amman Archives - Hobo Hacker

My time in Palestine ended with a ride from the Golan Heights in occupied Syria at the headwaters to the Jordan river down to the Red Sea at Eilat–400 km away. I cycled from the mountains to the Dead Sea and continued south through the Negev desert.

Mikey stands with his bicycle in front of a sign that reads "Welcome to the Northern Portal of the Israel National Trail". Behind the sign is an Olive Tree. — Start of Palestine Bikepacking Tour

Mikey stands — End of Palestine Bikepacking Tour

Mikey stands in a dirt road looking away from the camera towards the sun setting behind the mountains. — Jordan Valley

Mikey's bicycle is leaned-up against a rock wall along a beach. The beach's shoreline curves around to Aqaba in the distance. Large hotels and palm trees line the beach. — Red Sea

Mikey's tent is setup on the sands of the Dead Sea--with his Brompton Bicycle folded-up next to it. In the distance, the Dead Sea reflects the brilliant colors of the setting sun, which is just falling behind the mountains in Jordan. — Camping by the Dead Sea

Mikey's bicycle is leaned up against a sign that reads "172" and "Eilat" (in Hebrew, Arabic, and English). The road bends right along impressive canyons and a desert landscape. — Negev desert, 172 km to Eilat

Mikey stands atop a man-made wall built at the edge of a canyon. In front of them is barbed wire. — Dam, Wadi Rum

Mikey sits atop a sandstone mounain overlooking their bedouin camp in Wadi Rum — Above Wadi Rum Camp

Mikey stands triumphantly with his bicycle leaned against a short rock wall. Behind him is Wadi Mujib. The landscape is brown desert with patches of irrigated green. In the distance, the Mujib Dam and its huge 35 million cubic meter water reservoir can be seen. — Wadi Mujib

Mikey and an elderly woman smile for the camera. — The American Bedouin

Mikey stands atop a sandstone cliff looking away from the camera, surveying the desert landscape with massive sandstone & granite rocks jutting up out of the sand. — Wadi Rum, Lawrence Spring

A huge, majestic facade carved out of a sandstone cliff is seen. To the right, the Jordan flag is flapping in the wind. — Petra Monetary

Mikey's bicycle is leaned-up against a grave that reads "משה הס" (Moses Hess). Atop Mikey's saddle sits a red bandanna. The cemetary has many green plants and palm trees.Behind the cemetary is the Sea of Galilee. — Moses Hess

A screenshot of a map shows a route along the mountain range from Petra to Amman. A graph shows the altitude & slpe, indicating a change of elevation bouncing between the extremes of a min ~200m to a max ~1,600m. The slope ranges from ~ -25% to ~ 30%. — Petra to Amman

E and Mikey sit atop a sandstone rock. — Chicken Rock, Wadi Rum

Mikey is silhouetted in a bedouin tent. He is exhaling smoke from a nargileh. — Shisha

A huge, majestic facade carved out of a sandstone cliff is seen. In front of it, two camels lay in the sand. — The Treasury

After Eilat, I crossed the border into Aqaba. I hopped a bus to Wadi Rum and traded some time for free lodging & food at a Bedouin camp. After 2 weeks, I hopped back on the saddle and rode up to Petra. I spent 2 days wandering Petra’s remains before continuing North. I felt that my legs were finally strong enough, so I decided to stick to the King’s highway in the mountains for the rest of my ride to Amman.

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After Amman, I took a plane to Kathmandu.

Shalom from Tel Aviv! It’s hard to believe that–just last month–I was driving across the US. I sold my car in Wisconson, hopped a greyhound back to NYC, flew to Israel (layover in Germany), took a 10-day tour from the Golan Heights (along the Syrian boarder) to the Dead Sea (along the Jordan boarder), and now I find myself in a backpackers hostel just a short walk from Jaffa in Florientine, Tel Aviv.

When I’m not washing sheets…I’m contributing to open source projects and wandering the streets of Jaffa or schmoozing with Germans, Aussies, and Dutch 20-something-ers at the cheapest hostel in Tel Aviv.

While my previous international travels as a hobo were well-funded by my salary as an software engineer, my new vagrant lifestyle lacks any source of income. As such, I’m subsidizing my travel by worktrading my time for free lodging. In exchange for 27.5 hours of “volunteering” each week, I’m staying at this hostel for free.

D & Mikey stand in front of a hedge on a hill overlooking a garden with a golden-topped dome. Behind that is a city and then a sea stretching to the horizon. — Shrine of the Báb, Haifa

When I’m not washing sheets or feeding ~100 backpackers vegan dishes (from 2 shitty hot plates!) with a 70 shekel/night (<$20 USD) budget, I’m still contributing to open source projects and wandering the streets of Jaffa or schmoozing with Germans, Aussies, and Dutch 20-something-ers at the cheapest hostel in Tel Aviv.

D & Mikey stand against a railing in the old city of Jerusalem. Behind them, the Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock can be seen atop the Temple Mount. — Al-Aqsa

Though Tel Aviv does have the highest concentration of vegans per capita than any city in the world, it’s a very hedonistic city, and I’m looking forward to cycling the open road. But it’s been nice to get travel tips from fellow travelers in this hostel. Indeed, the logistics of traveling between at-war countries (ie: Israel & Lebanon) is a non-trivial act. Their knowledge & tips have proven invaluable in my planning.

After my 1-month commitment to volunteering at this hostel has finished, I’ll have 2 months left on my Israel/Palestine visa. After that, my plan is to cross into Jordan and then fly from Amman to Berut, Lebanon.

A man giving a presentation to a bunch of sleepy participants shakes his finger at the audience. Behind him the words "Zionism" are projected onto the wall. — Zionism!

Mikey is walking away from the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. They are looking on past the wall that divides the genders, and up to the bridge that climbs to the Temple Mount. — Western Wall

The sun low in the sky, rising in the background. It is near-symmetrically silhouetting the golden top of the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem (Al-Quds). — Dome of the Rock

A & Mikey smile for a selfie in front of a sign that reads "Florentine Backpacker's Hostel" — A leaves Florentine

Mikey and D smile on a bridge over a river. There is a lot of green overgrowth all around. — In the green Golan

Mikey's bicycle's rear tyre is caked with mud. — Muddy Tyre

After that, I head West to Africa or East to India. I’m still undecided..

Hobo Hacker

Tag Archives: amman

Bikepacking Palestine, Jordan

Arrival to the Middle East

Travel stories from a digital nomad