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.
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| The fanciest place we will ever stay... |
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| 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.
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| Worked like a charm |
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| Who wouldn't take us seriously? |
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| 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
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