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.
308 km from Umm ar Raşāş to Umm ar Raşāş, about 5 h of riding. It goes by way of Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban, back through As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban and back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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.
41 km on Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → As-Salt - The Place of Tole.
The most surprising thing at Umm ar-Rasas is a tower. It stands alone in the fields about a kilometre north of the old town, a tall square column of stone, about fifteen metres high, with no door and a small chamber at the top, and it was built for a stylite, one of those early Christian ascetics who lived on top of pillars to be closer to heaven and further from the world. Stylites became famous in Syria in the fifth century, and this tower, which dates from the Byzantine period, is one of very few that survive in the region, and it may have been used as late as the ninth century. A monk lived in that little room, and pilgrims came to see him.
Read the complete Um er-Rasas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Um er-Rasas 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 As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban.
As-Salt climbs three steep hills in the Balqa highlands north-west of Amman, a town of honey-coloured limestone houses with arched windows, terraced streets and long staircases. In the late Ottoman period, from the 1860s to the 1920s, it was the most important town in the region east of the Jordan, a trading hub where merchants from Nablus, Damascus and Beirut settled and built grand houses in a mix of local and European styles. Muslims and Christians lived side by side, sharing guesthouses and charitable traditions, and the town was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021 as As-Salt, the Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality.
Read the complete As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 113 km into the recorded legs you reach As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban.
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.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, about halfway. Next is back through As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban sits at 193 km, about halfway. 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” comes up about 236 km into the recorded legs. Next is Um er-Rasas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Um er-Rasas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Um er-Rasas closes the day.
Um er-Rasas → 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” → As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban → Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → back through As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban → back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → Um er-Rasas is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.