From Heaven To Hell...And Back to Heaven Again

Hello all,

I am writing to you from my bed as I try to keep my eyes open though I have been falling asleep for the past few hours on and off.  It is currently 7:20 PM.  We have had quite the day and I'm not in very high spirits.  However, before I get into that, let's focus on the positive.

Yesterday, we had a rest day at the dead sea.  We were able to go swimming (or "floating", rather) and even got to try out the famous dead sea mud that is so good for your skin.  It was available for free, but weirdly we seemed to be some of the only people using it. Dad used it 3 times, I think.   I settled for one and done.

It was a pretty cool feeling to be so buoyant without having to do any work.  Dad had an unfortunate case of the hiccups while he was in the water and, I guess since you aren't supposed to stretch out and put your head back for fear of flipping over and not being able to flip right side up again (and drowning as a result), Dad stayed crunched over and endured the hiccups.  Eventually they stopped and he survived.  Phew.

We had dinner at the mall afterwards at a shisha bar.  The previous night we ate at the resort which had a great buffet.  Their breakfast buffet was also incredible.  The best Dad has ever seen.  It was very interesting to watch people during meals.  90% of the people at the hotel were Jordanian muslims, so there were lots of families.  Weirdly, there were lots of kids screaming as well.  I felt like I was at summer camp again.  One toddler was by the toaster (where I was trying to toast some bread) just wailing at the top of his lungs for minutes on end while he rolled around on the floor.  Nobody was coming to get him, but I didn't want to pick him up and help him because it seemed like this was a normal thing to happen and I didn't want to mess with the status quo.

The fanciest place we will ever stay...

Sunset from our balcony!

  

Overall we had a great time at the dead sea resort, but today we made up for our day of relaxation.

It all started off well enough.  We got up at 7:00 AM and were out the door by 8:00 as planned.  Our hotel steward asked to take a picture with us before we left and went above and beyond to make sure that we got on our way safely.  He was great.  Then, we started the 50 km journey to the end of the dead sea before we were supposed to turn left and head up into the mountains to eventually reach Karak.  The first 50 km of our journey went relatively smoothly and it really was heavenly.  We had a huge shoulder, the wind was at our back, the beautiful sea within view, and locals cheering us on the whole way.  We had some great downhill parts and, despite a few incidences, everything was going well.

Incidences I'm referring to:

1. Our big water bottle that we bought at the store fell off my bike as I was riding and it landed in some gravel which poked a bunch of holes in it.  Therefore, all the water started spurting out of it like a mini sprinkler.  Dad was behind me, and of course, water is even more precious to us than normally because we are in the desert, so we both made a run for it (more of a "waddle" with our bikes in between our legs),   Dad started drinking it as it was spurting everywhere and then quickly passed it off to me to get the rest of it.  So that was the death of one water bottle.

2. Wild dogs are literally obsessed with me.  I'm not even kidding it's like they smell my fear.  Right off the bat this morning, the dogs came after me.  These ones were vicious with large fangs and very aggressive barks.  Dad was behind me and couldn't hear me scream "Daaaaadddd!!!!!" like I do every time they come after me, so the locals started scaring them off and throwing rocks in their general direction. I survived, bite free.

3.As someone who is trying to be respectful of the conservative dresswear women are supposed to wear, I have been wearing leggings under my shorts.  However, it is SO HOT here and it was becoming unbearable.  We had just ridden up a steep hill and I was so hot I could barely stand it.  My legs, my face, everything was burning.  Dad suggested I just take the leggings off.  In the ditch on the side of the highway.  So there I was, a woman once concerned about appearing appropriate at all times according to the culture I was trying to immerse myself in, now stripping on the side of the road in a ditch down to my underwear while my dad "stood guard" (not sure what he was going to do if anyone came...He was wearing a bright orange construction vest shirt, I'm pretty sure he was drawing MORE attention to me).  Anyway, nobody came and my legs could finally feel like they weren't on fire.  For a little while at least.

4. My face was burning up so Dad had to make a hat for me out of a piece of paper.  So obviously I looked even more ridiculous than usual.  Although Dad now wears his hat (which I refer to as the "frog hat") under his helmet which is also under a rain cover.  In the desert,  So the two of us together made quite the pair.

Worked like a charm

Who wouldn't take us seriously?

Panoramic view of the dead sea (sorry these next few pics will be a little blurry!)

We rode 50 km of pure bliss before we turned left at the junction to get to Karak.  Dad and I knew we would have to do a lot of climbing today, but unfortunately, it was much more difficult than we originally thought.  We only had about 30 km to go before we were supposed to arrive in Karak, but we had to gain approximately 1400m in elevation.  This was a daunting number, but Dad and I had done bigger climbs than this so I wasn't worried.  However, 10 minutes into it, I had to take a break.  Which is always fun where there isn't any shade anywhere...I was going an average of 7 km/hr which is essentially as fast as I can walk.  Dad thinks it was the sun that made today so difficult.  We tried to stop frequently to have water and take breaks, but we were just moving at such a slow pace.  It was difficult because the grade wasn't that high, but we had to do this for 30 km (after already riding for 50 km) which seemed impossible.  When we sat down for lunch, I said to Dad "I don't how I'm going to do this." and I really didn't, but I said that even if I had to walk for five hours, I would do it.  What we didn't realize was that we were about to get to a part of the highway that was so steep, even walking with our bikes was extremely difficult and tiring.  Usually, I don't mind walking, but with the weight of the panniers, the sun, and the incredibly steep grade it was hard to not fall backwards down the mountain at some parts.  I was frustrated with myself because clearly I was having much more of a difficult time than Dad and there is nothing worse than feeling like you're making someone wait for you.  Which I definitely was.  But that's the thing about Dad, he is always very patient.  Usually when I encounter situations like this on the bike, I take out my frustrations on Dad by basically just yelling at him and complaining about how stupid thi whole thing is.  But today, I just cried silently for a few hours while trying to just MAKE IT.  I was climbing up one part that was so steep, I just started weeping.  I may cry easily, but I don't weep a lot.  Today I was weeping.

(Very) long story short, this continued for a few hours and at some points, we were going 2 km/hour.  I can't even begin to explain my frustration.  I kept on saying to myself "Annika, just SUCK IT UP AND DO IT!" and was constantly praying for strength to just get me through to the end of the day, but once 3:30 rolled around and we faced another uphill climb, I just had to give up.  And it felt horrible to have to say that because on all of my biking trips, no matter how hard it got, I have always made it to the final destination each night.  But at this point, my arms were numb from holding the weight of the bike while walking, my legs were sore, my whole body was on fire, and we had only gone about 3 km in 3 hours!  We still had about 18 km more to go!  I also had to keep in mind that I have to cycle for the next month-I need this body to work tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...So, we decided to just hitchike to Karak.  (#casual #momdonotworry #wearefine).

There was a guy who came to pick us up but he had a car so he couldn't take our bikes.  We kept telling him that he didn't have room for the bikes, so it was ok, he could keep driving.  But he was so sad that he couldn't help us!  He kept looking at me and pointing to his eyes saying "you cry, you cry".,  And I want to say "YES I KNOW I AM CRYING I CAN'T HELP IT!".  Anyway, he left and we stood there for awhile with no luck.  However, I wasn't really worried because as we were walking our bikes up the hills today, we had about 20 people ask us if we needed help, a ride, or if they could take a picture with me (that one was random, but definitely happened) so I was confident someone would help us eventually.  Then, out of nowhere, this guy comes walking down the hill and says that he has a truck and will drive us to Karak.  With great relief, we follow him and see that he lives at this house in the middle of this mountain.  What?   I can't even describe how there was nothing else around for miles and miles.  He also just happened to be outside, peering over the highway and saw us right when I physically couldn't go any further?  It was crazy.  And I believe he was a gift from God.  There is no doubt in my mind that he was our angel today.  

He drove us in his beat up truck-the three of us squished together in the front and the bikes in the back.  The passenger door was broken so Dad was holding on for dear life.  As we drove to Karak, I was reassured that there was no way we would've made it before dark.  Or at all.  Chances are if we didn't stop when we did, we'd be sleeping in a tent on the side of the highway.  Now, I'm sure my dad could've made it.  But part of the bike trip recipe is working as a team and although I feel like a bit of a failure, I'm thankful that Dad didn't make me feel bad about it, and more importantly, that we have a roof over our heads tonight and we made it to our destination safely.  That is always the top priority, so if we have to hitchike to get there when necessary, so be it!

Today has been very humbling for me.  I have realized that I can't do everything and sometimes no matter how hard you say to yourself "JUST DO IT", it just can't be done.  Sometimes on the road, and in life, we need to rely on others to help us get from one place to the next.  Today was really hard in so many ways, and of course I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow, but I'm happy to be here,  The hotel we are staying in is somewhat sketchy in some ways, but it has two clean beds, hot water, and is a place to let our bodies rest.  Now we feel like we are in heaven again.   I think we will both sleep like rocks tonight.  Dad is already snoring.  Please keep us in your prayers as we get up tomorrow and do it all over again!

Love,

Annika

  

In (Culture) Shock And Awe

Ladies and Gentlemen!  The past 24 hours have been filled with so much it is difficult to condense it into a single post, but I am going to try.  We rode from the city of Madaba to the Dead Sea and are leaving tomorrow for Karak.  It was a day filled with many different emotions and crazy experiences. So let's get to it!

I wasn't joking about the parrot thing..

We started off with a fabulous breakfast at our hotel.  The desk clerk/chef prepared fresh food for us (which made Dad very happy) and spent a lot of time talking with us (and showing us his parrot..what?).  Highlights of the conversation included him laughing while I was talking and telling Dad that I seemed like a "very powerful" person.  He said he had never met a woman with such a strong personality.  I hope that's a good thing...?  Anyway, he was great, and whenever he described something (like the weather, for example) he would always say it was "more than wonderful" or "more than awesome".  We were one of two rooms that were occupied at the hotel that night so we got very special attention and it was a great way to start off our time in the Middle East!

Breakfast on the balcony!

Our view of Madaba City

After breakfast, we made our way around Madaba city to see various mosaics, the shrine of the beheading John The Baptist, and the oldest map of Palestine which dates back to 528 AD.

The first place we went to was an archaeological site that housed many mosaics dating back to 100 AD.  The mosaics dated back to Roman times and we even got to see a Roman road that was preserved from the Roman period.

Roman Road

We essentially had a private tour because the guy who worked at reception didn't really have anything else to do (and we were the only ones there).  He only spoke Arabic so we couldn't understand each other very well, but he was very nice and even took us to a shop afterwards to see how people today make mosaics the same way they did thousands of years ago.

 

Next, we walked to a church where we saw the shrine of the beheading of St. John The Baptist. In 1883, after the Christians from Kerak came to Madaba, Latin priests built the first church on the summit of the Acropolis of Madaba.  In 1902, parishioners broke ground on the Church of St. John the Baptist.  They named it in honor of the disciple who was beheaded in the nearby "Macherus" castle in approximately 29 AD. If you are interested in the biblical relevance of the beheading, check out Matthew 4: 1-12.  We also climbed up to the top of the steeple and got a great view of the city!

Forgive my Donald Trump hair in this picture, please.  Wind is the worst.

Catholic school kids waiting to come into the church

They were not shy!

Finally, we went to St. George's church to see the famous mosaic pilgrim's map that dates back to 528 AD. Dad was VERY excited about this.  It is important to note that this is the oldest existing map of Palestine!  It is a mosaic that was unearthed in the early 1900s when Madba Christians were building the church on top of it.  It was very cool to see biblical sites represented visually on a map that was created using tile thousands of years ago.  I couldn't get a good picture of the whole map, but these pictures will show some of the incredible details!(2 million tiles used on the full map originally!)

  

Then it was time to finally get on our bikes (I know, I'm only through a quarter of the day).  We didn't have to ride long before we were at Mount Nebo. Not only is this a place of religious significance (In Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the promised land and died there), but it also provides an incredible panoramic view of the Holy Land.  It was very cool to see the wilderness where Jesus spent time after he was baptized in the Jordan River (which we saw later that day...it was a big day for Christian pilgrim sites).

The cycling got much scarier as we descended down the mountain.  Usually I worry about going UPHILL, but it turns out going downhill when it's really steep is much worse!  We were going down narrow roads with hairpin turns and my brakes were on the whole time.  Literally.  It was also great because my brakes squeal whenever I use them, so for a solid hour, Dad and I had to endure the high pitched sound that never stopped.  It was pretty embarrassing when there were villagers standing by and they could hear me squealing from a mile away.  I tried to get Dad to fix them but he just said that the sound meant  "the brakes are working and that's what matters".  We were pleasantly surprised by the reaction we've had from drivers on the road.  I think we received over 100 honks yesterday.  Usually I associate being honked at with Americans trying to run me off the road, but these honks in Jordan are always friendly and accompanied with people shouting "Way to go!" and "Yay Canada!" (Dad has a Canadian flag on the back of his bike and they get really excited about it).  They give us lots of room for the most part and I have found them to be very friendly and helpful to both Dad and I.  After going down about 1000 metres in elevation, we had reached the Dead Sea.  It was quite incredible to only see desert for miles and miles and then, out of nowhere, the sky turns into the sea!  There are so many things I saw on the way down that I was unable to take pictures of because I was flying pretty fast (even with my brakes on) and the idea of stopping to take a picture seemed crazy. We saw Jordanians living in traditional tents and farming sheep, 4 kids hanging out on a camel on the side of the road (so casual), and so many kids jumping and screaming as we passed by that I can't even count.

We still had one more stop before we were done for the day and that was the Jordan River.  We were going to see where Jesus was baptized and where John the Baptist lived during his ministry.  It was quite a random tour-I think Dad knew more about Jesus' baptism and the Jordan River than the guide did.  I think the tour in itself was quite useless, but interestingly enough, you have to go on a guided tour to actually touch and see the Jordan river because it is a military zone due to the fact that the Jordan River is the boundary between Israel and Jordan.

The Jordan River

Reputed site of Jesus' baptism

This picture was taken right before a woman fell in and almost drowned.  Seriously, I think that's her foot on the side of the picture.  It was crazy.

Israel only a few strokes away!

Why blend in when you were born to stand out, Dad?

 It was now about 4:00 and we had approximately 15 km to go until we reached our hotel at the Dead Sea.  I thought it would be an easy 15 km and, but it was a very stressful 15 km due to the craziness that is Jordan.  Again, I could not capture any photos because I was too busy trying to stay alive, but here are some of the highlights.

-We were chased by wild dogs (not very new for us, but these ones darted out of the woods or would sometimes wait ahead for us on the road, ready to pounce).

-Friday is a holiday here and it seems every family goes out to have a picnic/BBQ in the woods, on the street, on the highway-wherever they can find shade!  Which is nowhere, by the way.  So the shoulder that is usually available to cyclists was filled with cars and people just hanging out.  This was when we really felt like rock stars because everyone would cheer for us as we rode by!

-The service road that we were using that was supposed to have two lanes only had one lane due to the holiday traffic (AKA people just parking in the middle of the road), so there were cars driving towards each other and then randomly veering off to the shoulder (where WE were) like it was normal.

-A kid that was about 7 years old stopped traffic on the freeway as he went from one side to the other riding a camel.

-Things I nearly collided with while riding include but are not limited to: a horse, a pack of donkeys with children riding them, a kid roller blading with one roller blade on (what are you even doing?? How is that fun for you??), multiple vehicles coming at me including a man on a bicycle with an ice cream cart attached to it, hundreds of people just STANDING on the road (WHY?).

I have travelled to over 75 countries and I have never experienced culture shock like I have today.  But it's all part of the adventure, I suppose!  Anyway, we made it to the Dead Sea Spa Hotel which has been amazing.  We had a rest day today (which I will write about later because this blog post is already a small novel) and tomorrow we are headed out to the mountains again to arrive in Karak. We get to go UP the mountain tomorrow so...that will be a joy...not...Either way, I will keep you updated!

Bye for now!!

Annika

And We're Off...Again...

Hello everyone!

I am writing to you from Madaba, Jordan.  Dad is currently setting up the bikes while loud music plays in the street and the smell of shawarma wafts through the air.  We have made it to the Middle East!

Dad and I are very excited for the next month as we journey from Madaba to southern Jordan, then cross the border to arrive in Eilat, Israel and work our way north from there.  We are spending 10 days in Jordan and 20 days in Israel.  This has been a dream of mine for a long time (not necessarily the biking part), but certainly to go to Israel and Jordan.  As a Christian, I have always wanted to come to this area of the world to better understand the history of my religion and how it came to be what it is today, but most importantly, to be where Jesus has been.  I never saw myself doing it on a bicycle, but I am excited for the challenges and opportunities that accompany any cycling trip with my father.

Tomorrow is our first day of cycling and as I try to go to sleep (after a very long day of travel), I still have a sense of uneasiness that I'm sure will be with me until I am back at home in my own bed.  It's the feeling of not knowing what comes next and trying to be ok with that, while at the same time, being prepared for whatever it is.  It's a difficult feeling to deal with sometimes, but it certainly helps to have Dad right there with me, always remaining cautiously optimistic that things will just work out.  He's never failed me yet!

Today we flew from Calgary to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Amman, Jordan.  It was a tearful goodbye (although you'd think my mom would be used to this by now!) and we were 2.5 hours early for our flight.  I don't like running late, but this was a bit too much, even for me.

The flight was very smooth to Frankfurt, but Dad and I were still pretty tired.  As such, I took advantage of any flat surface where I could lay down and get some rest during our layover!

Soon enough, we had arrived in Amman!  It was obvious to me that we were not in the western world anymore when we stepped off the plane in Jordan.  In general, the Amman airport is just a nightmare in regards to operations management.  Almost everywhere you look (security, customs, luggage), there are groups of men standing around doing nothing except talking to each other while passengers try to figure out what to do.  I think we stood in the customs line for 20 minutes and we were behind 2 people.  Remind me of this if I ever complain about Canadian customs again...

Getting our luggage was also quite the ordeal.  We were able to get 3 of the 4 panniers (the saddlebags that go on our bikes) at the luggage carousel (which you know, is what normally happens), but when Dad asked someone at the "lost luggage counter" to find out where the 4th one was, he was told to just "ask a luggage guy".  Little did he know that I had already spent the past 20 minutes trying to talk to the "luggage guys".  We had become fast friends.  Except not.  Because they only speak Arabic and did not understand that I was trying to get the bike boxes...with the bikes in them (kind of two very important pieces of luggage for us).  I'm sure you can imagine it involved a lot of hand talking on my part.  I basically just kept holding out my arms in the shape of a giant rectangle and then would start miming someone riding a bike.  They didn't get it.  They were also not at a luggage counter, they were in this small closet type space with a metal detector that you could only enter when the guy made eye contact with you and started yelling.  At least that's how it went for me.

Eventually, I could SEE the bike boxes in the ware house and kept telling the guys that they belonged to me.  After nearly an hour of waiting, we got our luggage and met our driver from the hotel (who was less than excited that he had to wait for us).  However, he eventually warmed up to us.  By the end of the car ride he was already telling me that as a muslim, he can have up to four wives and he is on the market for his second wife...perhaps a Canadian..? Dad and I both laughed awkwardly.  I feel like we do that a lot in foreign countries.  Anyway, he was a really nice guy though and was just joking, obviously. Though he did give me his business card before I left and said "just in case you change your mind..." Again, I just laughed and said "ok thanks buh byeeeee!" Seemed to work out.

We're basically staying at the Four Seasons...

Our hotel is...well, it's a good bike trip hotel.  As in the room is big, it's cheap, and a little sketchy.  Dad thinks it's fantastic (obviously) and I think it will do for the night.  But I'm happy we are moving on tomorrow.  We went out to have some Middle Eastern food tonight.  I can't remember what Dad had, but I had a shawarma and we had fresh mint and lemon juice!  Delicious!  We are reveling in our small victories today-all of our flights left according to schedule, we successfully got a SIM card for the phone once we arrived in Jordan, the electrical converters that I packed work on all the outlets, all of our luggage arrived (despite the hassle), and now we are ready to start the cycling part of our adventure!  Tomorrow we are heading to the dead sea with stops at Mount Nebo (#Moses) , Bethany across the Jordan (#whereJesuswasbaptized), and two churches that house the Byzantine Mosaics (#500ADmapofPalestine).  Those hashtags are harder to follow than I would've liked.  ANYWAY, we will update you tomorrow with all the details.  I am trying to write regularly and as often as possible.  This blog will be simple and not necessarily pretty to look at, but I hope it will provide a good representation of what we do here so all you readers can keep up with the adventure, and we can look back on it when we get home.

Trying to rock the head scarf!

My favourite pictures of Dad are when he looks like a little boy.  Like this one.

Please pray for our safety as we begin cycling tomorrow!  We will keep you posted! Literally! #blogpostpun #loveit

Love,

Annika