Plank Story: Hiking Mt Kilimanjaro

We are currently standing on Mt. Kili with the peak behind us. That’s how big the mountain is.

Hiking Mt Kilimanjaro was a spectacularly grand adventure and simultaneously self-inflicted torture.  On the first night I accidentally peed in my sleeping bag and broke my headlamp.  The sleeping bag and headlamp were both much needed tools on the mountain.

That’s me and Matt sitting on the right in the orange jacket. Photo from ready_freddy_123 on Instagram

Day Three

On Day three I wrote in my journal: When you look back on this trip as a positive experience, remember it is not.  You are miserable.  This is terrible.  You did this to yourself.  Vacation normally flies by but if you want vacation to pass slowly hike Mt. Kilimanjaro.

That was a breaking point for me.  I’d been up the first two nights shivering.  Lack of sleep and freezing nighttime temperatures forced me to figure out how I needed to get by on the mountain.  That night I put on nearly all my clothes and threw some heat warmers into my sleeping bag and finally slept.  […]

Plank Story: Hiking Mt Kilimanjaro2018-02-14T16:29:26-05:00

Welcome to Jordan

“You are welcome to Jordan” was the phrase we heard from almost everyone we met on our recent whirlwind trip to the Middle East.  “Please, go home and tell your friends and family they are welcome to Jordan too.”  Jordan, like Turkey, is a predominately safe country with some very difficult neighbors.  It doesn’t have any state issued travel warnings.  Mexico does. (Just to provide a little perspective.)

The curbs were the most colorful part of Amman. The curbs were the most colorful part of Amman.

 

I was nervous about traveling to Jordan until I got there.  Even though the flights were long, it was worth the trip.  We had three days in country which gave us time to see Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra and spend the night in the Wadi Rum.

Amman had some good local food and dabbled in interesting graffiti, but in my short stay there I didn’t see much else worth discovering.  It’s a very beige city—the Earth and buildings are the same color.

 

 

 

 

  Floating in the Dead Sea Floating in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea disappointed in its beauty […]

Welcome to Jordan2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00
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