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.
From Umm ar Raşāş it runs 346 km to Umm ar Raşāş; allow about 5 h 48 of riding. The stops in between: 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 72 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.
Umm ar-Rasas rises out of the plateau east of the King's Highway with little warning, a walled rectangle of Byzantine and early Islamic ruins on a flat expanse of wheat fields and sheep. In ancient times it was called Kastron Mefaa, a Roman military camp that later developed into a town, and it remained inhabited through the Byzantine period and into the early Islamic centuries before it faded away. UNESCO listed it in 2004, and the most remarkable piece of the site is the floor of the Church of Saint Stephen, a mosaic from the eighth century that shows cities of the region in tiny, detailed vignettes, including Jerusalem and Philadelphia, the ancient name of Amman.
Read the complete Tower write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tower 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 72 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 173 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 Tower.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tower write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Tower. That is the ride.
Tower → Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 72 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” → Tower is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.