Day 62
Sleeping location: Near the outflow of Wadi Mujib into the Dead Sea, Jordan
Distance (km today/total): 86 / 5609
Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 47700
Estimated descent: 1900m
Day in three words: Let’s get low
We were up and out of our camp spot early and with no issues. The route started off on some big roads and there was some more shitty driving, but for the most part people were quite respectful. We stopped for a coffee at a place where the guy made it with a hot plate filled with hot sand, it was pretty tasty despite the unnecessary addition of sugar. There were no toilets there so we tried at a “cafe” with a giant model crown outside. It turned out to be a local government building but they let us use the toilets anyway. After this we headed off onto quiet country roads and started a gradual descent towards the Dead Sea.
We stopped off at Mount “Finding” Nebo where apparently Moses looked at some stuff. As befits a place where you look at stuff, the views down into the rift and the Sea itself were fantastic. There were also remnants of a Byzantine era monastery which had some amazing mosaics, still very well preserved. One contained various animals with a variety of fun facial expressions, and leapt straight in at number one in my “top mosaics” list. We stopped for some lunch here and I found out that my previous employer (the one I left five years ago rather than just before this trip) had written a full page article about me in their alumni newsletter without my knowledge. Some of the copy was from this very blog. The article was entirely positive and talked about IHCC quite a lot, so I wasn’t annoyed at all, but I did some investigation and got the email of the person who wrote it so hopefully I can get a more personal message out there in a future edition.
The descent from Nebo down to the Dead Sea was quite something. Usually big descents follow a watercourse so there’s some logic to the way the road goes, but here there’s no water and so the descent just ploughed across the empty earth in seemingly random directions. The bit at the top was very steep and a slightly nerve-wracking test of my new brake pads and cables. As we got lower the air became hotter and thicker and by the bottom (about 350m below sea level) cycling was hard work. The first bit of the Sea was the “hotel zone” where we stopped in a mall for some air conditioning. They had an “English pub” which served no English beers, so we had an Amstel*. After the hotel zone the scenery became very empty, with huge rock formations on the left and the hazy sea on the right. We went to a couple of places to try and get in the Sea, but it was way too expensive for what is essentially just some steps down and a shower, and we’ve both been in it before on the Israeli side (for free!) so we decided not to bother. I did have a free shower, in my clothes, with two guys by the side of the road who’d rigged up some kind of water bag contraption.
The late afternoon was hard going as the hills started to ramp up and the air was very hot and heavy. Things were made worse by the appearance of crazy numbers of flies, who settled on anything with even a faint relationship with food and water, and were incredibly persistent. When cycling they weren’t so much of a problem, but when we stopped they were a nightmare. The question “do flies go to bed?” became an important one, because camping with them around would be awful. We arrived in Wadi Mujib, earmarked for camping because it was the only place for miles with water, a bit before sunset and got said water from a surly man at the Mujib lodges. Then we found a campsite down a chewed up dirt track towards the Sea from the road. It was visible from the road but far away and inaccessible enough for it not to be an issue, and the view of the Sea and the sunset was fantastic. Thankfully the flies did indeed go to bed, and we slept with the tent doors semi open because it was still very warm.
*To be fair a pint of bitter is not the beer for this kind of heat
Distance (km today/total): 86 / 5609
Estimated climb (m today/total): 600 / 47700
Estimated descent: 1900m
Day in three words: Let’s get low
We were up and out of our camp spot early and with no issues. The route started off on some big roads and there was some more shitty driving, but for the most part people were quite respectful. We stopped for a coffee at a place where the guy made it with a hot plate filled with hot sand, it was pretty tasty despite the unnecessary addition of sugar. There were no toilets there so we tried at a “cafe” with a giant model crown outside. It turned out to be a local government building but they let us use the toilets anyway. After this we headed off onto quiet country roads and started a gradual descent towards the Dead Sea.
We stopped off at Mount “Finding” Nebo where apparently Moses looked at some stuff. As befits a place where you look at stuff, the views down into the rift and the Sea itself were fantastic. There were also remnants of a Byzantine era monastery which had some amazing mosaics, still very well preserved. One contained various animals with a variety of fun facial expressions, and leapt straight in at number one in my “top mosaics” list. We stopped for some lunch here and I found out that my previous employer (the one I left five years ago rather than just before this trip) had written a full page article about me in their alumni newsletter without my knowledge. Some of the copy was from this very blog. The article was entirely positive and talked about IHCC quite a lot, so I wasn’t annoyed at all, but I did some investigation and got the email of the person who wrote it so hopefully I can get a more personal message out there in a future edition.
The descent from Nebo down to the Dead Sea was quite something. Usually big descents follow a watercourse so there’s some logic to the way the road goes, but here there’s no water and so the descent just ploughed across the empty earth in seemingly random directions. The bit at the top was very steep and a slightly nerve-wracking test of my new brake pads and cables. As we got lower the air became hotter and thicker and by the bottom (about 350m below sea level) cycling was hard work. The first bit of the Sea was the “hotel zone” where we stopped in a mall for some air conditioning. They had an “English pub” which served no English beers, so we had an Amstel*. After the hotel zone the scenery became very empty, with huge rock formations on the left and the hazy sea on the right. We went to a couple of places to try and get in the Sea, but it was way too expensive for what is essentially just some steps down and a shower, and we’ve both been in it before on the Israeli side (for free!) so we decided not to bother. I did have a free shower, in my clothes, with two guys by the side of the road who’d rigged up some kind of water bag contraption.
The late afternoon was hard going as the hills started to ramp up and the air was very hot and heavy. Things were made worse by the appearance of crazy numbers of flies, who settled on anything with even a faint relationship with food and water, and were incredibly persistent. When cycling they weren’t so much of a problem, but when we stopped they were a nightmare. The question “do flies go to bed?” became an important one, because camping with them around would be awful. We arrived in Wadi Mujib, earmarked for camping because it was the only place for miles with water, a bit before sunset and got said water from a surly man at the Mujib lodges. Then we found a campsite down a chewed up dirt track towards the Sea from the road. It was visible from the road but far away and inaccessible enough for it not to be an issue, and the view of the Sea and the sunset was fantastic. Thankfully the flies did indeed go to bed, and we slept with the tent doors semi open because it was still very warm.
*To be fair a pint of bitter is not the beer for this kind of heat
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