Jordan Day 6 – Karak to Dana Nature Reserve – 95km

We continue riding southwards on the plateau, following the King’s Highway, passing agricultural fields, ruins and several small villages, until we reach the edge of the Al Hassa Canyon. We stop to admire the views, before making our descent into this impressive rocky chasm. What goes down must go up! and it's an 800 metre climb back out of the wadi, but we are spurred on by the thought of our picnic lunch and the chance to rest once the 22 kilometre ascent is over. After lunch, it's back on our bikes for the continuation of our southward ride. We avoid the town of Tafila by contouring around its east side on minor farm roads and gainheight steadily, en route to a high point at around 1600 metres, close to the rocky summit of Jabal Ata'ta. A final descent of 400 metres takes us to the village of Dana (1250m) and our basic but friendly hotel. Here, we are on the edge of the Dana Biosphere Reserve, Jordan’s largest reserve area, comprising hundreds of square kilometres of spectacular mountains and wadis along the face of the Great Rift Valley. Dana village has been the home of the Al Ata'ata tribe for 400 years and we will have the chance to look around this tranquil settlement. Ride Distance: 95 km (59 miles). 1950 metres of ascent and 1700 metres of descent.- KE Adventure Trip Notes

Erica and I arrived at Karak Castle bang on opening time of 8am to find that it opened at 9am on Friday. Samir convinced the security officer to let us in anyway and we had a short walk around before being bused to meet the group at a lookout point at the edge of the Al Hassa Canyon.

I enjoyed the downhill, apart from an area of gravel around an S bend, and enjoyed Samir’s company in the bus to lunch.

Anas suggested that the terrain from lunch might be manageable and I did get up and down some hills until calling it a day with 24km on the clock.

 We are staying tonight at the Dana Co-Op Hotel which is basic with communal bathrooms. After showering, I went down the road to view the sunset and managed to slip cutting the top of my left big toe and dropping the camera for its last time. Future pics will be courtesy of other riders until I find a replacement.