Destination: Petra
Today is going to be a great day. At last we’re going to reach Petra, and there’s no doubt we were all eager to get there and visit that wonderful city. 75 kilometres separate Dana, where the stage starts, from Petra.
After the high temperatures of the previous days, up to 50 degrees, it turned out that today it wasn’t hot at all. The clear blue sky seemed to suggest high temperatures, but the air was cold and we had to wrap up. Apparently this area is cold and these temperatures are normal. We started the stage on the King’s Highway, a lovely roller coaster of ups and downs. Soon we left the road for a stony, dusty track that would take us to Shobak castle.
This castle stands on top of a mountain that, this time, we weren’t going to climb by bike: we were going to find a more original way. We had an inkling of something when they asked us to bring comfortable shoes and a head torch, and sure enough there’s a passage inside the mountain that takes you from the bottom right up to the castle. In barely half an hour we reached our goal in a very entertaining way. I’m sure that if there were something similar in Europe (and there must be) you’d have to wear a helmet, ropes, safety boots… but in Jordan it’s no problem: everyone is free and responsible for their own actions.
After visiting the castle, we picked up our bikes and carried on towards Petra. We were going to leave the road for good and take a stretch of track that would stay with us until the end of the stage, through a mountainous, tough area with wonderful views over Wadi Musa, the valley where the city of Petra lies.
The day stayed cold, which was welcome after the heat of the previous days, and after a few kilometres of track we would come out onto the road to finally reach our destination.
We were keen to arrive, on the one hand to visit the city and, on the other, to enjoy the rest day that awaited us. As soon as we arrived we went to the hammam (too touristy for my taste, but very beautiful) and then early to bed. The next day we were visiting Petra and had to get up early to make the most of our time in such a wonderful city.