|
2008 Follow the Women
Ride |
  |
DAY 1 - FRIDAY 2ND MAY 2008
We arrived in Beirut, Lebanon, after a circuitous package of flights:
first to Chicago to pick up Royal Air Jordanian which then flew nonstop
(12 hours - ugh) to Amman. Then we took another flight to Beirut and
we're there now. Since Mary is a Vegan, we went looking for falafels,
but found Burger King, Hardies and Pizza Hut instead. |
| DAY 2 - SATURDAY 3RD MAY 2008
Saturday we tested our bicycles, went to a meeting at Sabra-Shatilla
refugee camp. Beirut is partitioned and the army is much in evidence,
but the sea is beautiful and everyone has been helpful. Tonight after
opening ceremonies we will dine and dance by the Mediterranean. Opening
ceremony at UNESCO Palace |
| DAY 3 - SUNDAY 4TH MAY 2008
Ride from Baakleen to Saidon. We just returned from a 20K ride from mt
Lebanon to the sea. There was a lot of very steep downhill riding but it
was very beautiful with wild hollyhocks along the way. A women's group
provided us with a lovely lunch in a park. At the opening cerimony last
night we remembered our supporter last year Ibrahim Edi; he has since
been assassinated. Dinner was in a restaurant overlooking the sea. After
dinner everybody danced. Everybody has been supportive as we ride.
Tonight a new restaurant |
| DAY 4 - MONDAY 5TH MAY 2008
Ride from Keb Elias to Rashaya, Bus to Damascus, Syria. After a long
ride past more flowers, terminating in a steep uphill, we all settled
down, exhausted, in the Ebla Sham - a 5-star hotel outside of Damascus.
A link has been added under the map to a page
of pictures. |
| DAY 5 - TUESDAY 6TH MAY 2008 The cyclists rode through Damascus, and later in the day toured a refugee camp. We were invited to the Presidential Palace where we had a reception with Mrs. Assad. The day ended, as they all do, with lots of dancing.
At the refugee camp we met many Iraqi women with chidren who had fled Iraq. This situation is a severe problem for the refugees. |
| DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY 7TH MAY 2008 Today we bicycled through Quneitra, a city about the size of Worcester that was reduced to
rubble in the 1967 Syrian-Israeli war. The concrete ruins are kept untouched as a museum.
Roses and poppies grow among the ruins. And most interesting, unlike the last time I
visited,some squatters have settled in. Israel returned this area of the Golan Heights to
Syria and it is now managed by a UN peacekeeping force. The Taylors were interviewed by a
Syrian TV crew at the Shouting Hill in Golan, another spot where Syria memorializes the
border. Relatives and politicians speak by megaphone across the valley that is a no man's
land littered with land mines.
|
| DAY 7 - THURSDAY 8TH MAY 2008 There is an ongoing scuffle in Beirut between Hezbollah and pro-government gunmen in which at least 11 are dead in street fighting. Hezbollah now controls a portion of Beirut. We luckily have avoided all this by three days and are now in Jordan. Today we will ride in the Sawaida City area, with some steep hills. |
DAY 8 - FRIDAY 9TH MAY 2008 Cycle in Amman, Meet with representatives of women & culture,
Interactive peace
workshop (from Cheryl)No picture or description does justice to the experiences I am having: Riding down a long hill with no cars against a wind that makes you peddle in middle gear just to keep moving, meeting an Iraqi widow at a Syrian refugee camp who has too little to suppport herself and her children, riding with the Iranian team and learning about their lives, meeting Syria's first lady at the palace. Everyone has been welcoming. I hear the words "welcome" all the time. The weather is in the 70s, perfect for bicyling. Today we rode through the center of Amman Jordan. Imagine 260 women riding through Boston! We eat dinner around 11pm and breakfast at 7am so I am a bit sleeep deprived.
|
| DAY 9 - SATURDAY 10TH MAY 2008 Ride from King
Hussein Gardens to Madaba, Overnight at the Dead Sea where we are sleeping under the stars, looking over the Dead Sea to the lights of Jerusalem. |
| DAY 10 - SUNDAY 11TH MAY 2008 We're in Jericho, Palestine, having crossed the Jordan River (a muddy brook, not deep and wide) at the King Hussein/Allenby bridge which spans Jordan and the West Bank, an area that lies west of the Jordan River. This area, smaller than Rhode Island, is a major reason I make this trip.
Palestine is about to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israeli statehood (May 15). While Israelis will be celebrating independence, Palestinians will be mourning these decades of domination, settlement-building, and wall construction.
Jericho is the lowest city in the world, only a few metres above the Dead Sea. Today it
felt like it was one of the hottest, as well. The rumor on the ride was that someone's
thermometer read 45 Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. That was probably while we were
sitting at the border crossing (only 2 hours 45 minutes this time) waiting for the
Turkish team to receive their entry visas. We cycled from the border to and through
Jericho, not a very long or steep ride, but it felt pretty strenuous in the heat. That we were forbidden to stop due to the land mines strewn all about added to the stress.
After some of the traffic we'd seen in the earlier part of the ride, Jericho (population
45000) was a pleasant contrast. We came through town btween five and six, after the
high heat had begun to decline, and enjoyed seeing sheep, camels and orange groves
up close, as well as the shops and houses of a small city. Our diminished
parade (down to about 150 or so riders, because many of the Arab riders cannot go through
the Israeli border crossing) still rated a police escort, but only a single patrol car,
not the tourist police, traffic police, and motorcycle escort we got while going through
Amman, Damascus, and Beirut). |
| DAY 11 - MONDAY 12TH MAY 2008 Visit Aqbat Jaber
Refugee Camp, Cycle in Jerico and in Ramallah, meet local female
leaders including the mayor |
| DAY 12 - TUESDAY 13TH MAY 2008 Cycle through Howara checkpoint to Al-Najah University, meet with students |
| DAY 13 - WEDNESDAY 14TH MAY 2008 Cycle in Jenin
from Martyrs Grave to Refugee Camp, Lunch with local women |
| DAY 14 - THURSDAY 15TH MAY 2008 Return to Amman &
fly home on 5/16. We're now in the air nearing JFK for 4PM landing. |
