morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Holland

To: Jordan
Miles today: 0.0

"From hiker trash to Cosmo girl"Well we made it to Jordan allright. The plane arrived at the impossible hour of 1:00am in Amman. Luckily my good friend Rooske (she's the reason I'm here) was there to pick us up. After a very short night (added to my still horrible jet lag) we decided we needed some relaxing and went to a posh resort on the shore of the Dead Sea.Our drive there involved lots of sheep and goats. They were grazing on the side of the highway and trying not to get hit by the trash bags that were caught in the wind. It was very windy indeed and the air contained a lot of sand blown in from the desert. We also passed several passport checkpoints but apparently U.N. and Dutch passports are good ones to have. Police:"Where are you from?". Us:"Holland". Police:"Ahhh, Welcome".Our destination is a thru hikers dream. Multiple swimming pools, steam rooms, great showers (soap and shampoo provided) and Dead Sea water pools where you don't even have to swim. It was a bit of a bummer that we couldn't float in the actual sea though. The life guard deemed it too dangerous with the strong wind. Oh well, who wants to get all salty and crusty anyways? I do, I do... so we put our feet in and posed for a picture. With our luxury resort bathrobes on. Ain't life grand? The water left big salt streaks on my legs and my skin was protesting but I've been in the Dead Sea. Yahoo!!!All the relaxing made us hungry so we ordered some nice sandwiches that they brought to our sunbeds. This is the life!Finally we had to leave and say goodbye to our beloved bathrobes...In the evening the girls went out for a drink and met up with a girl from Florida. I tried to sample the apple pie but they didn't serve dessert that night (that's just wrong!). They did offer water pipes for the smoking but that didn't appeal to me much.The walk back home was a precarious manoeuver between taxi drivers and the rest of the honking cars. Under Rooske's guidance I did pretty well and I made it to her appartment just in time to collapse on my bed. Imagine me snoring now... oh wait, Cosmo girls don't snore...
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Amman

To: Petra (Wadi Musa)
Miles today: 0.0

When we visited the mosaic in Mataba, Suzanna had recommended we visit the mosaic in Umm al-Rasas as well. So we went. Little did we know there was going to be a film crew ready to enlist us in their film for the Unesco (or some other organization they were trying to get funding from). We were to play tourist 1 and tourist 2 and we willingly played along. We nodded and smiled at our guide even if we'd heard the story three times before because we had to do it over. I might actually remember something from this tour ; )It was all very entertaining and since we were in no hurry I even posed some more, pretending to take pictures at an angle I would have never taken a picture. Hollywood here I come!!! After too much time outside without sunscreen (hey, I didn't know they were going to cast me in the female lead) we managed to take some final pictures of the awesome mosaics inside and got back to our car.We got out again (this time with sunscreen) at Ash-Shawbak. This is an old castle (mostly ruins) and a partly reconstructed church. After touring the castle and soaking up the views we continued to Petra where we checked in at the Petra Moon hotel. We had a lovely powder blue room with matching toilet paper. It was great. Another nice touch was the folding door for the bathroom which was quite tough to fold in and out but if you didn't the person in the room would have the best view (if you know what I mean).We left our blue haven and hit the road to little Petra. The ride was very scenic and the walk in little Petra was awesome. You enter through a narrow canyon and see some rooms carved out in the soft sand stone, pretty amazing. Most of the time we had the the place to ourselves since there weren't that many tourists. We ended up climbing some remnants of stairs which led us to great views and fun rocks to climb on. I'm sure rock climbers would love this place.After a nice break we returned to our car and enjoyed a nice bedouin meal in a local restaurant.
Date: 2005-04-12
From: Petra

To: Wadi Rum
Miles today: 0.0

After 15 minutes on the camel I'm wondering how people can do this for hours. After 30 minutes I wonder how much longer I have to do this. After 45 minutes I'm seriously thinking about getting off and walking... Finally there's lunch!!! I'm in Wadi Rum. A beautiful desert park and we're taking a three hour camel ride. I'm about the worst camel driver there is. Failing to keep the camel on the dirt road we end up in a wash which is evidently not where we're supposed to be. Why do I have the front camel??? There is a reason I don't have a drivers licence...Anyway, no big deal. We get to our gorgeous lunch spot and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Sand dunes, rocks, petroglyphs (with camels hunters), it's all there.Back at the tent, we have another break and play 'Pass the Pigs' (a highly intellectual game ; ) with our bedouin camel driver. Very fun! In the afternoon we're scheduled for a jeep trek and see more awesome scenery. We even pass the house of Lawrence of Arabia (the movie one). We also do a fun little scramble to the top of a rock bridge. Great views! The drive continues through narrow canyons before we start a desert race to get to the sunset viewing spot on time. Our driver takes some creative high speed off road short cuts and we make sure to hold on for dear life. After the camel ride and two and half hours of riding in the back of a pick up truck with minimal benches our bums are really starting to hurt. But boy, is it worth it! The landscape is spectacular!!!We sleep under the stars tonight next to an authentic bedouin tent. I'm so spoiled!!!
Date: 2005-04-14
From: Aqaba

To: Feynan Lodge
Miles today: 0.0

We heard there was good snorkeling here in Aqaba and the hotel advised us to check out the Royal Diving club. So after the best breakfast ever we caught the shuttle bus and were on our way. We rented a snorkel and mask and braved the chilly Red Sea. The coral and fish were fun and once I got the hang of how to breathe through the tube I wasn't swallowing so much of the salty water anymore ; )In the afternoon it was time to move on to Feynan and meet our friends at the Feynan Lodge. The drive along the Dead Sea highway was beautiful, lots of sand dunes and camels. The last 16 miles to the lodge were over a dirt road in poor conditon so we needed to arrange for a 4WD. We asked a bedouin if he knew someone and after the obligatory tea and some confusion about parking money and taxi money we were on our way. The Feynan Lodge is beautiful. It's part of a new project to use eco friendly ways of energy so they use solar power and candle light. The place is gorgeously designed. The candles are in small alcoves with mirror mosaics to reflect the light and the ceilings are vaulted. The small balconies are very cute and totally bordered by glass so you have lots of light in the room. The bed linnens and everything else are very simple and 'earthy'. Just beautiful!
Date: 2005-04-15
From: Feynan Lodge

To: Dana
Miles today: 0.0

Despite the beauty of the lodge we had a hellish night... hundreds of mosquitos were eating us alive. The hotel is so new that they haven't had time to solve all their problems yet and we hear that getting mosquito nets in Jordan isn't easy. We are glad to be hiking to Dana village and stay there tonight. The walk is about 14km and very scenic. We follow the Wadi Dana, a beautiful wash/canyon with great views. The rock walls range from red to almost white. Some parts are eroded and show interesting patterns. The Wadi itself has beautiful oleander bushes in bloom. We walk on an old dirt road and pass several Bedouin tents and their inhabitants offer us tea. We politely decline. Goats and donkeys cross our path and some children are carrying water to their tent. The last part of the road switchbacks steeply up to the Dana guesthouse from where we have awesome views down the canyon. A mini bus takes us to the Tower (another viewpoint) and there we switch to a truck which brings us to the tents where we'll sleep. No mosquitos tonight. Yippee!!!!The views from the camp are awesome and we spend some time sitting on a rock taking it all in.Dinner is good again but by now it has become quite windy and we hurry back to the tent for an early sleep. Lots of blankets keep us warm.
Date: 2005-04-16
From: Dana

To: Amman
Miles today: 0.0

In the morning we have breakfast with the other guests and it always surprises me how hard it is to shut out other conversations when you understand the language (there are a lot of French and Germans at the table). It reminds me of the time I took a tour on a canal boat in Belgium. I heard the same explanations and jokes in English, French and German. Thankfully the guide decided to skip Dutch ; )We get driven back to the guesthouse and now face a steep downhill. It's one of those gravelly surfaces where you have to be very careful not to fall. We all make it safely down though and enjoy the scenery.Once back at the lodge we meet a British guy who is working for BBC world news and is doing a piece about the lodge. He's toting a camera and needs some input from tourists. Hey, we've already had training we'll talk to the camera : ) Our friends chicken out so it might seem we're the only tourists in this country. The drive back on the Dead Sea hwy is beautiful. Lots of sand dunes, canyons, and Dead Sea. I think I'd like to sleep in tomorrow. I'm exhausted...
Date: 2005-04-17
From: Amman

To: Jerash
Miles today: 0.0

I drag myself out of bed this morning. I feel very tired. We've seen and done so much these last nine days... Still there is more to see and who knows if we'll ever get back to Jordan. So on to Jerash we go. Jerash holds extensive roman ruins and it's really interesting (I seem to use that word a lot ; ).There is even a presentation in the hippodrome. Retired army soldiers have been trained to impersonate a roman army. Due to a hold up at customs they haven't received their real swords yet and are now using wooden ones (quite funny). In two weeks they should be fully decked out in gladiator customs but for now they are just wearing brown tunics. Their shields aren't quite finished either, they look like plain pvc. And the spears are nothing more than bamboo sticks. It adds a special quality to the demonstration though. Especially when one 'gladiatior' gets so energized that he actually launches his spear instead of holding it above his head. The Swedish Roman emperor doesn't seem quite comfortable in his Roman dress and keep fidgeting with it... sometimes the amateuristic performances are much more entertaining than the well trained ones ; )They are just starting up though and are trying to get horse races and 'real' gladiatior fights going in the next couple of months. Everywhere we go it seems that tourism is developing.After the show we walk around the rest of the ruins. I especially like the old cobble stone street where you can still see the ruts the horse carriages have made. When we exit the place I visit the bathroom and 'enjoy' the other side of developing tourism. The cleaning lady in the bathroom hands me some soap and a towel and then shows me some american dollars... oh, I got suckered in! I don't mind giving people money for a service they offer but a dollar is ridiculous! She blocks my way out while I'm explaining that I don't have any money on me. Not very comfortable. I end up getting some coins from Opamp and hand those to her. She doesn't seem too pleased, oh well.We continue on to Ajloun castle but it gets busy in the streets and we want to be back in Amman to meet up with Rooske so we enjoy the views from afar and head on 'home'.
Date: 2005-04-18
From: Amman

To: Desert Castles
Miles today: 0.0

Today we visit the Desert castles and a wetland reserve.I can't tell you much about it because I took lousy notes and don't have the guide book here. I think they were mostly crusader castles and one of them wasn't but had very daring frescos (lots of nudity).Also Amman's need for water had almost ruined the wetlands but now they are trying to restore it and protect the rare fish that live there.
Date: 2005-04-19
From: Amman

To: Wadi El Mujib
Miles today: 0.0

Our last day trip in Jordan is a visit to Wadi Mujib. This is a reserve within an hour and half from Amman and there are some very cool hikes to do. We are going to do the middle one (the Malagi trail) which involves descending steeply along a waterfall (with ropes) and lots of river wading in a narrow canyon. It's awesome!!!First we have to go uphill in desert badland for an hour. The scenery reminds me of Death Valley NP except that we're going towards a river cayon! The canyon is pretty narrow and it looks impressive. We get our feet wet and because we're pretty early in the season we even have to swim some stretches. We can hear the roar of the waterfall from a far and when I look down to see where we're going it looks pretty scary. I have never rappeled before. Help!!!The guide is full confidence and says I shouldn't be scared. He can say that but it doesn't change my feelings... I let Opamp go first and he does great. Much better than I do. I hang in my harness and pretty much make a fool out of myself. Luckily I do make it down safely but feel quite embarassed. When I see the guide go down I realize how I could have done better... next time I'll trust the guide and lean back more. We have to make our way through a cave and then enter the water again. There is a tough swim where we have to hang on to a rope, half under the waterfall. It's hard to get air but it's all fun and exciting. We wade some more and get to another waterfall which is easier to go down. Over a rock, under a rock, over a rock and back in the water...Boy, this a cool hike!!! Scary, tiring, exiting and so beautiful. The best hike of the whole trip!!!
Date: 2005-04-20
From: Amman

To: Police station
Miles today: 0.0

When we entered Jordan we paid 10 JD for a two week visa. We have to renew the visa now since our two weeks are up. The stamp in our passport says we need to go to the nearest police station. We don't really know where that is so go to the one that is mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide. When we arrive there they tell us to go to the local one. We find out where it is and walk back (we returned the car yesterday). After some confusion we find the right entrance and dump our passport on someone's desk. There's a bunch of other foreigners waiting and we get to practice our patience. It's not too bad however and after I give Rooske's address and convince him that we're not terrorists (just kidding) we get our extension.The rest of the day is spent writing my journal and resting!!!Going to Jerusalem tomorrow...
Date: 2005-04-21
From: Amman

To: Jerusalem
Miles today: 0.0

We all get up early this morning and meet Hani and Susanna at the bus station. Hani arranges two taxis for the five of us and we're on our way to the Jordanian border. Things go pretty smoothly here. We just have to wait a bit, get our passports checked and pay an exit tax. We hop on a big bus which brings us to the Israeli border. That's where the real waiting starts. First they take our passports and our luggage. Then they tag the pasports and the luggage and give us our passes back. We go inside, fill in a customs form and go stand in line. Luckily Susanna has been smart enough not to leave her pen in her luggage like the rest of us so we are indeed able to fill in the forms. Unfortunately she is also the one that has travelled a lot and perhaps it is the amount of stamps in her passport or maybe it is something else but she has to wait about two hours to get through. This includes a break (bomb scare???) where they have everybody move back and stop checking passports. They probably found something suspicious in someone's luggage. Anyway, that costs us all some extra waiting. When we finally make it all through we still have to wait until we are allowed to get to our luggage. Some of us are allowed through right away, others have to go through another check. All in all it takes us hours to get into Israel and we are all very tired and annoyed. The upside is we all got in!!! And seeing the old town of Jerusalem is worth all the trouble. It's very different from Amman. Lots of people and lots of tourists walking around. Lots of cute little shops and no cars! We are staying in the Austrian hospice (where everybody speaks German!) which is amazing. In the afternoon we meet up with one of Rooske's friends who lives in Gaza (apparently living there isn't as bad as it sounds). He shows us around town and we have an amazing dinner! When we get back to the hospice we have coffee on the roof and enjoy the great views.This is a pretty special place.
Date: 2005-04-22
From: Jerusalem

To: Holland
Miles today: 0.0

We leave early because the rumor goes that the border will close early today.Everything goes a lot faster going out than going in and we get to Rooske's house at a comfortable time. We all take good naps because our flight leaves at 2am. Unfortunately it gets delayed and we leave around 5am! Luckily I got some sleep in the airport and am feeling pretty okay when we arrive in Holland.
Date: 2005-04-26
To: American consulate
Miles today: 0.0

Today is visa application day.I have all my documents and extensive proof of planning but window #1 has a sour man telling me that I only seem to have ties with the U.S. and that scares me. He doesn't even look at my nice papers...Window #2 is a lot friendlier and while I give him my 80 Euro we chat about hiking and the benefits of trekking poles.Window #3 is ready for me after an hour of waiting but this is the important guy, the American consul. When I mention that I'm flying back to Roanoke to get back to the trail he tells me he used to live only a half hour from there. He would love to hike some of the AT too and again I don't get to show my nice plannings. But this time that's a good thing. I think I got my six months...
Date: 2005-04-28
To: Happy Place
Miles today: 0.0

PermagrinHA!!! I just received my visa in the mail... I got a visa for 10!!! years. I thought I would be lucky to get six months but I got 10 years!!!Now what about that American Discovery Trail or the Pacific Northwest Trail or Alaska...??? I'm so giddy... this is so cool!!!I can even celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. just have to find me a family ; )I'm a little hyper... this is so cool!!! (I know, I said that already).HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Love, Apple Pie
Date: 2005-04-30
From: Happy Place

To: Red White Blue and Orange
Miles today: 0.0

Just a little Dutch trivia...Today is the celebration of the Dutch Queen's birthday (our version of a national holiday). Actually, her birthday is in January but the weather that time of the year is not very compatible with outdoor activities so they kept her mom's birthday for the celebrations. People fly the flag (red, white and blue stripes like so many of the 'welcome' flags in the U.S.) and add an orange piece of fabric on top (Dutch word is 'wimpel'). Also people dress in orange and there are fairs and events going on everywhere. The queen usually goes out and visits one or two towns. She waves to the people and shakes hands and usually wears something that no one else would ever think of wearing. The gossip magazines love this and the next weeks she will grace the covers and face their criticism ; )All in all you gotta love your royalty. PS I went to the hairdresser yesterday to get my hair braided. It's so tight my head hurts and my 6 year old nephew repeatedly tells me I look ridiculous. Hey, at least I won't have to wear a bandanna for a couple of weeks... or maybe I will if enough people share my nephew's opinion ; )
Date: 2005-05-02
From: Red White Blue and Orange

To: The trail!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

It's actually already the third of May but I'm pretending that I didn't stay up all night to scan a ton of pictures.Went to Amsterdam this morning, then visited a friend in Haarlem, then visited a friend in Leiden and still found time to buy a scanner. Good thing Holland is so small. I won't be able to use the scanner again for another six months but I wanted to have my pictures up so here I am. I hope you enjoy them.Flying early in the morning to Roanoke. They say the best thing to do to prevent jet lag is to have plenty of rest. I laugh at that, ha! I have about four hours til I have to get up again.Oh man!!! I'll feel terrible...
Date: 2005-05-05
From: The Trail

To: Watauga Lake shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

Our first day back on the trail!!!Since I was too unorganized and still had to go shopping yesterday evening we decided to stay the night at Kincora and start the hiking today. Kincora was packed! Such a difference from when I was there in March.We took it easy this morning and left around 9. The first part was nice and flat. A beautiful walk along Laurel creek. Then we went up and down to Laurel creek falls. They were just as gorgeous as last year. My mom was doing fine and although the short rocky stretch close to the water made her giggle a little (as in "you really expect me to do that?"), she did great and didn't slip once.The long climb up was hard for both of us especially since it didn't seem to end (for the Dutch speaking readers, my mom called it a 'klerepad' several times). It did end though and a long descent awaited us. Mom was getting really tired at this point. I had told her that the shelter was at the lake so when we got to the lake she thought we were done. It was a little hard on her when she realized that we had two more miles to go. She hung in there though and after a break at the picnic area we continued on. She didn't have much good to say about the last ups... We made it with lots of day light left and I cooked her a nice meal (well sort of...).I have to say, my mom did great! Over ten miles with a lot of climbing on her first day out. For the record, I did offer to camp earlier on but she said it was still early and wanted to continue (so don't go calling me a slave driver now ; )Mom has been out for a while and I think I'll turn in soon too.We'll see how sore we are tomorrow...
Date: 2005-05-06
From: Watauga Lake shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

We took our time this morning and got going around nine again. The weather was great and we had some good views over the lake. The climb up from the dam was a little too long for my mom so we took a nice break on the trail and enjoyed the views. We repeated that several times and were happy when we got to stay on top of the ridge for a while. We had lots of good views down the green valley. Everything is so green now. Beautiful!Of course even on the ridge line there were lots of ups and down but eventhough mom was getting pretty tired in the end we still made it to the campsite after VanDeventer shelter. We met Skeemer there and later Mr. Sweepers arrived too.There are supposedly huge crowds on the trail right now but I guess we're all pretty much spread out because these are the only two hikers I saw today.