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Inappropriate / Inaccurate? Raslan Abbadi

Location: Amman, Jordan
Country: Jordan
Speaks: arabic, english, russian
Services: accommodation, Adventure Travel, archaeological , Bicycle Rentals, Cycling: Mountain Biking & backroad, Cycling: road bike, Endurance Tours, food, Petra
Cost: Between $42 and $84 ($US per day / per item)
Recommended by: Kirsten Koza (Kirsten Koza), Jan. 4, 2012
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Description:

Raslan is a highly skilled, knowledgeable and friendly cycling guide (mountain bike and road) in Jordan. His father's family is Bedouin and his mother is from the Ukraine. He works for Terhaal - an extremely professional, reliable, and environmentally and socially conscious, local tour operator in Jordan.

Raslan is Jordan's national champion and record holder and won most road races between 2005-2008. He is actively training for the next Dead to Red race.

He has a sports rehabilitation degree from the Hashemite University and has certificates for swimming, Padi (diving), cycling - triathlon coaching. He also has trained in tourism and went to France with DuVine Adventures for this.

Raslan is constantly exploring new territory in the desert and countryside on his own and has a keen interest in history which he is eager to share. He's tech savvy and if he doesn't know the answer to something is quick to google-search for more information on his mobile device, both for the traveller but also to satisfy his own curiosity.

For mountain biking tours, good quality mountain bikes can be rented for reasonable prices if needed, but for road bike tours the traveller must currently bring their own. Support vehicle and drivers, accomodation and food can all be arranged.

Besides biking, Raslan also does climbing, hiking, trekking, canyoning, caving, and can arrange diving.

He's based in Amman, Madaba, the Dead Sea area and south. Though, Terhaal.com offers complete tours throughout Jordan.

Raslan's skills extend past sport and through taking wonderful photographs of clients even while biking, knowing great places to eat local food, and guiding one through archaeological sites and museums.

He encourages clients to engage with the friendly locals one cycles past. Travellers, you can expect to say "hello" to strangers more on one trip than you ever have before in your entire life.

Raslan is very open to frank discussion and questions and he has the unusual ability to be witty and make spontaneous hilarious jokes in a second language.

The prices listed of 42-84 dollars are for half day and full day guiding services only. Bike rental is $10-$20 US per bike (around $84 if vehicle transportation/support/transfer is also needed).

Contact Details:

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Raslan takes us on a bike trip to Umm-ar-Rasas. Even though it's a UNESCO site, I am the only tourist that day to visit the tower that still mystifies archaeologists and the massive ruins 1.5 km's away, at this still off-the-beaten-path attraction. Uploaded by Kirsten Koza on Jan. 5, 2012.

Raslan treats me to some roadside coffee to perk up the cycling. Uploaded by Kirsten Koza on Jan. 5, 2012.

Raslan at the Dead Sea Uploaded by Kirsten Koza on Jan. 4, 2012.

Customer Reviews

Overall
9.8 / 10
4 reviews

Kirsten Koza (recommender) (10 / 10)

reviewed Jan. 4, 2012, 12:17 p.m.

Kirsten Koza spent 2-5 days with Raslan Abbadi.

Description

I decided to travel to Jordan five days in advance of a 9-day group mountain bike tour, so that I could recover from jet lag and do a little pre-trip training before the difficult biking tour with long days in the saddle.

I asked Terhaal.com if they could provide me with a bike guide and they gave me their country's national champion, Raslan.

Raslan took me on day trips (with lots of flexibility for my interests and patience for my lack of capabilities). Besides spectacular biking, I floated in the Dead Sea, went to the Royal family's car museum, the Dead Sea museum, clambered over archaeological wonders, ate a feast of Jordanian delights, and even smoked a hookah.

Best bits: When I met Raslan the first morning he pointed out that I had forgotten my helmet in my hotel room. By the time I came back downstairs he had removed my mountain bike from its hard travel case and had re-assembled it. My bike has never run so smoothly after being put back together again after travelling by plane. As I huffed and puffed up hills in what Raslan dubs, "the hilly land" not "holy land" - he says "holy" was a typo - he was always encouraging without ever being condescending and without ever being over-encouraging either (which can be horrendous if you've experienced that). Raslan was completely amicable to my whimsically wanting to change plans - instead of going to see where Christ was Baptised, the weather was so perfect that I opted for a personal attempt at walking on water - or floating in the Dead Sea. On another day I decided spur of the moment that I wanted to gorge on Jordanian cuisine instead of going to see ancient burial sites and Raslan was happy to oblige or fit both in, if I chose. And how many people can say they smoked a hookah with a national cycling champion? I can, now. I was travelling alone and when one is alone one seldom gets photographs of oneself without contortions or a tripod and timer - and it is especially difficult to get in the moment action shots. Raslan offered to carry my secondary camera and took many great pictures, even as he pedalled. And the final best bit - Raslan's kindness to animals, children, and local people in the villages make each journey a positive interactive experience. (explanation: in my rating of price I gave the tour a 10 out of 10 but it isn't what some tourists would consider "absolute bargain" at a glance of the price - however, I want to clarify for the level of service and skill of the individual guide, it is in fact a great-great deal for what you get. Fabulous! So it is a 10 out of 10 if you were to examine it and were to imagine going to the USA and having Lance Armstrong as your cycling guide for that amount of money, you'd be clicking "absolute bargain" as well - because Raslan is Jordan's Lance.)

Worst bits: The worst bits had nothing to do with Raslan. I can without doubt say that Jordan is the friendliest country I've visited to date -- but every country has the odd little shit. As we cycled through a village two children came running out to barricade the road, one waving a Jordanian flag, and the other a six foot long two by four with nails sticking out of it. I suppose it was a game of "let's play road block" but I didn't like playing that game. As the two by four was used to block my path and swung in my direction, I swerved wondering when I had my last tetanus shot. Although this was a disturbing experience, I'm thankful for it, otherwise my friends would be pretty bored with my stories of Jordan the fantastic and wonderful.

Ratings

Overall experience: 10 / 10

Value for money: 10 / 10

Eco impact: 10 / 10

Does the local understand eco issues? Yes

Dirk Vanhooymissen (10 / 10)

reviewed Jan. 9, 2012, 2:14 p.m.

Dirk Vanhooymissen spent 5-10 days with Raslan Abbadi.

Description

Together with Leentje I went on 11 day biking tour in Jordan( 28.09.2011 - 08.10.2011 ) with Raslan as the local biking guide. The program started off in Madaba ( visit of the Church of St. George and the famous Mosaic Map of Palestine ). From here we proceeded on day 2 with our mountain bikes to Mount Nebo where Moses lived out his remaining days and viewed the Promised Land which he would never enter. Day 3 we biked secondary roads through the village of Bani Hamida to reach the hill of King Herod’s palace remains where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. There we took a short hike to the top of the hill and enjoyed a wonderful panorama for the Dead Sea. We then got to the nearby village of Mukawir where we got hosted by a local family over a superb lunch – a genuine great opportunity for local interaction. We then biked downhill to the holy site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ. A 2 hour transfer took us to Wadi Araba desert area, where we spent the night at candle-lit Feynan eco lodge. Day 4 we discovered Dana Nature reserve and embarked on a day long, 14 km hike through the Dana Biosphere Reserve to Dana village with our dear teasing friend Atef … Day 5 we visited Shobak Castle and the Dead Sea after which we were transferred by jeep to Wadi Rum and stayed overnight at our Bedouin campsite, watched an enchanting sunset and feast on a fantastic ‘ Zarb ‘ – a traditional Bedouin dish of meat and vegetables underneath the desert’s sand, and a night under the Milk way. Day 6 we visited the amazing desert landscapes passing by scattered Bedouin camps where we had lunch, and took pleasant hikes and had the opportunity to run down a big sand dune. Day 7 and day 8 we transferred to Petra and visited the world’s heritage site of Petra … including an off-road ride to the secluded mountains of Little Petra. Day 9 and day 10 we transferred to Aqaba and the Red Sea where we had the unique opportunity to dive with Raslan and discover the sea wonders of the Red Sea…

Raslan is as ' unique and exceptional ' as is Jordan … his profile on the website is very modest … he has a unique talent for all kind of sports, easy going , open mind , always pleasant with good humor, cultural expert … after a few days a new and real friendship was born … and still one year down the road we are still in contact and emailing each other … I hope one day I can return the friendship we received every day of our tour and open our house to welcome him ( together with Atef ) in Flanders ( Belgium ) for as long as he wants to stay with us

Best bits: Having made a friend for life time

Worst bits: The day we had to leave Raslan and Atef ...

Ratings

Overall experience: 10 / 10

Value for money: 10 / 10

Eco impact: 10 / 10

Does the local understand eco issues? Yes

Profile Accuracy: 10 / 10

Comments:

A world class guide ... but even more important ... a true friend.

pamela (9 / 10)

reviewed Sept. 24, 2012, 1:27 a.m.

pamela spent 2-4 weeks with Raslan Abbadi.

Description

Mountain bike trip through Kazakhstan and Kyrghistan.

Best bits: Amazingly beautiful scenery and wild campsites with lots of varied, challenging terrain.

Worst bits: Some terrain was unbike-able, so several times we had to push our bikes up to 2 miles up incredibly steep terrain.

Ratings

Overall experience: 9 / 10

Value for money: 8 / 10

Eco impact: 10 / 10

Does the local understand eco issues? Yes

Profile Accuracy: 9 / 10

Comments:

Raslan is an incredibly friendly, easy-going person who loves to join in whatever activity is going on.

Martin (10 / 10)

reviewed Sept. 24, 2012, 10:32 p.m.

Martin spent 2-4 weeks with Raslan Abbadi.

Description

Mountain Biking in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (camping all the way)

Best bits: Fantastic experience (and very tough and hard going) but Raslan made the trip a total delight. Never complained once, always happy, taking lots of photos and videos for us (and always fantastic quality) Real easy going guy. Very energetic. and super fit Would not hesitate to go on anther trip where Raslan was leading it.

Worst bits: n/a

Ratings

Overall experience: 10 / 10

Value for money: 10 / 10

Eco impact: 10 / 10

Does the local understand eco issues? Yes

Profile Accuracy: 10 / 10

Comments:

Great leader

Always listens to the group

Easy going (does not get stressed by events)

10 out of 10

Perfect Guide