CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
353 km from Umm ar Raşāş to Umm ar Raşāş, about 6 h 01 of riding. On the way it passes Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town and back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. It crosses from Jordan into Palestinian Territories - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
For about 76 km this is Jordan Kings Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
74 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Out on the plateau of central Jordan, east of the Dead Sea and south of Madaba, the land opens into a wide, treeless plain of wheat and barley, with low stone walls and the odd shepherd's tent. On that plain stand the ruins of Umm ar-Rasas, and the castrum is its oldest part, a rectangle of massive walls that began as a Roman military camp. It is probably of the late third or the fourth century, one of many forts that guarded the empire's edge against the desert tribes, and a garrison of auxiliary soldiers lived here. Its Roman name has been forgotten, and in the Byzantine age the town was called Kastron Mefaa. The walls still stand to a fair height, and inside is a jumble of collapsed houses, cisterns and arches, with a few churches among them.
Read the complete Castrum write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Castrum is where the day begins. Next is Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.
Down here you are well below sea level, close to four hundred metres under it, and the air shows it: thick, warm and heavy, with a mineral haze rising off the Dead Sea a few kilometres to the south. The baptism site known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Al-Maghtas in Arabic, lies on the east bank of the river Jordan, the place many Christians identify with the baptism of Jesus by John. Across a narrow, muddy channel of water stands Qasr al-Yahud on the western side, close to Jericho, and the two banks look at each other across one of the world's most heavily watched borders.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town.
Hebron, al-Khalil in Arabic, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Middle East, set in the hills of the southern West Bank. Its heart is the old town, a warren of stone alleys, covered souqs and Mamluk-era houses, grouped around the great mosque built over the Cave of the Patriarchs, where tradition places the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives. The site is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, and its name in Arabic, al-Khalil, means the friend, a reference to Abraham as the friend of God.
Read the complete Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 177 km into the recorded legs you reach Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town. Next is back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, late in the day. Next is Castrum.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castrum write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Castrum. That is the ride.
Castrum → Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town → back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → Castrum is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.