Zigzagging through the desert

Rain behind the window in October in Kraków, sun hidden behind thick clouds, difficult to force myself to go outside. No wonder I started to think about the change of the scenery. Quick look into the list of places where I always wanted to go to, quick check of available connections and before the rain stopped I already had the ticket to Amman for a bike trip that actually combines two to my travel ideas - cycling through Jordan which can be joined with a trip through Israel.

Careful study of possible border crossings made me decide that the starting point will be Amman, immediately crossing to Israel on the first day, going south and then returning via Jordan. Turned out to be different, as usual.

Map created with Wanderlog, a road trip planner app on iOS and Android

History behind every corner

The trip started from Amman, where I didn't spend a lot of time, just one quick night in a - surprisingly rainy - city and I was on my way down towards the border. It took me more that three hours to actually cross it, what happened on the border is probably worth separate post, but in the evening I was in Jericho - by some measures the oldest city in the world.

Crossing from Jordan to Israel and going through Jericho means going by Palestinian territories, which adds to the complexity. In the end, on my first day I already visited Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Despite slightly unusual vibe the one night spent in Palestine was very positive, people super-friendly, I guess partially because they are not that used to seeing people crossing their country on a bike. 

In terms of cycling, real fun starts the next day. There's a path joining Jerusalem with a place not far from Jericho. It's called Sugar Trail, and as I'm going to learn this is one of the most - is not the most - popular MTB trails in the whole Israel. Pretty technical, bikes only, lots of fun.   

Ok, ok, bikes and camels.

There is a small caveat though. Elevation difference between two ends of the trail is almost 1000 meters and all the sane people are obviously going down. It's Friday (locally, it's weekend), so I'm meeting tons of people on the trail and not a single one who would have decided to climb towards Jerusalem. Unfortunately, I have to go up, simply because I want to go to Jerusalem. 

I'm arriving in Jerusalem - the center of the world - not exactly how I planned.  During the crazy climb I broke the derailleur, last part of the trail is just a hike-a-bike combined with buses. I'm arriving in Jerusalem on Friday late afternoon and you probably know what's coming. 

Friday afternoon is the worst time imaginable to arrive in Jerusalem if what you need is a bike store. I'm there at around 4PM, exactly when everything gets closed because of the Sabbath. Want it or not, I'll be staying in Jerusalem at least till Sunday.  

Looking back at the delay, I'm really happy it happened (in fact I decided to stay even longer). Originally I didn't plan to spend a lot of time in Jerusalem. That would have been a huge mistake. Jerusalem is one of the most unique cities I've ever seen. Places which defined modern civilisation hide behind every corner. The mix of people living more of less peacefully within the walls of the old town is remarkable. 

City itself is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. Intricacies of how this actually works are difficult to follow, different communities would have different holy places, functioning differently depending on a day of the week, etc. Coming there on Friday/Saturday, Jewish community is the most visible at first sight. 

Jewish part of the old town is relatively large with schools, synagogues, on Sabbath it's easy so see people wearing traditional outfits of different branches of Jewish Orthodox church.

Outside of the old city there's the Mount of Olives. Yes, all these names from the Bible would follow you as you walk around. Mount of Olives hosts the oldest, and very picturesque during the golden hour, Jewish cemetery in Israel. 

And being on the eastern side of the old town gives an opportunity to watch amazing sunsets over the old town. 

Of all the neighbourhoods, Jewish quarter feels the most cozy, with plenty of cafes, people meeting outside, chatting, enjoying beautiful evening.

The very center of jewish quarter today is occupied the the Hurva synagogue, relatively new structure which is the focal point for those studying Torah.

Just a couple of minutes walk from Hurva synagogue and I feel like I've been transported to a completely new place. All the souks of the muslim quarter, am I in Marrakesh? Is this Cairo? 

The Temple Mount, the location where original Jewish temple(s) were situated is currently a part of the Muslim quarter. Access to the temple is more restricted that to the synagogues of the jewish quarter and it's difficult not to think of all the blood spilled for the control of this small piece of land. 

Christian quarter is extremely varied in itself. I'm guessing I'd have felt the same about jewish or muslim quarters if these traditions were closer to my background, but only in the Christian quarter I was able to spot the diversity of Roman Catholic temples, Eastern Orthodox monasteries, German Lutheran church, traditional Ethiopian temple or a French convent.

It's also a mix of living places of workship, probably one of the most active in the whole world, together with purely archeological sites geared more towards a secular visitor.

The mix can be seen in the selection of souvenirs too. Crown of thorns anyone? 

The Church of Alexander Nevsky, which is located in the Russian part of the Christian quarter feels like implanted straight from Russia.

Armenian quarter is the smallest, and probably the least known. One may wonder why there's a part of the old town dedicated to Armenian church, but ultimately history of Christianity in Armenia goes back to the very beginning as Armenia was the first country ever to accept Christianity as a state religion, even before Rome.

Inverted mountain, towards the lowest place on Earth 

So far bike stories are surprisingly scarce in this relation, time to change it. During the three days I spent in Jerusalem I managed to get my derailleur fixed so I'm ready to go. Initially I'll be moving southeast, more or less along the highly militarised border of the West Bank territories. I don't think I've ever heard some many choppers and fighter jets above my head while camping. 

First kilometers are pleasantly green, along pine forests, olive groves, lemon trees. This is where I'm entering the route proper - MTB trail that stretches from the very north of the country down to the coast of the Red Sea. There are two routes actually, one of them, called Shvil Israel, is a 1000 km hiking path established in 1995 and already having sort of a legendary status. 

The second one is newer and is dedicated to bicycles. I think I should be more specific here - it's dedicated to mountain bikes. I wouldn't dare trying the route on anything with tyres smaller than 2.0. Suspension helps too, as it gets pretty technical in some places and it's full of single track. Yes, you're reading this correctly - this is more than 1000 km of MTB trail, I don't think I've seen anything like this in many other places in the world. And cycling in Israel is all about MTB. If that's not enough, the route passes through a number of ancient sites and millennia-old structures. 

The fact that both routes often share the same track helps too. On one my first nights I ended up in a kibbutz and got to know the institution of Trail Angels, originally linked to the hiking version of the trail. In many places along the path there's a number of people offering accommodation to travellers. The accommodation is basically free, you're getting simple bed, shower (always one of the best pleasures after long ride!), usually there's a chance to resupply too. On top of this, my Angel lived in the kibbutz, which adds to the uniqueness of the experience. 

Zigagging though the desert? What do you know about zigzagging?!

Fully rested after the night in the kibbutz I'm heading towards the Dead Sea. This is not the easiest path south, nor is the shortest, but I didn't come here to rush. The part of the route to the Dead Sea, especially from the city of Arad is one of the best MTB trails I've ever ridden. Like tens of kilometers of single track built only for bikers (turns out that originally it was mainly for camels)

And lo and behold, camels I see (and bikes I didn't see)! I keep wondering if the guy on the camel holding his smartphone was navigating or posting a message in Instagram mentioning he just spotted a guy on a bike on his camel track ;-) 

If someone was to create an MTB trail from the scratch, it would be difficult to make it better than this.

Amazing ride of this day ends just above the Dead Sea. Still above the Dead Sea level, but I'm already below the actual sea level. I just realised this is the first time I was camping below sea level. 

Next day I'm cycling along the sea, but instead of the road by the coast I'm going little bit higher to follow the path along the valleys.

Cycling and imagining that some time ago it must've been the bottom of the sea.

Casual sign warning of land mines is more than enough to keep me on the trail.

Wall looking like a huge cake, I'm getting hungry. Today I decided to have a proper rest in the Lowest Place on Earth (that's actual name of the B&B I'm heading towards!)

Ne'ot Hakikar, surrounded by the fence as most of the settlements in this part of the country. An oasis on the southwestern tip of the Dead Sea - it's as green as dry is everything surrounding it. 

Here I am, 394 meters below sea level, as low as it gets. Tomorrow I'll have to climb out of here, but that's tomorrow.