Day 68
Sleeping location: A hillside just off the Kings Highway on the way to Little Petra, Jordan
Distance (km today/total): 47 / 5812
Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 51800
Main product of the region: wind
Day in three words: The windy plain
Rebecca was still recovering so we had a lazy morning with a casual breakfast and more Susu on the terrace. I made labneh with pomegranate again and he went absolutely crazy when it came out, going on ever more gymnastic missions to try and get to it. Eventually I gave him the empty pot and he buried his cute little face in there, obviously then getting labneh all over himself. Silly cat. We will miss him. There was a blustery wind all morning and the first section was across a wide open plain with loads of wind turbines. As you would expect, the wind was particularly strong here, and was right in our faces, so the going was slow and quite tough at first. At the end of the plain was the town of Shabak, which has another impressive crusader castle. We admired it, and a nearby wadi with an abandoned village, from afar, decided that neither was worth the climb, and went to get some lunch. On the way a man appeared from out of a colourful shack and shouted “COFFEE” at Rebecca and really startled her.
We got some falafel and chicken sandwiches and ate them in a nearby cafe* where we were served by a guy who was, for some inexplicable reason, wearing a Greggs gilet. Gregg was very keen on showing us his phone videos of various things, including his trip to Sharm El Shiek which looked like an absolute (booze free) hoot. Then he showed us a video about the world’s smallest hotel, which happened to be in this very town, in the garden of the man who shouted “COFFEE” at Rebecca, who is something of a minor local celebrity and also his uncle. Funny little world. After we left there was more windy plain, gradually climbing 400m over about 20km. We both had stone throwing incidents with a couple of local teens but they were pretty minor; I think they were doing it out of boredom as much as anything. In this stretch Rebecca also made friends with a local kid who cycled with her for about 20 minutes, introducing her to everyone they passed, including cars. Eventually he left with a cheery “hello” and went back down the hill to his village.
We turned off the main road at the main Petra entrance as we wanted to camp a bit away from everything. We identified a nice little grove of sparse trees at the very top of the climb, but it was opposite a little farm so we asked their permission to camp there. They were absolutely fine with it, although it’s possible it wasn’t even theirs to offer. As we set up camp we saw a pickup truck go past with a donkey standing casually in the back like it ain’t no thang. The evening after that was pretty relaxed as we felt safe and it was a nice sheltered spot. At one point I accidentally headbutted a huge moth, which then flew into Rebecca, and I made myself laugh out loud with a Smiths pun for the second time this trip**.
*Which had some more great snack names: Anytime, Choco Lord, Halfway, Eurocake, Sara Land, Pop Kek
**Big moth strikes again
Distance (km today/total): 47 / 5812
Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 51800
Main product of the region: wind
Day in three words: The windy plain
Rebecca was still recovering so we had a lazy morning with a casual breakfast and more Susu on the terrace. I made labneh with pomegranate again and he went absolutely crazy when it came out, going on ever more gymnastic missions to try and get to it. Eventually I gave him the empty pot and he buried his cute little face in there, obviously then getting labneh all over himself. Silly cat. We will miss him. There was a blustery wind all morning and the first section was across a wide open plain with loads of wind turbines. As you would expect, the wind was particularly strong here, and was right in our faces, so the going was slow and quite tough at first. At the end of the plain was the town of Shabak, which has another impressive crusader castle. We admired it, and a nearby wadi with an abandoned village, from afar, decided that neither was worth the climb, and went to get some lunch. On the way a man appeared from out of a colourful shack and shouted “COFFEE” at Rebecca and really startled her.
We got some falafel and chicken sandwiches and ate them in a nearby cafe* where we were served by a guy who was, for some inexplicable reason, wearing a Greggs gilet. Gregg was very keen on showing us his phone videos of various things, including his trip to Sharm El Shiek which looked like an absolute (booze free) hoot. Then he showed us a video about the world’s smallest hotel, which happened to be in this very town, in the garden of the man who shouted “COFFEE” at Rebecca, who is something of a minor local celebrity and also his uncle. Funny little world. After we left there was more windy plain, gradually climbing 400m over about 20km. We both had stone throwing incidents with a couple of local teens but they were pretty minor; I think they were doing it out of boredom as much as anything. In this stretch Rebecca also made friends with a local kid who cycled with her for about 20 minutes, introducing her to everyone they passed, including cars. Eventually he left with a cheery “hello” and went back down the hill to his village.
We turned off the main road at the main Petra entrance as we wanted to camp a bit away from everything. We identified a nice little grove of sparse trees at the very top of the climb, but it was opposite a little farm so we asked their permission to camp there. They were absolutely fine with it, although it’s possible it wasn’t even theirs to offer. As we set up camp we saw a pickup truck go past with a donkey standing casually in the back like it ain’t no thang. The evening after that was pretty relaxed as we felt safe and it was a nice sheltered spot. At one point I accidentally headbutted a huge moth, which then flew into Rebecca, and I made myself laugh out loud with a Smiths pun for the second time this trip**.
*Which had some more great snack names: Anytime, Choco Lord, Halfway, Eurocake, Sara Land, Pop Kek
**Big moth strikes again
Comments
Post a Comment