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Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman
September 26th 2007

Published: October 4th 2007

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National Park

near Dana; looking towards the Jordan River Valley

(K)

From Petra I rode, first steep up, then more up and a little more up, then it finally leveled out a bit and I found a castle to explore. Can't remember its name but it was a castle and it was free entry. Following this was the usual hills, goats, sheppards, camps and rocks- more hills and rocks if anything. So anyway, I was heading for Dana (I know, some of you will find that funny). Dana is an amazing little town in the middle of Jordan's version of the rift valley. The town is basically made of stone and is surrounded by amazing landscapes. It was only around 50k's from Petra so no problem. I ended up staying in a hotel on the hill, designed for backpackers and had such a great atmosphere and amazing views over the valley. There were plenty of hiking tracks around but I couldn't really be bothered. So I stayed there one night, made friends and enjoyed the scene.

From Dana, my patience of the Jordanian landscape and all its hills was wearing off. Kids along the King's Highway were also getting a tad annoying. So I opted for a bus to

Dana

township on the edge

Amman. 20-odd k's down the road was a town called Talifa- it was one of those towns (I had been warned) that you just want to get out of. So I rode in, about everyone on the street was yelling something at me (usually positive) but I did get a couple of stones thrown at me. My desperate search for the bus station was a bit of a nightmare but I did get there in the end. Later I found out that Talifa is a bit of a national joke. The bike went on the roof of the bus and we were on our way.

So anyway, Amman. The Jordanian capital, not a lot to see, not a lot to do, but I stayed two nights. It does have a cool Roman Theatre and some other old ruins and the Downtown area is interesting enough for an hour or two. The city has also become a main Middle Eastern financial centre and with it comes a lot of westernisation, which basically made up the western side of the city.

But biking out of there was fun enough. With my crappy map, getting out of the city was an

Dana

experience and a half. Then it was all back to up-hill busy motorway style. But then the down hill started... Amman, at around 800m, compared with the Dead Sea at -400m... made a graet ride! So a quick wizz down the hill and I was at the notorious King Hussein Bridge and into the embracing arms and highly welcoming Israeli security and customs. "Welcome to Israel".

Well no.

Arriving unconventionally with my bike, having no contacts in Israel, not knowing where I was heading exactly did make things problematic. I didn't want an Israeli stamp in my passport either so had to plead with the passport stamper; I wasn't all that popular with her and consequently she called security and they took me aside (this is common with many travellers however). To make matters worse a Palestinian guy started talking to me, so they assumed that we were mates. Then my suspect cycle bag was searched and out came my weapons of mass destruction consisting of a D-lock and tyre pump.

So after all that I was finally able to collect my bike and stuff and busted out of there. I wasn't sure if biking was an

Dana

option but it seemed to be OK. One of the 20-year old security guys told me the way: through the gate, up the hilly windy narrow road, but DO NOT venture off it as it is landmined- passed another security check then left, right, left, left, left, right, right-left (OK not quite). So I followed this guide and rode out of there, through the West Bank towards the Dead Sea. It was all a bit of a strange place, being the occupied West Bank and all that. The road was pretty empty, and the odd Israeli Defence mobile would shoot past.

Well that was that, I was in Israel. I made it to the Dead Sea after and hour or so, found a camp spot and did the floating in the Dead Sea thing. Next stops: Jerusalem, more West Bank, Tel Aviv.

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