Still zigzagging through the desert

Second part of the story of my bike ride through Israel and Jordan starts with me being in the lowest place on Earth and having a very long day ahead of me.

Climbing on a bike tends to be difficult. Climbing in the scorching heat rarely makes it easier. Climbing through the sand is something I'm going to learn. 

 

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

Through the sand towards the Red Sea

This is how my path looks like. It's like this for many long hours, for many vertical meters. This is the most difficult day of the trip so far, even more difficult that climbing the Sugar Trail in the opposite direction. 

There's one more problem with climbing through the desert. It's water, or rather the lack thereof. I knew there's no water on the trail so I took more water than usual. More liquids than usual I should say, but I won't be delving into it now. I did find one source of water though - somewhere in the middle of the desert there's a ravine full of water. Even if it wasn't dirty, I wouldn't be able to drink it though - it's as salty as the water in the Dead Sea. Despite it's saltiness, it's still refreshing.

The climb ends with the Scorpions' Ascent, 400 vertical meters of narrow serpentine, but I'm not cycling through sand anymore, so this climb is a pleasure. Both on the ascent and earlier I'm meeting people in 4WD cars stopping by and offering me a bottle of water. Israelis clearly understand cycling and know what's the biggest challenge and only stupid person would ever say no to a bottle of cold water on the desert.

Notice anything unusual here? I'm not referring to the ascent, which can be found on Google Maps (nor to the desert nuclear research center, as intriguing as it sounds). I'm referring to two huge craters, which Negev Desert is known for. I knew about them before, saw them marked on the map, but I couldn't see them when I was approaching the mark on the map. Just before I stopped to ask someone where the craters are I realised what happened. I was already inside!  

I remember reading Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands years ago and I recalled how bedouins were able to learn about health, speed, race and many other characteristics of a camel after only a quick glance at camel's footsteps. I just did my first step on the path of expertise, I already know these tracks belong to camel.

Some minutes later, guess what happened? 

Negev desert and it's surroundings are pretty remote and usually very empty places. Meeting someone there is an unusual event. 

After a couple of days I'm arriving at Avdat, a National Park with a number of Nabatean structures along the ancient Spice Road. The most well known Nabatean structure, Petra, is on the other side of the Israeli-Jordanian border, and it will take some time before I arrive there, but it's a nice introduction. Before I see the ruins, one more desert camp. 

After a couple of days on the desert I'm getting accustomed to very basic food. Then I find this for my breakfast in Avdat. I'm in heaven.  

The archeological site itself is preserved much better than I was expecting. This can be explained by the fact that not all the structures found there are Nabatean - they're mixed with more recent Roman and ruins. 

Being conscious of the risk of hitting a camel I'm pushing forward. 

This night will be different. Arriving at Selina Ramon - a desert camp organised by the well known chain providing accommodation targeting digital nomads. I've seem a number of these in the past, they are very popular in South America, but the one on the desert is by far the best of all their places I've seen. Sunrise, coffee and I'm leaving the camp to cycle through another of the craters - Ramon Makhtesh.

Love my morning view today and I even have a little bit of asphalted road this time.

MTB route through the desert has a very appropriate symbol. 

If only all these cannons were spewing hearts.

For quite a long time I'm following the Israeli-Jordanian border now. It's possible to cycle very, very close to the border, literally along the fence dividing two countries. 

Not that far from the border though... again, an easy way to keep me on the trail, I won't take chances here. 

Just as promised, a desert shooting range. I've seen many of these along the way, occasionally coming across the ranges which were being used when I was passing by. I've seen some militarised places during my travels, but I think Israel probably beats them all.

I think I know at least one person who would love to have these on a shelf. So sorry, too heavy, otherwise I'd have taken them for you.

Desert proper. One would wonder, how is it even possible to cycle on this? It isn't. Fortunately it's not that big. 

Have you ever seen cheese chasing competition? Look for it if you didn't, your life will never be the same. There seems to be an Israeli version too, although not as hardcore. And there's no cheese.

Just a few more canyons and I'll be in Eilat, the end of the path. Israeli part of as least. Can't say a lot about Eilat, I found it rather dull, full of concrete and malls along the coast. Can's think of better confirmation of the rule that the road could be more rewarding than the destination. 

Speeding through Jordan

Jordanian part of the trip had absolutely nothing to do with the way I planned it. I was going to cycle through the desert along the border up to Amman, include stops in Wadi Rum and Petra. The problem is that I'm already couple of days behind after my adventure with broken derailleur and more surprises ahead of me. Before if happens though, World Cup in Aqaba, after what was one of the easiest overland border crossings in my life. Cultural peculiarity of watching football in Jordan, the game gets muted for the duration of the evening prayer. 

Surprise number two, the road to Wadi Rum is closed, entrance protected by slightly too many military guards to try sneaking past them. This is how I'm ending up pushing along the highway. And a serious pushing it was, after the change of plans I did almost 2.5 km climb along 140 km of the distance to Wadi Musa - the Petra village - in one day. At least I had a dedicated climbing lane. 

And that's the end of cycling for now. I could try pushing like this till Amman, it would have taken me two long, presumably rather boring days, but I decided to skip it and give myself more time for Petra, which is definitely worth it. 

Everyone would have seen online what I'm going to see behind the corner, but it's still impressive. Of all the reasons why I feel it's impressive, the state of the Treasury - Al Khazneh, the most well known structure in Petra, is probably the most important. It looks like something built just a couple of decades ago.

I've read that the site is big, but I wasn't prepared for the scale. It will take me full two days of walking to see all the major structures of Petra, but after all the cycling, doing 20+ km a day through the mountainous area feels like a stroll.

Obviously, Perta is touristy. It would be stupid to assume that I'll have the site to myself, but surprisingly, it's easy to get away from the crowds. Some parts of the park are more difficult to get to, and this is the easy way out. 

Best views abound, you can't be wrong. 

The Monastery is another impressive structure there, and it's the biggest one. It's not as intricately decorated as the Treasury, but the scale, lack of crowds, touts, camels, makes up for it. 

The reason why Monastery is not as busy, is the fact that there's quite a few steps you have to climb to get there. 

Speaking of getting away, I'm having a bedouin tea and quick lunch.

Desert or not, life can be found everywhere.

One last look, and I'm off. Tomorrow I'm taking a bus to Amman, paying short visit there to Laura and her family who kindly took care of my bike box, packing my bike and heading back, if not for long.