In this verse Mark is continuing the story of the going up
to Jerusalem (which had begun in Mark 10:32): And they came (on the way to Jerusalem) in Jericho.
Having arrived at this point they follow the road that most pilgrims from Galilee and Perea have to go. When they arrive in Judea from across the Jordan, Jericho is the first town they reach. Jesus arrives here from Ephraim in the desert.1
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.