Chris and Greg present hiking tips and discuss essential items they bring while hiking in Jordan. This episode elaborates on communication on the trail, GPS equipment, the importance of tea on the hike, hiking boots and comfort stops.
Stay in Touch - Communication
When you come to Jordan, you can bring your mobile phone - buy a local Sim card very cheaply and have an operational mobile phone before you go into the national parks.
Go to their website and see if you can find some telephone numbers of the rangers, the tourist police -- always useful to have those already plugged in your cell phone before you go into hiking area.
And then of course Chris knowing where you are is the GPS. Absolutely, you might have noticed that Chris and I always wear a GPS in the hiking movies that we have on the internet
With the GPS, we always know where we are.
When you come to Jordan with our hiking book and your GPS, make sure you load up all the e-trails that we share with you. That way, you will never get lost - it is really handy to have, but of course in addition to that what Chris said earlier, the compass -- it's always good to have with you as well.
The compass doesn't run out of batteries -- have plenty of batteries for your GPS, but the compass is a fallback if you know how to you use it. Again, it will help you stop being disorientated and falling into strive.
Stay Happy - Comfort on the Trail
I guess we can talk about comfort a bit, because it is meant to be fun out on the trail. So to remain comfortable and happy, you certainly do want something to eat, take along some snacks: local date bread is a good thing to have in the pack. Almonds are cheap and readily available here.
Your tea Chris, you don't go on a hike without tea. The teapot yeah, tea is good. You can take a little teapot like this. If you bring an alcohol burner from home, they are very compact and effective.
Have a cup of tea and if you forget to bring your cup like we did today, you can easily make one like this out of a soft drink can.
And of course comfort Chris, extra hiking socks. We always bring an extra set in case we get wet walking through the wadis. It is good to have, not essential but nice to have.
But what is very essential of course is that you wear good hiking boots. Chris and I have spent a considerable amount of money on good hiking boots. Look for boots that give you good support around the ankles. That is very very important, especially while hiking in Jordan.
You will be in rough terrain if you follow the trails in the book. Boots that give you good support are essential to keep you safe and make sure that the hike is a pleasant hike.
And then Chris, maybe the most important thing - is this. Well of course, on a trail, of course everyone is going to need a comfort stop.
So some toilet paper to facilitate this matter is good to have at the bottom of the pack. And then there is a couple of other items you might like to have like a small digital camera to record your Trip, binoculars. Maybe not essential, but it is good to have.
By the way if you forget your camera or you'd lose it, no worries, you can go to the website and download the pictures we took for your own collection, for your own project.
Packing it All Together
And I guess the final item is a small day pack to carry the equipment in. You want something that's comfortable for you: not too heavy.
And if you are hiking in the summer, something that's breathable on the back is a great advantage - this is very useful, manufacturers more and more produce hiking packs that have this ventilation shield, or how would you call that Chris -- air comfort device so that...
Yeh, how would you call that Chris - I do not know Greg - we are not good salespeople for hiking packs. Both Chris and I have this, and it really makes a big difference. It is really nice, it ventilates nicely -- it ventilates nicely.
A small pack that is not too hot, has a few pockets and it is easy to access items in there and you will be surprised that how easily these few basic items will fit into a day pack.
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Music Credits for this Tutorial: Mission in Europe - Album: Mission #1 By Fridance - Licensed Under: CC BY-SA 3.0 Black Bird (Original Mix) - Album: First Half of 2010 By Awakenas - Licensed Under: CC BY-SA 3.0 |
