Day 64
Sleeping location: Hotel Cairwan, Kerak, Jordan
Distance (km today/total): 20 / 5667
Estimated climb (m today/total): 800 / 49300
Free gifts (including teas): 8
Day in three words: Capture the castle
Because the tent doors were shut the fly alarm clock malfunctioned and we woke up well after 7. There was another 800m of climbing to get through so we got going pretty quickly, but it was hard work as we’d both picked up an upset tummy from somewhere. We need to be more careful with food prep, but with those damn flies everywhere it’s difficult sometimes. Thankfully their numbers decreased as we climbed, they must not like heights. We got a lot of supportive honks and shouts from cars, and generally Jordanians seem to be very friendly and supportive once they reach the age of 16. The children can be a right pain and one group tried to chase me after I objected to them wiggling my wing mirror around. Thankfully a passing minibus stopped and told them off for being dicks, then gave me a friendly/apologetic wave. We know it’s just kids being kids but it’s stressful because they behave so unpredictably.
At a drink stop the owner was unfriendly at first, but then gave me a free tea and tried to teach me Arabic numbers while I drank it. He really warmed to us after a short google translate conversation, and when we left he presented us with a gift of four hot chocolate sachets, a canister of “Gussi” perfume and a pink and blue plastic bonnet (for Rebecca; she has attached it to the front of her bike). I also got a free tea from some police officers, but they didn’t seem happy with Rebecca’s short shorts and didn’t give her any. I feel for her here, the men we meet* only really talk to me and much of the attention she does get is a bit lecherous.
After we set off we saw a rare occurrence; the first clouds in our five days in Jordan. Sadly they didn’t provide cover from the sun and the climb continued to be steep and hot, which alongside our fragile little bodies made the going slow, and we had only covered the 20km to Kerak (at an average gradient of 4% to be fair) by lunchtime. We wanted to stay in a hotel for washing and other admin, and the next town with hotels was 70km and 1000m of climb away, so we decided to call it a day and stay in Kerak. There was only one hotel in town, which was a bit odd but friendly and cheap. We got the last available room, a twin in the basement, and I immediately broke one of the beds with my heavy self, so we moved the mattresses onto the floor sleepover style. The blanket on my bed had “UN Refugee Agency” written on it.
Kerak itself is built on top of an impressive crusader era castle, the main part of which is still intact and well worth a visit. The entry fee was 2 JOD each but we misunderstood and gave 2 for both; he asked for the extra but I didn’t understand and after about 5 seconds of dithering he just let us in anyway. This “pay what you think it’s worth and see what happens” approach to negotiation seems to be quite effective here. Shopkeepers have a tendency to overcharge westerners, but if you confidently give what you think it should be, they know you’re on to them and accept it. This approach seems to roughly half the price of things. Sadly we didn’t need anything from the hybrid mechanic/pet store we saw in town, so we didn’t get to test our approach on a kitten inside a tyre or a parrot perched on an exhaust pipe. On the way back from dinner it RAINED (a bit), which the hotel receptionist said was very rare for October. These are strange times we live in.
*And it’s always men, we don’t think we’ve interacted with a woman since we arrived here
Distance (km today/total): 20 / 5667
Estimated climb (m today/total): 800 / 49300
Free gifts (including teas): 8
Day in three words: Capture the castle
Because the tent doors were shut the fly alarm clock malfunctioned and we woke up well after 7. There was another 800m of climbing to get through so we got going pretty quickly, but it was hard work as we’d both picked up an upset tummy from somewhere. We need to be more careful with food prep, but with those damn flies everywhere it’s difficult sometimes. Thankfully their numbers decreased as we climbed, they must not like heights. We got a lot of supportive honks and shouts from cars, and generally Jordanians seem to be very friendly and supportive once they reach the age of 16. The children can be a right pain and one group tried to chase me after I objected to them wiggling my wing mirror around. Thankfully a passing minibus stopped and told them off for being dicks, then gave me a friendly/apologetic wave. We know it’s just kids being kids but it’s stressful because they behave so unpredictably.
At a drink stop the owner was unfriendly at first, but then gave me a free tea and tried to teach me Arabic numbers while I drank it. He really warmed to us after a short google translate conversation, and when we left he presented us with a gift of four hot chocolate sachets, a canister of “Gussi” perfume and a pink and blue plastic bonnet (for Rebecca; she has attached it to the front of her bike). I also got a free tea from some police officers, but they didn’t seem happy with Rebecca’s short shorts and didn’t give her any. I feel for her here, the men we meet* only really talk to me and much of the attention she does get is a bit lecherous.
After we set off we saw a rare occurrence; the first clouds in our five days in Jordan. Sadly they didn’t provide cover from the sun and the climb continued to be steep and hot, which alongside our fragile little bodies made the going slow, and we had only covered the 20km to Kerak (at an average gradient of 4% to be fair) by lunchtime. We wanted to stay in a hotel for washing and other admin, and the next town with hotels was 70km and 1000m of climb away, so we decided to call it a day and stay in Kerak. There was only one hotel in town, which was a bit odd but friendly and cheap. We got the last available room, a twin in the basement, and I immediately broke one of the beds with my heavy self, so we moved the mattresses onto the floor sleepover style. The blanket on my bed had “UN Refugee Agency” written on it.
Kerak itself is built on top of an impressive crusader era castle, the main part of which is still intact and well worth a visit. The entry fee was 2 JOD each but we misunderstood and gave 2 for both; he asked for the extra but I didn’t understand and after about 5 seconds of dithering he just let us in anyway. This “pay what you think it’s worth and see what happens” approach to negotiation seems to be quite effective here. Shopkeepers have a tendency to overcharge westerners, but if you confidently give what you think it should be, they know you’re on to them and accept it. This approach seems to roughly half the price of things. Sadly we didn’t need anything from the hybrid mechanic/pet store we saw in town, so we didn’t get to test our approach on a kitten inside a tyre or a parrot perched on an exhaust pipe. On the way back from dinner it RAINED (a bit), which the hotel receptionist said was very rare for October. These are strange times we live in.
*And it’s always men, we don’t think we’ve interacted with a woman since we arrived here
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