Day 1

Although it began quite early and was considerably more difficult than I had anticipated, the first day was wonderful. My rental bicycle was a dream compared with the bicycle I "trained" on and I started out quite energized. The first stretch of riding was a deep downward slope through a tunnel and circling around hills towards sea level and the camel that always waits for motorists there. After breaking into the sightline with Dead Sea, we veared of towards nowhere and the beautiful bare hills that border the water. Some time later we turned off-road and coasted over incredibly fun stretch of terrain. Along the way I shared a moment with a lonely donkey, carrying saddel bags who met my eyes as I passed as if to say "What's your business here?" After stopping for lunch and seeing the ruins at Qumeran, we took a short stop at the Dead Sea. I, knowing the pain of the water, did not go in, and found a puppy to play with who sat in my lap and fell asleep while its mother watched closely. We ended our riding day with an unbelievably bumpy, elbow shaking ride towards our spa hostel (lacking spa) and I look forward to a night of very deep sleep.
-Ben Alexander