So, here I am, back in touch again, after a lovely break spent in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, Hua Hin (beach), Singapore, Pulau Tioman (island in the South China Sea), Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok. Invitation and plane ticket courtesy of a friend. How very nice.
Now I am back in the saddle again, traveling in and around Jordan. On arrival back in Amman, I was able to obtain my visa for Iran. Hooray!! :-) Great. Iran is a big country and so,even though I expect to be there about 6 weeks, I don't think I shall have time to cycle all the way. There is a train system and so I might have to make use of this for some of the way. We'll see.
I had my second fall off my bike recently. Not bad, just a few bruises. I was descending a long hill towards the Dead Sea. It had been raining for a while and I noticed the lorries going reaslly, really slowly. It was also quite windy. As I was overtaking a lorry and came past it, a strong gust of wind attacked me, the road surface felt like an ice rink and my bike and both fell over and parted company. We both went sliding, sliding, sliding. I really didn't think we were going to stop, but eventually we did. The lorry I was overtaking then overtook me and carried on, but the one behind him was a real sweetie: he stopped and waited ... and waited, cos I was having difficulty getting my pannier back onto the rack; the road was still slippery; it was still raining and I was pretty filthy. BUT, no clothes were torn, no damage to the bike, and, although I had bumped my head and bruised my forearm and thigh, I could carry on cycling. And I didn't cry! The lorry then followed behind me all the way to the next junction when he made sure I knew where I was going before he carried on! I'm sure he did this to make sure that, if I came off the bike again, he would be able to protect me from any other traffic behind. I felt so grateful to him.
I had wonderful stay in Amman, with Wendy and Farkad, who work with Iraqi refugees. I was invited to a Women's Group for them to ask me about my trip. They were SO interested; it was a real privilege and pleasure being with them.
I met a fellow cyclist, Tom (the hungry cyclist www.thehungrycyclist.com), who has done such trips as North to South America over 2 1/2 years! It was SO nice to meet such a kind and ebullient person. Especially as I am still readjusting to being on my own again, after 3 1/2 weeks of being in company with others and not having to find where I am going to sleep each night.
In a few days I shall be going over the border to Syria. The weather is still very warm, but today, for instance, there was really big, wet rain and thunderstorms. As I go north, the temperatures will start going down and the weather will be more inclement. It will be quite a shock; this is the first rain I have encountered since about the end of May and I have not had to be wearing warm clothes until recently (in the evenings). When I wore shoes for the first time on my trip a few days ago, I developed blisters on my heels!
A year ago I was at the annual Royal Geographic Society's Explore weekend; including attending the excellent cycling workshop. This year I have been asked to submit a paragraph to be read out to the erstwhile attendees at the same workshop, led by two excellent cycle adventurers, Hallam and Al. If anybody wants inspiration and encouragement, it is in abundance at this event. Go to it! :-) (it's this weekend).
