 |
| Always keep the tank full |
We had decided to ride with Ronnie for the first 90 km where he would turn and head to Beirut Lebanon and we would carry on to Dar’a, we loaded up at 9.30 am and headed out. It was turning cold and the wind was up, It was about a 365 km ride for us so we filled up at the first gas station and headed out across the desert. The wind was up and hitting us on the side and it was interesting to see how it affected Ronnie on his bike in front of us. He was constantly leaning it to the wind at about a 15 degree angle and sometimes in the gusts he was all over the road so I knew it was the same for us. The noise again was deafening we should have put our ear plugs in but we always seem to forget that bit. I was having problems with my visor because every time a blast would hit us it would go inside my helmet and blow the thing open, after a while it worked its way loose and came out of the slot on one side and Chenty had to hold it down so I didn’t lose it while I pulled over to make repairs, tightening the screws and putting a piece of tape on it to help keep it closed.
Well the first 90 Km came and it was time to say good bye to Ronnie, we pulled in at "The Bagdad Café" took some more pictures and set off on our own paths. Ronnie just wanted to get one more country flag on his pannier. He is on a mission to do 100 countries in three years, he already had 62 done when we met him.
Well the first 90 Km came and it was time to say good bye to Ronnie, we pulled in at "The Bagdad Café" took some more pictures and set off on our own paths. Ronnie just wanted to get one more country flag on his pannier. He is on a mission to do 100 countries in three years, he already had 62 done when we met him.
Check out www. motogypsybiker.com
 |
| The clouds roll in as the weather changes |
So off again on our own heading to Damascus’s the clouds rolled in and before long it was raining. The roads here in the desert are not that good and my absolute worst thing to ride on is a grooved pavement. Kind of like we would see in Canada if they were going to lay new blacktop but here in the desert I think they forgot to do that part, anyway, we got into a stretch of this for about 80 km, add to that a down pour of rain and that has my but cheeks puckering if you know what I mean.
As we approached Damascus’s the sky’s opened up, it was now raining so hard that the drains in the street couldn’t handle the volume so up come the man hole covers, now we have to watch for them also. The water was pushing up so much the streets soon became flooded. They put these speed bumps everywhere to slow down traffic but nobody thought of what would happen when it rains, they create the perfect dam so either side of the speed bumps there would be a river to fjord, sometimes as deep as 10 inches, throw in the traffic that has no idea of lane control and there is chaos in the streets, but here that is the way it is most of the time anyway. Well getting through Damascus’s was hell, add to that again no GPS!! we just knew that if we kept heading west we would eventually come across the main highway heading south to Jordan, once on that we could make it to Dar’a and find a hotel.
We arrived in Dar’a at about 3.30 it was still raining so we found the first hotel and checked in for the night. Cold and wet we stripped off and jumped into the shower to warm up, then hang all our gear up to drip dry, God I would hate to have to clean the room after we leave, oh but I forgot they dont very often do that here.
Next the Border to Jordan - I hope the rain will stop soon. |
| The Baghdad cafe where we said good by to Ronnie |
There are two crossings into Jordan from Syria and we had read that it is best to use the biggest one at Jaber which was right at the end of the highway we had been riding from Damascus, so up and off again after drying out from the previous days ride. We arrived at the Border at about 11 am, the wind was still high after the storm we had been in yesterday, BIG cross winds, very noisy in the helmet not nice to be on the road again.
We pulled up to the exit office and I go in to get the passports stamped, there is a fee of $10.00 US. Then to the next window to fill out more papers, pay 500 Syrian pounds each for that (another $11.00 US each) then get the carnet stamped to say we have taken the bike out of the country and now we are ok to leave, we ride through another no man’s land full of trucks waiting to get in and we arrive at the Jordanian border.
This time there is nobody there to help, I am learning that at the border crossings there is no typical way of going about it. Mostly the people here are not in too much of a hurry so the first thing one need’s when going through this procedure is a lot of patience. I must say that so far most of the people we have met speak reasonably good English and are very helpful. I park the bike and walk in with all the papers. First they check the passports then I have to get the Visa $10.00 JOD, ($15.00 US)each. I had to change US$$ for that so off to the money exchange then back to the visa office, then to immigration, there I was told I need insurance for the bike so outside to the left is the insurance office, there I purchase one weeks insurance for $18.00 JOD ($25.00 US) Then off to the inspector who checks the license on the bike and gives me more papers, back to the office for carnet to be stamped (which I had to ask him to do) Thien it was back on the bike and we are out of there, we just had to give the guy at the gate one of the pieces of paper and he would check the passports one more time.
We load up and head to the gate only to be told the road is closed due to the strong winds and a sand storm, so off with the helmet again and wait. Twenty minutes later everybody is in their cars and heading for the gate again, so off we go heading out into Jordan in a sand storm. The winds are up and blowing, there is garbage blowing across the road everywhere, we even saw a 50 gallon oil drum rolling across the road. Not good to ride in, we are blown all over, Chenty does not like this! Its worse than being on the boat because here I can’t put a reef in the sail, we pull over and a car pulls up behind us, “Welcome to Jordan” the guy says, it is very dangerous to be on the road in this wind. He suggests that he will give us his car in exchange for the bike so we can carry on in safety (I bet he would) so after thanking him for his offer and explaining that we really need the bike he says we should follow him to the junction where we should turn and head for Amman then from there it will be another 70 km ride. We follow him at about 50 km to the turn where we pull up again and thank him. At this point the wind is getting worse so we make the decision only to go as far as Amman and find a hotel. This is extreme I have never ridden in this type of wind and it is also getting cold now down to 6 c. The 70 km ride takes about 90 minutes we duck into the first hotel we can find and hunker down. Welcome to Jordan and I thought we were going to the desert and some heat!!!
This time there is nobody there to help, I am learning that at the border crossings there is no typical way of going about it. Mostly the people here are not in too much of a hurry so the first thing one need’s when going through this procedure is a lot of patience. I must say that so far most of the people we have met speak reasonably good English and are very helpful. I park the bike and walk in with all the papers. First they check the passports then I have to get the Visa $10.00 JOD, ($15.00 US)each. I had to change US$$ for that so off to the money exchange then back to the visa office, then to immigration, there I was told I need insurance for the bike so outside to the left is the insurance office, there I purchase one weeks insurance for $18.00 JOD ($25.00 US) Then off to the inspector who checks the license on the bike and gives me more papers, back to the office for carnet to be stamped (which I had to ask him to do) Thien it was back on the bike and we are out of there, we just had to give the guy at the gate one of the pieces of paper and he would check the passports one more time.
We load up and head to the gate only to be told the road is closed due to the strong winds and a sand storm, so off with the helmet again and wait. Twenty minutes later everybody is in their cars and heading for the gate again, so off we go heading out into Jordan in a sand storm. The winds are up and blowing, there is garbage blowing across the road everywhere, we even saw a 50 gallon oil drum rolling across the road. Not good to ride in, we are blown all over, Chenty does not like this! Its worse than being on the boat because here I can’t put a reef in the sail, we pull over and a car pulls up behind us, “Welcome to Jordan” the guy says, it is very dangerous to be on the road in this wind. He suggests that he will give us his car in exchange for the bike so we can carry on in safety (I bet he would) so after thanking him for his offer and explaining that we really need the bike he says we should follow him to the junction where we should turn and head for Amman then from there it will be another 70 km ride. We follow him at about 50 km to the turn where we pull up again and thank him. At this point the wind is getting worse so we make the decision only to go as far as Amman and find a hotel. This is extreme I have never ridden in this type of wind and it is also getting cold now down to 6 c. The 70 km ride takes about 90 minutes we duck into the first hotel we can find and hunker down. Welcome to Jordan and I thought we were going to the desert and some heat!!!
 |
| OK we wont turn left |
No comments :
Post a Comment