I don't think I have been up so early for so many days ever before although it worked very well to enable us to cycle in the cooler period of the day.
goodbye wadi araba
The cycle to Aqaba was relatively flat and we felt like the miles peeled off quite easily. The roads in Jordan were really good and the drivers were courteous, often giving a beep as they approached and pulling right onto the other carriageway around us. One car even took a photo of us as it passed! There were lots of huge salt trucks on the road and they were just as considerate. The landscape turned more sandy and flat, apart from the mountains on the horizon.
road to Aqaba
As Liisa said, the horse sees the barn door, and accordingly we all had a good pace into Aqaba. We arrived about noon and it had already become very hot. hello aqaba
We all cycled into Aqaba together and it felt great to have done the journey with such a nice group of people. Interestingly, Ian noticed that on one of our stops another Explore group also arrived. They were on a more usual tour by bus - and none of them spoke to each other. It made us really appreciate how our group seemed a lot more cohesive and friendly.
all together in Aqaba
Thank goodness we arrived when we did as during the afternoon Aqaba got unbelievably hot - I have never been anywhere so hot - it was 40C. Even the shade was boiling! Ian and I went for a well deserved beer and overheard a group of Scots asking the waiter to read the tattoo in Arabic one of them had on his arm, a la David Beckham. He had it done in Glasgow. The others had a good laugh when it turned out it didn't say Christopher - doh! We then had a walk to the yacht club and around Aqaba.
Patricia in Aqaba
We had a nice meal together in the evening with loads of olives, yum, to feed our salt addiction and retired for a well earned rest.