Day 177 Jordan 14/3/2011, Wadi Mujib valley – Wadi Mujib valley. 1.63miles/2.57km, 30minutes, Av 3.1mph.

We left this morning feeling pretty good, the weather was beautiful and we were coping with the climbs.

It was as we were passing a roadside café/restaurant that our plans changed. The owner introduced himself as Sami and insisted on showing us round his place. The 'Grand Canyon' restaurant has a beautiful outlook over the valley and we have rarely seen a toilet with a better view, something that Sami is justifiably proud of.

Somehow we got caught up in his infectious and often eccentric personality. Quite soon we found ourselves with the bikes stashed and the likelihood of us leaving rapidly declining. The fact that he had five very sweet, 32 day old puppies, certainly had a bearing on Debs desire to stay.

Over the course of the day Debs was given some logic puzzles to solve that involved moving sticks, which she failed at miserably. As punishment she had to climb up a rope that Sami had fixed into the fairly sheer cliff face opposite his restaurant. She climbed up fine but the route down looked terrifying. When it came to my turn I used the rope to get up and down. We can't see health and safety allowing it in the UK, slipping and falling certainly would have hurt.

It was nice to have a different experience in Jordan other than just seeing sights. We have always said that we have no interest in just racing through countries. Having ridden our shortest ever distance and slowest ever average speed, we certainly couldn't be accused of racing! Plus it's not everyday that you learn to flick a stone so that it sounds like a bullet going past. In fairness we both failed miserably at that as well, but we do at least know the technique. I did get one or two stones to make a noise but it was very faint; still practice makes perfect.

Sami is an interesting character, plus his coffee is great and his BBQ isn't bad either. He proved to be good company and we hope that his plans to erect some tents for guests come to fruition. We think that he enjoyed our company, being stuck on the edge of a canyon when it gets dark is probably a little lonely.