were haunted by dogs I think I was never followed by so many dogs! Now we found a really good Camping spot! As you see! As you see, it’s not advised to leave the tent at night You should think very well about which direction you chose. But, I would say: Nice view! Not a long time that we stayed on our own. Katrin is cooking. What’s on the menu for tonight? Couscous. We already have some spectators. Very interesting what we are doing here. But everyone’s very friendly… “Das ist Hammer!” [German, This is awesome!] Yes, this is awesome here with all these friends! People were unbelievably friendly. They brought some delicious…what’s the name? I think…Couscous with…some leaves around… Very delicious. Very, very delicious! In the evening, we had some time for ourselves. We needed that. We had to digest the day. Especially the Kids throwing stones made me thinking. Is it envy? Fury? Scorn of the western world? 9:26. We recognize that it is very…WARM here. We need a lot of suncream today. I think I should have left my down jacket at home! Yes, this night it was not very cold. That was a very rash conclusion as we would see soon. As you see, hard work up here! Today, the pulse is not on ist limit dued to dogs, but dued to the gradient… Also that: A VERY rush conclusion. Our lunch break we spent in a little cafe on the top. There, we got to know the hospitality of the People. What I noticed: Attention was mostly restricted to Jan. I was welcomed, and then, ignored. How to describe the afternoon? Wait a moment… We needed new strategies. We have ultra-light equipment the tent is only 2 kg but for not making it too easy we filled our capacities with stones. This is our protection against dogs who make it very difficult for us the whole time. Jan plays handball I am teacher of sports No, seriously, this is very uncool. They are very aggressive But apart from that, the landscape is very, very nice… Adrenaline! Yes, we have no lack of adrenaline! Good luck that we did not need to use the Stones. To keep a cool head with all this pressure we had to give a helping hand. In a dry country like Jordan you are happy when you find a place with water. Where you can have a rest. Really calmly. But places with water are not only attractive for US . There is alarm of sheps! Shit, our stuff is still lying over there! My helmet!!! Oh no… I think this was the biggest herd of shep I saw in my whole life. We could forget about riding on for a while. First, the plan was to camp in Wadi Mujib. For that, we had to increase 600m in altitude and then, on the other side, decline for 800m in altitude. More a hiking trail here, right? For the most different reasons, progress was very slow again. Flying stones again. And also if we were not injured: That did hurt. In the late afternoon, we were nearly on the bottom of the Canyon. And nearly on the bottom (!) we met Aser. Aser has been fishing with his friends, and told us, that we took a dead end road. Dead end roads are never good, but dead end raods with loss of 600m in altitude are a catastrophy. Aser did not mention to drive us to the top again. The car was a little bit older but worked like a dream You just had to fix the door. Aser is teacher of history in the capital Amman, but he spends the weekends with his family in Wadi Mujib. He loves the countryside but for work, he needs to go to the City. Aser was unbelievably helpful, and was really worried about our safety. And, honestly spoken: We were not very convinced ourselves either, when we finally found a place to spend the night. We arrived…hopefully… As time had passed by very quickly and it is quite late now and the plan with the Mujib Canyon did not work We found a small Two-Room-Apartment Not THAT inviting. Yes, we will put up the tent here later. Unfortunately, there are very many dogs here… We barricaded the entrance with the bikes! We had a more idyllic picture of camping before. There is a huge, very huge XXL beetle on the floor We have to remove it before putting up the tent Indeed, we have two rooms, so each of us can have his own room! – Oh no!!! It took us a long time till we could sleep. Barricaded ourselves in empty walls… Feeling unsafe is not a nice feeling. But on the next morning, the world was better again. Good morning! – Good morning! The sun is shining into our little Two-Room-Apartment! And coffee is even ready! And: The sense of humour was back! I think Jan has a lack of sleep! Yes, I have! I am REALLY looking forward to this cup of hot coffee! To get into the South more quickly, we took the highway. Now we are next to Kerak We have been riding uphill for the whole day. But we had a nice lunch break where we got some delicious coffee and Falafel and now the way to Kerak seems to have no ending we are riding along the King’s Highway We thought for around 10k. But, somehow, we have been riding on this Highway for two hours now and it DOES NOT end. Good. You see it is not very relaxed here. Oh yes… Behind Kerak, it became more quite again, luckily. Very nice!!! And finally, no people! No cars! Silence!!! Looking for a Camping spot… This is a canyon… Amazing! I think the water over there looks not very inviting for having a bath… No… Something is brooding in there, I guess… Morning activities. I start my search now if there is a scorpion hidden in my shoe. You have to do this every morning. No. Nothing inside. Katrin, what are you doing there? Water! Coffee! Coffee!!! Did I ever say I could have left my down jacket at home? WAS THAT COLD! We were invitend very often. Unfortunately, we could not accept every invitation. Sometime we wanted to reach Aqaba. We are spoiled here! A VERY nice family. The daughter just arrived from School. Education is very important in Jordan. Around 98% of the children go to School. English is also taught there. It was the first time that we heard a child speaking English. Before, the only words we heard from kids were “hello”, “what’s your name”, and “Fuck you”. The way to Ais was nearly only uphill. 16k. The sun was burning. Tonight, we needed a hotel, for sure. I feel so exhausted… first a coffee But we have a nice view here… The windows are not…that… The ascent never ended! Only uphill! Good morning! We start a new day We took a hotel yesterday we had to wash some things, and shower. That was really good! We were so exhausted yesterday… We have been riding in long clothing for days now. I don’t know if the headscarf was really necessary but I felt better wearing it. There were no women without headscarf. Apart from that, a good protection against the sun. We were heading towards Dana National Park. An incredible National park. with breathtaking views. I am very good in losing things. Up to now: One powerbank, and two penknives. Alright, we are in the Dana National Park now it is very nice and rocky here I am just sitting on a … rock! I am alone, because Katrin has lost her mobile phone in that nice Downhill. So, she is searching it and somebody has to take care of the bicycles! She’s got it! Then we can finally continue going downhill and then get some delicious FALAFEL!!! I don’t know what Jan found on the way while I was searching my mobile. Indeed, it was not eatable. In the evening, the wind strongly increased. As there is such a strong wind here worse than on Holland’s dykes It would not be realistic to put up the tent here. But we have a Two-Room-Apartment again! A shed, to be honest. Two-Room-Appartments are very trendy here in Jordan We have the choice: A big room, with a window in which is a strong smell of sheep or a small room without window Jan is already clearing up Jan is already decided, I guess. Making decisions in the evening. We had to weigh up: In the small room, we were visible from the road. The Floor of the bigger room was covered with the dung of sheep. Also not THAT attractive for sleeping. Probably, we decided for the bigger room now. I wonder what this is… A bird’s nest? Jan is checking the construction of the ceiling not THAT stable considering the storm… What do you think? I think, for a night, it will be okay! We redecided. We will take the smaller room. Otherwise we will not lose the smell of shed for at least a week! We remained in the small room. When a car passed, we had to pause. In no case, we wanted to be discovered. Sleeping in a shed in Jordan While the storm is blowing outside Pretty crazy but also pretty cosy. Jordan has a problem: It is incredibly dry. Water can only be bought in bottles in Shops. So, either you carry enough water with you, or, you can just IMAGINE the great feeling of some water drops covering your tongue. This morning, we just gambled away. How do you like it here? Really nice here! It slowly gets more deserted! The green spaces disappear and it gets drier. As you say “dry”: What’s the disadvantage? You should drink a lot! What’s the disadvantage? We only have a sprite left. A small sprite. 100ml. But the next town will come soon, I guess. It was not as close as we thought. But the landscape: Crazy! You could forget about your thirst. Awesome! If there is something I really do NOT like: Shopping. You always have to remember what you will need the next day, and the day after… And at the end, you forgot something at all. But normally, this is not too bad. At home. In Jordan, this is slightly more problematic. We are just trying to survive with the help of chocolate cookies But tonight, we will hopefully reach Petra and then… FALAFEL!!! Yes, it was NOT the day of the greatest culinary joys. Better said: It was the day of choco cookies with choco cookies and choco Cookies. But it works. Good morning! Well, the weather we expected in Jordan is definitely not what we have here. I am lying in the hotel INSIDE the hotel!!! sleeping bag wool blanket my down jacket and ski underwear and I am still cold. Holidays in Jordan: I just put my hood on so fresh here The weather report says 2 degrees feels like -5… Yes, we go to visit Petra now without bike today you can say “recovery day” 15k of hiking We will see! Good to move without bicycle! Petra is a town in rocks. One of the seven Wonders of the World. A town, completely chiseled into rocks. Incredible. Throughout the last years, tourism has strongly decreased in Jordan. Probably due to ist location surrounded by crisis and war zones many people are deterred. In fact, Jordan is stable, it is called “Switzerland of Middle East” and tourism would be very important… The next day, we continued heading south. We wanted to go to Wadi Rum. Alright, the speed is not very high but at least the temperatures are approaching the two-digit range… We are on our way into the desert it becomes more sandy the roads and trails remain as cool as they were before It is such a great fun to ride here! The desert had a decisive advantage: More sand means: less green space means: less herds means: less Shepherd dogs!!! Even if the situation with the Kids did not become VERY relaxed but at least no flying stones any more. Let’s continue. For me, it was more difficult. Do you need help? Sometime, you lose your patience. Breathing. Deeply. Wadi Rum already appeared in the background. But today, we would not get there. We just resupplied for Wadi Rum because we won’t get water there for some kilometers That is why we have to refill here We just arrived with our very last bit of water Maybe we should better take some reserves this time. Now we have 6 bottles with 1.5 litres and two more and we also have bread, so, what should happen? Camping in the desert: Extremely nice – and – extremely unpractical. A little sand storm! Tomorrow, we have to clean our chains very well… Anyone who has played in a sandpit as a child knows: sand is NOT a very solid mass. Especially not a mass to get the tent pegs fixed. But, as it happenes very often, we were lucky. We found a place with stones. Big stones. Stones, which you can NOT carry to the tent very easily This over there! I mean this one! They are all fixed in the ground! This one is too big. Camping on its limit. Okay, this one is too big… We can take this one together! The small one over there! I think we have had too much sun today Jan is going ape! It was too nice, indeed. Good morning! Good morning! I just look if the sun is rising! So let’s have a look This is fantastic! There were two days left. Enough time to reach Aqaba if we hurried a little bit. But: More is not more. One thing I learned, is that you should not force your plans to fulfill. Why hurry, to get somewhere else, when it is incredibly nice in the place you are. This is like Carnival! 8k ridden, and we are hungry again! It was a windy and sandy section until finally we reached Wadi Rum in the afternoon. So the road ends here now. First consequence for the sand: Deflating the tyres. Oh that was too much! Sand has not the best rolling characteristics. Even not with 0.5 bar of air pressure. Let’s go into the desert! Damn, that was hard. In addition, meanwhile it was incredibly hot, with no gentle breeze at all. But the landscapes of Wadi Rum was worth EVERY drop of sweat. How does the creation of dunes work? They are created when strong wind blows sand as long as it is stopped by any obstacle. Considering that, it is NOT very intelligent to chose a dune for Camping. It always happens in the last night sand storm!!! The whole tent is full of sand! In the night, Jan put some heavy stones on the tent pegs to avoid that we were blown away. Nice red desert sand. I think I will close my sleeping back a little bit higher. How are dunes built? Yes, now we DID understand. We wondered why there was so less space in the tent The storm had made the sand pushing on our tent. Like that, we had our personal dune. At the tent. In the tent. And in all our clothes. Our journey was nearly over now. We did not make it to Aqaba, be we took our time to get in contact with the country and incredibly nice people. People like Aser, who wrote us very often, to ask if we are okay. Who picked us up in the desert to bring us back to Madaba. We say: Thank you to an amazing country which really enriched us. But there are some questions left. Questions, on which I will find an answer sometime, hopefully.