The journey to Jerusalem: a different historical site every day

The ship docked in Haifa early in the morning, so when the alarm clock rang we could already see the harbor area and the city's hills outside through the window. The walks to passport and baggage control were long, but luckily security eventually let us assemble the bikes, so we could push the luggage on the bikes. Entry was completely unproblematic. In regard of the contents of our panniers (gas cartridges, cooker, oil bottles, Iran visa...) we were prepared for the fact that some officials' pulses could increase, but in the end it paid off not to have flown (the special oils for the hub gears are impossible to get outside of Europe, so losing them would be serious...). In Haifa we spent the first day sightseeing and enjoying good food with good wine. As in all Israeli cities that followed, there was a mix of many languages on the sidewalks, which is not necessarily just due to the tourists. Many Jewish families immigrated to Israel, especially from the former Soviet Union, which is why Eastern European languages are often heard. In no other country that we have visited so far are historically significant places so concentrated as here. It felt like every 40 kilometers a place appeared whose name you had heard hundreds of times. First stop was the ancient port city of Acre, which features 13th-century city walls, an escape tunnel from the Templar Order and a well-done museum of local history. The landscape in northern Israel was characterized by olive trees, palm trees, pine forests and flowering bushes: it was amazingly green and colorful here, very similar to nearby Cyprus. Then we “dived”: the shore of the Sea of Galilee lies in the Jordan Valley, where the Arabian Plate and the African Plate scrape each other, about 210 m (689 ft) below sea level. Capernaum, on the north-western shore of the lake, is said to have been where Jesus and Peter lived for some time, making the site an important destination for Christian pilgrims. We cycled to the Jordan River, where we went but not over it. The water wasn't exactly clean - a bit strange, considering that water from this stream is said to be coveted by celebrities as baptismal water... Otherwise, the area on the north-western shore is almost heavenly: the lake with the Golan Heights on the opposite side, green meadows, old trees and large palm trees. We “climbed” out of the Jordan Valley via Tiberias and cycled via Nazareth to the ruins of the important Roman port city of Caesarea Maritima. The landscape remained green and densely wooded - it's hard to believe that the total stone and sand desert shouldn't be 100 km (62 miles) away as the crow flies! Due to numerous gated communities (here the clearest way in the world to show that you're petty...) it wasn't exactly easy to find a way to Tel Aviv. Once there, cycling was finally really fun again, because the city has the best network of cycle paths that we have come across on our trip so far. The general price level (Tel Aviv is one of the most expensive cities in the world and Israel is generally a very high-priced travel destination) does not allow us to stay in the city too long, which is why we set off into the forests to the east after one day to get to Jerusalem. When we got there, there had been two bomb attacks on bus stops in the morning, which is why this was of course a topic of conversation in the city - but in the end life went on as normal everywhere... Our host Jakob provided us with good food and lots of tips on interesting places in the old City. Our three days there were actually too short, but we were still able to take away valuable impressions of this city, which is extremely important for all three Abrahamic religions.

To the Dead Sea and through the Negev desert: to the lowest land point on earth

Through the city traffic we moved towards the east. There was another really brutal ascent before we went down a no less brutal descent into poorer Arabic-populated quarters. Soon we passed the barrier to the West Bank. We were still driving through a green valley, but further to the east we could already see the barren desert. Via a long, fast descent we cycle past some small tent villages into the steppe. A little later we turned onto the small road into Wadi Al-Quilt. Suddenly the steppe had given way to a desert! A real cycling highlight: a fast descent, fun curves, hardly any traffic - and all this in the desert landscape around us, Jericho on the horizon. Unfortunately, we failed to withdraw some cash in Jerusalem in the morning, because of course you can forget to pay by card here. As a result, we had to tap into our dollar reserve at a rather unfavorable rate. Cycling through the streets of Jericho we realized that this day of travel presented the most extreme contrasts yet: in the morning we were still in a modern and green city where you can only buy a stamp with online appointment booking (that's another story: like digitization should NOT go...), we were now less than 30 kilometers (!) further in a simple town in the desert, in which an important archaeological find is oxidizing half neglected: In the excavation site Tell es-Sultan we looked at the "Tower of Jericho”, a stone tower about 10,000 years old. The oldest currently known tower in the world, with the oldest known staircase in the world! We were standing in one of the oldest cities of mankind. We were a bit surprised how empty it is here. There were no information boards by the tower - if you didn't read up beforehand or have a good guide with you, you wouldn't even begin to understand the significance of the ruins. Apart from us, only three French had strayed here for a short time, otherwise there was a yawning emptiness on the site. Instead, the busloads of tourists were carted up to the monastery above the city - of course, most of the visitors here are Bible tourists. The next day we went through some date palm plantations down to the Dead Sea. The level of the northern part of the lake is currently a little over 430 m (1,411 ft) below sea level (trend falling), which is why the shore on the northern part of the Dead Sea is the deepest (not ice-covered) land area on earth. Of course, we used the visit to the Dead Sea with the obligatory “floating” on the water. Actually a pretty depressing place from a cyclist's point of view: from here it's all uphill in all directions... On the western shore of the Dead Sea we cycled from the West Bank back to Israel, where we drove through the Negev desert to the Gulf of Aqaba. On the way we went through rocky deserts, but occasionally past date palms. The Negev offered us many nice places to camp where we could listen to the golden jackals howling in the evenings. We soon reached the highest point of the Araba Valley and with it the beginning of the Indian Ocean drainage basin. Eilat was our last stop in Israel. We actually managed to buy a stamp there, having booked an appointment for it the day before (I'm not kidding...).

Jordan: Otherworldly sandstone cliffs and the capital of the Nabataeans

We crossed the border into Jordan at the Eilat-Aqaba crossing with absolutely no problems. After a few days of relaxation in Aqaba, we treated ourselves to a day at the sea: Sonja explored the underwater world of a small coral reef while snorkeling, Matthias preferred to keep his distance from everything that crawled and fled there. From Aqaba we cycled steadily uphill through a dry Wadi to the east. At the exit of the Wadi, we saw wild camels for the first time! After almost exactly 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles) of cycling, we were there where the camels pass by! We left the special economic zone of Aqaba at a checkpoint, where we were overtaken by a pick-up with a pretty relaxed and cool-looking camel being driven around on the back of the truck. We reached the village of Disah at the northern end of the Wadi Rum National Park via a cul-de-sac. Here we left our bikes for two days and switched to the Bedouin's off-road vehicles, which drove us through the desert sand to a camp in the national park. The next day we took part in an eight-hour tour of Wadi Rum. The landscape here consists of red-brown desert sand that has collected between bizarre sandstone rocks. The rocks, with their intricate surfaces created by wind and water, served as a backdrop for several films, including the planet "Arrakis" from the film Dune (2021). Where the iron content of the rock is higher, the sand created by weathering is now redder. In the sand we discovered traces of birds, insects, cats and dogs or jackals. As we continued towards Petra, we were informed by police officers that protests against high fuel costs (Jordan does not have its own oil reserves and, like Germany, is dependent on imports) could lead to “actions” on the streets. These consisted of blocking the highways with burning tires. However, we were lucky and got through well without a blockage, we only saw numerous charred tires on the side of the road. In a small valley between the rocks we camped on a sand dune. Not too close to the rocks, as the tracks in the sand indicated that there were at best giant beetles or spiders and at worst scorpions roaming about at night. After another stage (in the course of which we gained very sobering experiences in the local remote villages, more on that in the last paragraph) we then reached the town of Wadi Musa, which lies at the entrance to a gorge only a few meters wide, the Siq. The Siq leads to what is surely the most famous archaeological site in Jordan, the rock city of Petra, which was the capital of the Nabataeans. The Nabataeans traded in frankincense and spices and carved huge tombs out of the surrounding sandstone cliffs, of which the two best known today are the so-called "Treasury" and the "Monastery" (but both are former tombs). After a few days in Petra/Wadi Musa we decided to cycle back to Saudi Arabia via Aqaba. Although this is a detour compared to the route via Ma'an, the security situation in Ma'an and the surrounding area has been critical in recent days, which is why we prefer to accept the additional kilometers.

About cycling on this section

From Haifa to Jerusalem: Outside of Tel Aviv, there seems to be very little cycling in general - for about eight months of the year, the climate can hardly be endured. Accordingly, there is almost no cycling infrastructure outside of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The official cycle routes outside the cities are usually mountain bike routes that cannot be used with loaded touring bikes and anyway run more or less in circles. From Acre to the Sea of Galilee we mostly followed road 85 and then road 90 to Tiberias (both not too busy and easy to cycle). The road No. 77 from Tiberias to Nazareth was considerably busier and not particularly pleasant to cycle (built like a motorway), but there is no alternative in this area. From Nazareth we followed No. 60 and then No. 65 to Pardes Hana-Karkur. From there it is easier to get through to Caesarea via smaller side routes. From Caesarea to Tel Aviv we cycled almost exclusively on side roads or in places on the Israel National Trail. However, navigating this densely populated part of Israel was not easy, as there are many “gated communities”, which foreigners or even non-residents are not allowed to enter. At one point, the Israel National Trail even ran through a zone that was forbidden for foreigners - so if you are considering hiking this long-distance trail, you should be prepared! The forbidden zones are not marked on the maps we use (OSM, Komoot, Google Maps), which is why many annoying surprises awaited us on the way - not a particularly hospitable environment... Especially between Netanya and Tel Aviv there is a problem that both the highway cycling is forbidden (for good reasons) as is cycling through most settlements is forbidden (for completely stupid reasons). Fortunately, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem we went through extensive forests, which is why there were no barriers blocking our way on roads no. 44 and no. 395. But we have to advise against road 395: although it is a small, narrow side road, which is not far from a parallel motorway, a constant avalanche of traffic pushed up the mountain. From the Ein Karem National Park there is a 2 km long bicycle tunnel into Jerusalem, the center of which we reached via a very nice, continuous bike path along the old railway line to Jaffa.

From Jerusalem to Eilat: After Jericho we took road no. 1 to the turnoff into Wadi Al-Qelt (note: many of the side roads from Jerusalem to the West Bank shown on maps are interrupted by the wall of the Israeli separation barrier). The road through the Wadi Al-Qelt to Jericho was a real highlight: little traffic, winding, fast descent, and suddenly a desert landscape! From Jericho we always followed road no. 90 past the Dead Sea through the Negev desert to Eilat. Most of the time the road was very passable and only between the industrial area south of Ein Bokek and the junction of road No. 25 was the traffic density uncomfortable. About 35 km north of Eilat we found a cycle route east of road no. 90, which was passable from the Hai-Bar reserve at first (gravel road, sometimes sandy for a short time), but was suddenly interrupted by the new Eilat airport (diverting on road no. 90 necessary) - apparently no one has thought it necessary to update the signs for the route in the last three years... By the way, dogs were not a problem in Israel and the West Bank at all, we were not followed once.

Jordan: The border crossing from Eilat to Aqaba worked without any problems. On the Israeli side, an exit fee has to be paid, but this can be done by credit card. After a passport and luggage check on the Jordanian side, we were able to cycle the few kilometers to the military checkpoint on our own (in some old travel reports it is still described that the bikes had to be loaded onto a bus or taxi for this short distance). Tip: Before entering Jordan, you can purchase the “Jordan Pass” so that you don’t have to pay a visa fee for a stay of at least four days. You should have the “Jordan Pass” printed out with you when you cross the border, as it will be checked there. From Aqaba we cycled the Aqaba Highway (No. 80) to the Desert Highway (No. 47), which we followed after a detour to Wadi Rum to Dabet Hanut. From there, due to construction work, you unfortunately have to leave the Desert Highway for a longer detour via Ras An-Naqab when driving north. We then cycled to Wadi Musa (Petra) via a smaller side route from Swaymara via Ayl. Although this road itself was fine and the scenery was quite pretty, we must warn against this section: the population in these very remote villages is not used to foreign visitors and those here are obviously not welcome either. Children threw stones and shoes in our direction, older teenagers had mixed reactions, adults at least kept their views to themselves. Our research into these incidents has shown that several other travelers have shared this experience in this region, whether on foot, by bike or by rental car, and are therefore by no means isolated cases. We must therefore expressly warn against remote villages in the Jordanian region of Ma'an! We strongly recommend other cyclists to stay in the Ma'an region only on the (easily navigable) main routes and in tourist areas. The security forces were always friendly and helpful, but they were only present on the main routes. Finally, on the subject of dogs: in the vicinity of villages, dogs occasionally loitered around (in the villages themselves they are probably greeted with stones), but they rarely got nervous. Any situation could be defused with the usual procedure (stopping and threatening).