It may have been at least three weeks since Debs got rid of her cold, but clearly she has given it to me! Obviously it has mutated since she had it, in to a much worse strain!
No one was awake when we left the restaurant/hotel this morning, which was a shame because we would have liked a cup of tea. Thanks to the lack of signs, getting out of Bosra ash-Sham wasn't as easy as we expected, but with the assistance of a few locals we were soon heading for the Jordanian border.
The 45km route to the border was fairly uneventful, although we did find an enormous bakery, where we bought some rolls and had a long overdue tea. Having learned from our prior mistakes we also bought plenty of water.
Perhaps we missed the signs, but somehow we ended up in the middle of Dera'a while looking for the road to Jordan. It took several conversations to get us on the right road, which was of course uphill. Nearing the border we passed through the wholesaler district where Jordanian and Syrian taxis were filled to the limit with chocolate bars and biscuits. In fact the vast majority of traffic crossing the border seemed to be taxis.
Spending our last bit of change in Syria we headed to the border, bypassed the overladen taxis and got stamped out of Syria with the minimum of fuss. The border guards did seem very concerned about where we stayed in Damascus though. If we hadn't have actually gone to Damascus, we have no idea what they would have done.
Like Turkey before, it was a long ride through no man’s land to get to the Jordanian border. Immediately there were signs of greater wealth and the whole area looked a lot smarter. We received lots of friendly greetings from the border guards and the whole visa process was dealt with surprisingly quickly. Before we knew it we were in Jordan and on the road.
Our first stop was in the busy town of ar-Ramtha where via some directions we managed to find an ATM. Unfortunately it only accepted visa cards so we will be charged, but at least we now have some money. Outside the bank we stopped and had some lunch and were greeted by several locals. A woman and her young daughter came over to say hello to Debs and wish her well on the trip. Hopefully Debs will feel more at home in Jordan, as at times she felt a little uncomfortable in Syria.
We negotiated our way back out of the town and began the journey towards Jerash, where we planned to spend a day having a look at the ancient Roman city. About 10km out of the town a family in an old Mercedes drove along side and offered to take us and our bikes to Jerash. The car did have a roof rack, but we can only assume that they were unaware of the weight of all our gear. After we politely refused they gave us some runner beans, waved and drove off. Now if somebody in a van was to turn up, we would have been quite happy to accept the lift as it had been quite a long day already.
With the wind starting to get up, we realised that we wouldn't make it to Jerash today and started to look in earnest for somewhere to camp. The main road was lined with small trees and several people were picnicking between them. We looked at the possibility of setting up camp, but eventually decided against it. When the trees disappeared and were replaced by buildings, it started to look like an opportunity missed.
Stopping for a drink by a roadside shop, we were beckoned over by the owner, who introduced himself and asked us to join him in some food. While chatting about where we were going, he said that we were quite welcome to camp anywhere near his shop. Our camping problems were solved, the shop owner insisted on helping us put the tent up and we soon got settled.
As it turns out this was just as well, as my cold suddenly changed into a hot and cold fever with vomiting. While I shivered in my sleeping bag, Debs struggled to find dinner for herself. Our first day in Jordan didn't end quite as we would have hoped.
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