12/23/2013

We woke up early and had a breakfast of pita, eggs, cucumber, peppers, pickles, cheese and tomato sauce. It was not what I'm used to but sufficient. We were on our bikes and riding just after 7am. We descended steep inclines to the Dead Sea. We rode along the shore for a bit before taking a swim, a mud bath and a shower. The water is saltier than I could possibly have imagined. I dipped my face in for 2 seconds and my eyes, lips and nose burned for about 10 minutes. The process in general-floating, slathering on mud, and washing it off-was great and really refreshing. I felt amazing for the next 22km as we rode along the shore. Then we started to climb. 25km of steep uphill. Very steep uphill. It took forever. Every time I was ready to quit I reached a checkpoint and we regrouped and kept going. It was a hard day of riding but it felt good. I am not the slowest. In fact I'm the fastest on the flats. On the uphills I am top 5 of 14 so I'm not too upset with myself. We reached karak castle as the sun was setting again. It seemed beautiful but I couldn't really hear the guide and all I wanted to do was put warm clothes on so I may have missed a few points. We regrouped again for dinner which was more rice with a bit of vegetables and chicken. I guess it's what the country has. I was really cold so I was snuggled up in my sleeping bag and fast asleep shortly after dinner.