On the road again

Back on the road going south for 116 flat km along busy roads. Big pack formed right from the start and was motoring nicely at over 35km/hr. Everything is going well and I feel pretty relaxed looking forward to a good day and suddenly at around 35km I feel the front tire almost flat. I have to pull out knowing I can't catch these guys back up. I fix it in minutes and get back on the road, I get caught by a solo rider who helps me out for about 10 km but he can't keep the pace up as his back is acting up. I am thinking of working hard and hopefully catch up at the pit stop. I go around a corner and spot the truck but no one is there. It turns out a couple of riders skipped it so everyone chased so I filled up a bottle, grabbed a couple of bananas and hit the road knowing it was going to be a tough 45 km by myself but not wanting to lose too much time. About 15 km from the end, I caught one of the top two ladies who didn't manage to stay with the pack when they cranked up the pace. It was good we rode on together because there were lots of kids on the road that were causing havoc. Mostly it was just the usual hello, money and wave but a couple actually grabbed her bike and I had to yell at them to scare them away. Some apparently threw rocks and one even spat on one of the girls. Funny enough, it doesn't seem to be malicious but entertainment to them. We get to the town which is somewhat large and get a little lost since kids also seem to like taking the flagging tape marking the route but we quickly find our camping spot for the night which is the local sports field and it even has showers. It's a secure area though the maintenance and cleanliness is still Egypt. Let's just say some chose not to shower! I'm curious to see what might grow on my feet the next few days. So not a good result today possibly outside the top ten with a loss of time of around 15 minutes. C'est la vie... Them's are the breaks! Stuart, the Aussie I rode with one day lost over an hour the other day because of bike problems and today he made some up. We walked around town a bit and Frans, one if the stronger rider ahead of me fell down a manhole but fortunately escaped with just a large gash and a busted shoe. Eric the other Quebecois has already lost 10 pounds and he went to the toilet 7 times this afternoon. Marcel is nursing his Achilles tendon and Adrian is also battling intestinal problems. This rounds up the guys currently leading. A good reminder that the road ahead is a very long one...

A echanger...velo pour chameau!

Luxor

Quick and relatively unventful day or so I thought! For once, I was early and ready to go so I thought it might be a good idea to check the tire pressure. As I unscrew the valve, it goes flying in the air exploding. Fortunately, I find it right away and it's just a matter of screwiung it back on. Now I am pumping the tire furiously trying to make the start on time. I just make it and I decide to jump on the fast train to see how the legs are doing. A very quick response from the quads telling me not so good and I am freezing as it seems a bit cooler, I should have worn long sleeves. Even better, I should have but arm warmers but that's a bit late to think about that. Anyway, 10km down the road, I back off before blowing up and I quickly get caught by a very large pack moving surprisingly well. People must be smelling rest! I settle myself at the back at a pretty relaxing pace until the pit stop. I just check in without a break and take advantage of this to rejoin the front guys. They are cranking it close to 40km/hr so I hang on for about 20km, it's not bad at the back but my turns at bthe front are painful so I back off figuring I built a good enough lead from the large pack behind. I take it down to about 33km/hr and finish the last 25km on my own well ahead of the large pack which was good for 4th or 5th place.

I grab my stuff from the truck and head into town for some good food and a couple of mugs of fresh OJ and sugar cane juice not to mention a stop at the bakery for some sweets. Let the rest begin!

The hills

Today was a hectic start, I didn't really sleep better in the hotel because of mosquitoes. Still worth it to get cleaned up, do laundry and recharge the electronics. Anyway, I get to my bike and the tire is flat. I'm a bit late, there's the usual line up at the truck and I can't afford to wait. I decide to change the tube first so everyone has cleared from the truck. I get another spare tube in case of Murphy's law and I make it back just as riders are leaving. I didn't even get a chance to fill up on energy drink which concerns me a bit but I have some left from the day before. I catch up with the 2nd group and it's a very gradual climb of 800m over about 60km so I never struggle to keep up. We lost a few riders along the way and I got caught by a call of nature at lunch and four riders left without me. Got on my bike thinking I would catch up quickly since I thought we would go down but the wind was pretty fierce again and I thought it was a hopeless cause since I was only going about 25km/hr. After about 20km, I thought I saw a glimpse of them ahead so I started working harder and caught then shortly after. I thought I'd stay with them until about 120km but the winds were quite strong again and I decided to stay with them. One rider bonked at around 125km so only 4 of us cruised in with no sprint. Guess I was either 5th or 6th today which is ok. Not too much damage, roughly 25km/hr average over 140km. Shorter day tomorrow into Luxor and then a well deserved rest day.

To the Red Sea

Today was a fairly short day with less than 90km to do and the wind wasn't too bad. We started in quite a big pack which held for about 10km. I decided to shake things up and attacked in order to break the pack up a bit. It worked well for a bit but we hit a stretch of water and mud that I didn't navigate well. I ended up having to work too hard to catch the front group of about 6-7 riders and I got ditched on a long slow rise. I saw another rider lose ground so once again I cranked it up to catch him. That cost me energy I didn't have in reserve and I struggled to keep up with him on anything that was rising but we made it to the pit stop together. A quick bite and some water and we set off as the other group came in and managed to hook up with a couple of riders from the first group that took a longer break. Three if us worked well together although I was still having trouble on hills but the fourth one was just hanging at the back. We put on a burst of speed a few km from the end and got rid of him and just cruised in together. Safaga is a nice little town on the Red Sea and there's a hotel right on the beach so I took a room to shower, do laundry and have a good rest before the hills tomorrow. Also had a nice meal at the local restaurant and a very pleasant bathroom experience without having to squat on sore legs. Four of us went to lunch in town and after this delicious meal was done. The guys were still hungry so they ordered a second round. I had two appetizers, 1.5L of water, a juice and bread so I decided to call it a day and wait for dinner.

Thunder, lightning, wind and rain made for a fitful night of sleep. Finally managed to clean the pipes this morning, it's not very comfortable to squat with tired sore legs. Kind of a funny start today, I never heard a thing and just saw people on the road so I got going too. Favorable wind so I'm passing loads of people. I'm lucky to catch the fast group since one of them had a flat. I decided to wait for them and help out since everyone is pretty supportive. Pretty well everyone passes us but when we get back on the saddle, it's full speed ahead to catch the second group and we're doing about 50km/hr. We get to the lead and then we all get stopped at a police checkpoint because they are worried about the road being flooded. After about 20 minutes, they figured we're safe. I decide to let the big boys hash it out and I stay with the top two ladies and a three other guys, one of them Eric from Baie Comeau has signed up to do Race across America three weeks after this ends. Impressive! Easy ride into lunch where the top group is about to leave, Eric skips lunch and joins them,I'm staying with my easy day strategy, the group leaves during my call to nature so I have some catching up to do but with the easy wind today it's not a problem. The two ladies are not quite keeping up so the three guys start to pull away. One of them eventually drops back to check on his wife so there's only two of us. We hit a fierce headwind with 25km to go and our speed drops to 20km/hr. The nightmare from yesterday resurfaces in our minds and the pain is back. Fortunately the road makes a turn about 5km further and we can resume a good pace. As we get closer, I was thinking about asking Stuart, the other fellow if he wanted to cruise in or battle it out. I got my answer when he started cranking it a few km before the end. It turns out I either had more gears or more juice since I took the sprint and was quite surprised to see the two ladies and the other guy fairly close behind. They might have caught us by surprise if we had just cruised in. My first strong finish with a relatively painless 5th place and a 33km/hr average on 134km. We had to ride another 10km because camp wasn't suitable so tomorrow will be less than 100km and a shower at the end. The wind is howling again and it's quite chilly. Full sleeping bag tonight. Food at dinner is excellent and so is the soup in the early afternoon.

Epic wind

Wow, today is what call an epic day. 168km which isn't so bad although it's a long day but there were surprises in store for us. I was a bit rushed this morning for the 7:15 start so I'll have to get up around 5:15 this morning. Part of the problem is that people have stuffed their lockers and have trouble getting in and out quickly. Mine has plenty of space and will have more since I brought lots of food. Anyway, away we go and there are five of us that quickly drop everyone. We're motoring at around 40km/hr so we get to lunch at 70km around 9:30 but I am starting to feel my legs hardening. We take a 20 min break and eat and riders start trickling in so we set off once again pretty hard and I know I won't last long since I haven't done long hard rides like this especially back to back. Sure enough, there's a gentle rise at around 80 km and it's bye bye Gilles. I am dreading the fact that I have 90km left to do on my own and the wind has seriously picked up and I am now only going about 20-25km/hr. I struggle until 130km and finally a group catches up. By then I had dropped below 20km/hr. These guys are going fairly slow so it's going ok. We stop for a refill at 140 and set off again. The wind us blowing harder and from the left side so we tuck in on the right and after my turn at the front, I move back and I am stuck behind a small girl and we're right on the edge of the road amnd I get little draft so I'm working hard. We move up a bit so now I have a bit more space but I'm still right on the edge of the pavement. One second of innatention and a gust of wind and my front wheel hits the sand and I get to kiss the pavement. The rider behind flips right on top of me. The judges gave it a 9.5 I believe. No great damage except a few scratches and my pride but I just can't keep up anymore. There's about 20 km left and I am zapped and the wind is now ferocious. I am now riding at 11-13km/hr and struggling mightily. Even the fastest riders didn't maintain 20km/hr in that wind. We're by the Red Sea and it's a flat desert with nothing to stop the wind. I finally crawled in to camp exhausted around 10th place. Loads of rider didn't finish the day today. The late comers are trying to set up their tents in the dark with a howling wind and a thunderstorm is brewing. My stuff is set up and I managed to work a bit on my bike too. Tomorrow I will definitely take it easy. I can' t last 4 months like this... Bide my time until I'm leaner and fitter. I love to ride fast and at the front but right now I'm only good for about 70-90km if there are no big hills.

The start

This is it, away we go! Up at 4:30am for breakfast and packing. Of course, it's hurry up and wait. We stand around for ages and finally get going in a convoy. It' dreadfully slow going around 10km/ hr with a few stops along the way. We get to the pyramid for a little ceremony and photo ops which are pretty nice and finally head out at around 9:30. Another 30km of convoy still going pretty slow and we finally get where we can let loose. I was expecting some kind of start but people just dribbled out and the cops were still holding us back until some of the local Egyptian riders joined us and talked to mour police escort. I was chomping at the bit so I went with the front pack for about 25km and realized that I was going to pay dearly for this so I dropped back a bit. Lunch was at around 70km so I caught up with the front group and we had a bite. The Egyptian riders either took their time or had enough so I left with the fastest three riders but they dropped me right away and I rode about 50 km by myself when I was finally caught by a few riders in a pack. That gave me a chance to rest and I figured I could hammer the last km or so and finish fourth. Everything was going according to plan and we saw one of the front riders had a flat so I thought third was in the bag as there were only two of us left as I had pushed the pace a bit. Unfortunately that little stunt brought on a cramp that I've never had before on the inner righ thigh, it felt like the adductors... Very odd so I pedaled with one leg for a few hundred meters and a guy caught up with me. I then saw the finish line and tested the leg which responded well so I passed him for a fourth place which is what I probably deserved anyway. Total 136km and 170km for tomorrow, I will be more conservative and ride with the 2nd pack. The top three are a bit too fast for me at the moment. Let's hope it will change as I get leaner and fitter. Right now, I'm just tired and it will take at least a week to adapt.

The pyramids

Well, I guess it's about time to go and see those pyramids. I anticipated a fairly big hassle but it turned out to be easier than I thought. The cab left us in a parking lot not too far from the entrance so we didn't have to navigate through too many horse/guide/camel ride offers and they were not too persistent. Tons of people around the sphinx so we went around to take the obligatory pictures and then headed up the road towards the Khufu's pyramid which is the oldest and largest. It's a very large site so it doesn't appear crowded at all and it's very impressive, hard not to feel awed looking at this monster construction and even harder to comprehend that they could build such a thing 4000 years ago. I'm starting to believe in Panoramix's magic potion...

So we walk right around the pyramid with countless offers of rides, postcards, souvenirs and everything else. While sitting, I actually had a nice chat with Mustapha, a young 28 year old guy who ends up giving me a free postcard at the end. Amongst all the hassle, a glimmer of humanity that gives me a little hope that was soon to be squashed...

We continue walking around the second pyramid(Khafre son of Khufu) and then the smallest one which is Menkaure, son of Khafre. I guess you could say pyramids ran in the family.

Anyway this old bedouin guy comes around on a camel and I'm still feeling relaxed from Mustapha's encounter so instead of ignoring him as usual, I answer the usual questions and he starts throwing me little souvenir beads for free(yeah right!). He then asks me to take a picture and I reluctantly agreed. Caught in the web of the deadly spider, it's not so easy to get away... He's like an octopus, he must have several more hands than I do. He's trying to wrap a turban around my head, shoves the camel stick and reigns in my hand, grabs the camera and starts snapping while I am protesting. I am starting to be impatient and try to leave. Of course the free of charge offer has now been amended so I get a pound coin to give him. He's obviously not happy about my stinginess and then he goes on a different tangent and asks me to give him 50 Pounds for 10 US(normally worth 55 or so) because he doesn't want to go to the bank. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, this guy has been around the block more times than I'll ever be and there's no way he's going to do a deal that will be to his disadvantage. Yet I take out my wallet(stupid alert! stupid alert! You'd think I would know better after all that traveling) Anyway, within seconds he has some money in his pocket but he knew that wasn't going to work from the tone of my voice so he starts laughing and then starts swapping money back and forth at warp speed. Think of the little bean in the three cups trick where you have to guess in which cup the bean lands... So now, I have to say I've had enough and it's time to end this comedy, I take back what I think is mine and he knows it's time to cut and run. I am still not 100% sure who was the winner of that exchange and I guess I'll never know...I'd like to think I came out ahead but I have to admit that's unlikely. In any case, it was good entertainment for a couple of US dollars. After a couple of minutes of decompressing, I had a good chuckle and had to admire the guy's prowess at swindling people. A master at his craft...

We continue to walk around the pyramids and there are very few people around because it's a hard slog under the sun and in the desert sand, you get a tiny feel of what it might be like to have lived in that environment and I have to say I am not too envious. I'll take the winter snow of Canada...

After taking pictures from just about every angles, it's time to head out and get some food and drink. Nice little fresh orange juice stand on the way out with a huge mug for less than 50 cents US. A bit more than the sugar cane juice which is also yummy.

Time for a treat and we head for the Intercontinental for one of the fanciest lebanese restaurant and Cairo and of course I'm dressed the part so I get a nice look from the Maitre D' but money talks so we get our table and order the degustation plate which is around 10 courses. They are much larger than I expected so we can't quite finish it and have to pack some back to the hotel. Very expensive by Egyptian standard at over 400 Pounds for 2(close to 80US) but one thing I don't like to skimp on is food. We'll even it out tomorrow

Le visa soudanais

Bon, on arrive tôt avec le train alors on saute dans le métro a l'heure de pointe pour un petit bain de foule et on s'en va à l'ambassade du Canada pour une lettre d'introduction dans le but d'obtenir le visa soudanais. Oh, je vois sur la petite feuille que ça va me couter un beau 50CAD, heureusement que je ne paie pas d'impôt! La demoiselle arrive et me fait savoir qu'il ne font plus ces lettres pour le Soudan car ce n'est pas recommandé comme destination touristique(quelle surprise!) Mmm, on va allez voir nos soudanais pour voir ce qu'ils ont a dire de ça. Heureusement, j'ai deux lettres de la compagnie...

Disons que l'ambassade soudanaise me rappelle le train de première classe entre Luxor et Aswan. je crois qu'ils ont nommé ce décor ciment poussiéreux... très réussi comme effet. Ça fait vraiment "Midnight Express". Mais tout s'est finalement passé rapidement et relativement efficacement pour un modeste 100USD, mon visa sera prêt demain matin à 10h. On s'en va à l'hôtel mais il est trop tôt alors on laisse les sacs et quoi d'autre? On va manger du bon libanais sur un petit bateau pas trop loin amarré sur le Nil. 3 heures plus tard et la bedaine bien pleine, de retour à la chambre pour un somme bien mérité. Manger comme ça, c'est vraiment épuisant!

De retour vers le Caire

Journée tranquille à Aswan. On visite le temple d'Isis qui a la particuliarité d'avoir été démonté pierre par pierre et reconstruit sur une ile dans le milieu du Nil. La reconstruction ayant été nécessaire due aux inondations annuelles du Nil.

En soirée, train de nuit vers le Caire et finalement plus propre et en meilleur état que celui de Luxor à Aswan. Je commence à sérieusement avoir des fourmis dans les jambes. Il est temps de partir en vélo...

Aswan

Of course we're going first class on the train... It was funny to see the face of one tourist when he saw the train and inquired whether this was really first class. It was a little grimy and we couldn't really see out the windows but spacious and comfortable with a cabin all to ourselves. We're hoping the sleeper train will be a bit better.

Aswan is a nice town by the Nile and a lot less hassle than Luxor. We had a nice walk through the souq which is pedestrian only and very long, I'd say at least 1500m... Lots of different kinds of shops, lots of junk, spice stores, food etc... The hotel was very close to the souq and the Nile, cheap and very comfortable. We watched the sunset in a park watching the feluccas sail by quietly.

Valley of the King

Today, we're visiting the Valley of the King. There has been 63 pharaoh's tombs uncovered and they are still looking. There are also many more tombs from noble and workers found in this area. It's bone dry so it's not surprising that things are so well preserved. The entrance fee allows the visit of 3 tombs. Of course there was a gentleman handy to help up pick the very best ones and of course arrange for a top notch guide for a modest(well actually not that modest fee) which we declined. I'm sure if you're a keen pharaophile, the tombs must be all very fascinating but to the uninitiated eye(that's us). They're pretty similar... The ones we saw we're quite large(around a hundred meter I guess) and intricately carved with all kinds of stories of their version of the afterlife and some had the sarcophagus left. Most of the contents of these tombs are in museums around the world.

I figured that we could take a shortcut across the hills to the next temple so we headed up the trail right beside the sign that said no climbing, we felt like real egyptians at that moment. That got a few people yelling not because they didn't want us to do it but because those sacrilegeous foreigners neglected to pay bakshish for a guide or some valuable information on how to follow the marked trail.

There was a nice view from the top and we climbed down to the temple of Hatshepsut, apparently the first female pharaoh. Nice temple... especially because of the location against the cliff. Then a little walk past the tombs of Nobles, another temple by one of the Ramses, yet another temple from Amenothep both with little left standing and finally the temple of Ramses III called Medinah Abu. All templed out, we managed to get a cheap minibus back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to dinner at Sofra once again and it didn't disappoint. Mmm that pomegranate juice was tasty!

We're bunking in a hotel closer to the train station since we're going to Aswan at 7:30 in the morning. El cheapo is only 12USD/night with shower, wifi and breakfast. About 5 times cheaper than our previous digs yet certainly not 5 times worse. It was clean and quiet.

Karnak Temple

The hotel which was ranked very high on Trip Advisor turns out to be so so, we got woken up at 5am by someone trying to open our door and the owner/manager actually opening the door until I gently whispered in his ear to close it. Never saw the guy again the next couple of days. I wonder why... he's the one that tried to sell us the tours the day before. Breakfast was also very average.

Since we're on the West Bank(of the Nile that is), we walked down and took a little ferry across and ended up walking around town and to Karnak temple. Definitely a bit hotter and sunnier down in Luxor. The temple is quite impressive and you can apparently fit the Notre Dame basilica in the Hypostyle Hall. I have to say it's as impressive as the St Peter's Basilica and Aya Sofia yet it was built a couple of thousand years before. Quite a place...

Walked back and had lunch in Sofra, an excellent restaurant in town. So far, the best selection of egyptian food and quite tasty. Not quite up to par with our best Jordanian restaurants but still very good. Love the pomegranate juice too. Back on the ferry at sunset on the Nile watching the feluccas around. If it wasn't for the hundreds of cruise ships, you could imagine yourself back a few hundred years.

Noel coptique

Vous avez déjà entendu parler de Noel coptique? Et bien pas moi... Il se trouve que notre guide magique nous dit que c'est une journée fériée seulement pour les gens cette religion alors que lorsqu'on sort dans la rue, on voit bien que c'est plus que ça. Arrive a l'ambassade du Canada pour faire préparer une lettre d'introduction qui est semble-t-il nécessaire à l'obtention du visa soudanais et bien entendu c'est fermé, demain vendredi et samedi aussi fermé car c'est le week end islamique...Mmm l'ambassade du Soudan heureusement juste a côté est évidemment aussi fermée. Quoi faire, quoi faire... Egypt Air à la rescousse, on s'en va a Luxor en avion en soirée, ca donne le temps de visiter le musée Egyptien. Le visa ira à la semaine prochaine ou du moins on l'espère.

Bon, les musée, ce n'est pas ce qu'il y a de plus excitant mais c'est tout de même quelque chose d'unique que celui du Caire. En fait, le musée pourrait être dans un musée;-) C'est pas jeune, jeune la dedans mais comme ce qu'il y a dedans a quelques milliers d'années de plus, on l'excuse. Il semblerait qu'un nouveau bâtiment soit en construction... il y aura perte de charme sans aucun doute par contre ce sera surement plus confortable et mieux équipé.

Les photos sont absolument interdites et il y a même une cabane ou on doit laisser nos caméras mais comme a peut près partout en Egypte, ce qui est interdit est très flexible alors le garde refuse de prendre notre caméra et on entre avec mais on respectera quand même les règles comme je le fait toujours(entend-je des gens tousser?)

Des sarcophages, des momies, des statues, de la poterie... 30 dynasties sur 3000 ans ont laisse des traces. Le gros hit est la galerie de King Tut, de l'or partout y compris un sarcophage de 110kg et son masque funéraire de 11kg en or massif. A ma demande de les emprunter, il y a eu un refus assez catégoriques...

De retour à l'aéroport, un vol sans histoire pour Luxor, Ramses cette fois nous attend aussi et est ponctuel. L'hôtel est pas mal mais tout de suite en arrivant, on essaie de nous embarquer dans une grande tournée a 100USD pour la journée, non merci, on s'arrangera...

En vol vers l'Egypte

Une derniere tournee en velo vers le Mont Nebo, pour celebrer ca, un vent d'enfer. Je n'etais meme pas certain de remonter la cote a une ou deux reprises mais lentement et surement, l'elephant fait son chemin en montant.

Arrivee au Caire sans probleme, longue ligne, visa mais la voiture nous attend... Georges a l'hotel s'il vous plait... Ils sont a peu pres huit ou dix a monter ma boite et les bagages dans la camionette malgre mes protestations et comme je n'ai que des notes de 200 livres Egyptiennes(40USD), pas de bakshish pour les petits copains qui me lance un mauvais oeil et me lance sans doute quelque maledictions pharaoniques. Embouteillage monstre, klaxon, zig zar a travers tout ca, bienvenue au Caire monsieur! Et vous etes d'ou? Du Canada... Ahhh Canada Dry me dit-il... Je leve le sourcil ne realisant pas que j'allais l'entendre a chaque fois que le mot Canada est mentionne. Une autre bonne raison pour dire Quebec!

L'hotel est charmant, plutot europeen des annees 50. Trop tard pour le train et le visa. Il faudra donc attendre a demain. Une petite promenade autour et voila que j'ai une carte Sim pour mon telephone et on soupe au Kushary, une concoction egyptienne de rix, pates, sauce tomate, poix chiches lentilles et evidemment l'ingredient secret de grand maman Cleopatre.

Amman

Back in Madaba, it's definitely several degrees cooler than in the south of Jordan, the morning ride to Mount Nebo was chilly on the way out but the Dead Sea hill took there of that on the way back. Amman was not inspiring at all, a traffic nightmare and the ruins were not particularly exciting. The event of the day was the excellent falafel for just over 1 USD.

Aqaba

Very nice little coastal resort on the Red Sea with views to the Sinai and only 20km to the Saudi border which is of course not open to the infidels;-) Very nice ride going along the ocean, I was thinking things were going really smoothly easily cruising at over 40kph until I saw the flapping flags of the marina club. I knew then it would be a somewhat unpleasant ride back and I wasn't disappointed! The wind was blowing hard and steady and needless to say, the ride back was somewhat of a chore. Still, there will be days like this so it's good to be reminded of it. The drive back up north on the Dead Sea Highway was quick and uneventful. It's the desert with hardly a soul in sight and 400m downhill from sea level. The plunge in the Dead Sea was quite fun, floating like a cork in water but the salty coating afterwards doesn't feel so nice.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Woke up early for a longer bike ride and made a very nice loop from Petra through the rolling hills going to little Petra and back up the highway. Wicked hill with very high percentages slowed me to a crawl going up but the descent back to Petra was a lot of fun. Apart from the crazy percentages on hills and the scorching afternoon sun, Jordan is a great country to cycle in. The roads are in excellent shape and the traffic is minimal. I only saw around half dozen cars in the first hour of the ride. A refreshing change from Hong Kong. Watched Lawrence of Arabia last night to get in the mood for the visit to Wadi Rum. Once again, the drive was spectacular and Wadi Rum didn't disappoint. It's still very easy to imagine(and see) the bedouin riding their camels in the desert surrounding the area even though most of them seem to have changed gear and are driving tourists in Land Rovers around the area.

Petra

Gorgeous ride to little Petra from Petra itself, once again around 20km with a couple wicked up and downs. The view was magnificent in the morning with the light reflecting on the rocks creating a pinkish/orange hue. Wheel is out of whack and I am not impressed with the wheel building job I had done. Several spokes are very loose and I'm going to have to do a job on that wheel. I had another wheel built there with good results but not this one. I hope it doesn't become a problem later on with crazy crappy roads.

Petra itself is sensational though expensive and overrun by fellow tourists. The 30 Euros entry price includes a pony ride, a guide for a couple of hours and other useless junk. Skipped the 300m pony ride and stuck with the guide thing to see what he had to say which was somewhat informative. The walk through the siq and the grandiose arrival to the treasury are absolutely amazing and would be even more so if it wasn't for the crazy crowd. Should have gotten there earlier. Ditched the guide and walked up 800 steps to the monastery which is similar to the treasury with a lot less people so you can sit around and enjoy the view. Walked to a viewpoint where you can spy into Israel and hiked back away from the crowds up on the back side to see the high place of sacrifice. Probably around 15km of walking unfortunately a third of it in heavy crowds. Still one of the most amazing place I've visited, those Nabatheans could carve some pretty incredible things.

Sur la route de Petra

Une autre petit 20 km le matin avant de partir en voiture vers Petra, un peu plus confortable aujourd'hui. Sur la route du roi, un petit arrêt au château de Karak et un petit lunch dans un restaurant bien recommandé mais malheureusement plutôt ordinaire face aux délices du jour précédent. Par contre la traversée du wadi Mujib était époustouflante, j'ai déjà passé par le Grand Canyon et je ne peux pas dire que l'un est plus spectaculaire que l'autre. Arrivée à Petra en début de soirée et un bon souper bédouin de Mansaf et Maglouba.