February 9^th 2023

Graffiti Rock – Ash Shu’ara, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 120 (200km)

Miles total: 17’140 (27’600km)

Before we get back in the car and roll off miles, we stretch our feet on a short hike. Just above on a rocky hill, there are said to be other Stone Age remains. However, we don't find more than a few heaps of stones and small walls here, which don't really knock our socks off... But we still enjoy the fresh air, exercise and beautiful view. By the way, like yesterday, there is also a beautifully laid out hiking trail initiated by the Saudi Hiking Association. Now it's back to the busy Riyadh-Jeddah highway. The landscape is quite varied, sometimes there are sand dunes, sometimes flat desert, extensive mountain ranges or individual rocks that protrude from the plain. Nevertheless, we are not in the mood to continue on the Freeway and we look for an off-road route on Wikilog. We turn north onto a good main road until we come across a dirt road through the desert to a solitary, rounded and surprisingly beautiful rock formation.

During our evening walk we first discover how many original rocks formed by nature there are and we almost feel like we are in a sculpture park.

February 10^th 2023

Ash Shu’ara, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 17’170 (27’650km)

Again, we explore another part of the fantastic rock formation and even discover a small pretty rock arch. We are enthusiastic about this at first glance inconspicuous rock massif! 

We could go exploring for hours. Of course, we also climb up and enjoy the beautiful view over the desert. Finally, we drive around the cliff formation, a strong wind is blowing now, but the camels that meet us here don't bother much :-). For the rest of the way, we chose a route through the nearby mountains and the desert using satellite images. The path through the mountains leads through a dry river bed (wadi) which is lined with beautiful rocks, which, however, consist of completely different rock than our previous rock massif. There are also some trees and shrubs and the roving camels enjoy nibbling on the prickly bushes. 

Soon we leave the wadi and come to a large sandy plain. So far, we have been lucky and the trail was relatively easy to see and easy to drive. Now it's getting a bit more difficult and we drive partly through the desert, but always along the mountains towards the main road. Amazingly, we keep coming across car tracks that we can follow. And there are always tents from camel herders. Before we reach the main road, it is already time to find a place to stay overnight. And as is so often the case in Saudi, this is a very simple undertaking. 

Outside the cities there is a lot of space and you can stand anywhere! We find a nice spot sheltered from the wind on the edge of the mountains.

February 11^th 2023

Ash Shu’ara – Al-Athaya, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 220 (340km)

Miles total: 17’390 (27’990km)

We are once again surprised how much life can take place in the desert. We see beetles, butterflies, insects, bushes and even colored flowers. Whether the moisture comes from rare rain or simply from the dew in the morning is unclear.

Before we land back on the tarmac, it's 30 miles (50km) off-road. We get to feel almost every day how huge this country actually is! You drive hundreds of miles and don't make huge jumps on the map. Again and again we meet camels along the highway. Mountains or rocks regularly sprout up on the horizon and here and there we even see a tiny lake in the sand, which is then surrounded by trees and bushes. 

After sunset we park our house, a few miles away from the busy road, in the desert next to wonderful rocks.

February 12^th 2023

Al-Athaya – Crater area, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 17’440 (28’070km)

In order to escape the highways, we have again chosen an unpaved route to get to our next destination. About 60 miles (100km) lie ahead of us. In the morning, the track is sandy and pleasant to drive. Along beautiful rocks we go cross country until we drive on a tarred road again for a short moment. At the end of this road is a village where a couple of teenagers in their Toyota pickups wave at us and stop next to us and want to know who we are :-). But now we are finally leaving civilization. The "road" is miserable!

Rocky and corrugation road! The horror for us and especially for the vehicle. We'd better let the pressure out of the tires and soon be driving around with 2.4 instead of 4 bar pressure. But it's still bumpy and we hardly ever drive faster than 12mph (20km/h). We chose this route because it goes along a number of small volcanic craters. It's beautiful here, but the trouble of the shitty road is probably not worth it. Well, you can't always be lucky. We're both a bit annoyed, but we don't want to go all the way back. We even have to drive back a short section because the specified path consists only of annoying lava stones. We move on. On the way, we see one of these craters with a road that goes up and want to see where this leads. Right next door, to our astonishment, there are several tents and vehicles. Who the hell lives here? Halfway up the crater we leave the car and after a few minutes a pickup is already standing next to us and wants to know what we are doing here.

We decline the invitation by the men for dinner, because we don't want to spend the night here nor drive in the dark.

February 13^th 2023

Crater area – Al Wahba Crater, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 40 (60km)

Miles total: 17’480 (28’130km)

We don't let the miserable road that lies ahead of us spoil our mood and start a short hike near our sleeping place. It goes up on one of the craters. In an hour, we are a good 300 feet (100m) higher and the view is more beautiful than expected! From here we have a wonderful view of the other small craters and our climbed volcano also shows its beautiful side with its small sandy desert inside. 

On the descent, we suddenly see various blooming flowers and bushes and are once again amazed at what is sprouting here in this dry, seemingly lifeless area. 

At the crater parking lot and the associated mosque, we are greeted by an extremely friendly Pakistani who lives there and works as security. He explains that we can drive anywhere around the crater, but under no circumstances are we allowed to hike down into the crater. Although there is a way down, and this hike is even mentioned in our guide book, it is now strictly forbidden to go inside. The reason for this is a group of three Saudi citizens who died in the crater not long ago as gas formed in the crater floor and they suffocated. The Pakistani is very happy to have visitors and asks us for water, since the next shop is very far away on foot. Of course we fill his 1.5L PET bottle with freshly filtered tank water, give him a few dates and move a little further to the rim of the crater. The dogs that were at the parking lot have also arrived. They are the first dogs in Saudi that are trusting. 

February 14^th 2023

Al Wahba Crater – Ta’if, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 150 (250km)

Miles total: 17’630 (28’380km)

We also want to see the crater from a different perspective and therefore drive around it. By the way, it is not a classic crater mountain, as we have seen the previous days. The rim of Wahba Crater is level with the surrounding plain, the crater itself is 650 feet (200m) deep and 4200 feet (1300m) in diameter, giving a beautiful view into the crater. The spectacular crater was created by an underground volcanic explosion. At the bottom of the crater there are salt deposits and, depending on the season, green plants that round off the picture wonderfully in terms of color and give the crater a special touch. A charming picture!

But now we want to go, there is a long way ahead of us. Due to the last off-road drive, our tires still have little air, so we stop at the next gas station to be ready for the asphalt again. Our water tank also needs to be filled up and we keep an eye out for the water trucks, because that's where the filling stations are usually located. We find what we are looking for, it is probably groundwater that is being pumped out of the ground here.

It takes a little effort until the two gentlemen understand what exactly we want :-). But then we get water directly from the filled water truck without any problems. Again, a strong wind blows the whole trip, sand flies through the air, our windows have to stay closed despite the heat and the steering wheel has to be kept firmly in hand. We are traveling in a region where there are no big cities. We pass sleepy villages in the middle of the barren desert landscape and wonder how the people live here and how they earn their living. Unfortunately, what we notice in these villages or smaller towns outside of the metropolitan areas is that we see almost no women on the streets! Long-established customs, traditions and conservative religious views are undisputedly still very widespread in this country. We soon arrive at our destination, the city of Ta'if at 5’500 feet (1700m). Before we start looking for a place to stay, we pay a visit to a descent Indian restaurant. Once again, a Saudi pays us for dinner with the words “Welcome to Saudi Arabia”! We could only speak to this man for a very short time because he was just leaving. We find a place to sleep on the outskirts of town in a small park. Here the police pay us a visit again. At first the policeman is very skeptical about what we are doing here and who we are. He wants to see our passports and leafs through them a bit awkwardly. We explain everything to him and soon his expression brightens, he is happy to meet us, offers us a bed in his home and gives us his phone number. After three quarters of an hour he says goodbye and we have a quiet night.

February 15^th 2023

Ta’if – Ash Shafa, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 40 (70km)

Miles total: 17’670 (28’450km)

Ta'if and the southern mountain region in general is a popular excursion and holiday destination for the Saudis, especially in summer, when they escape the almost unbearable summer temperatures (112°F / 45°C) in the lowlands. Our first stop in town: Shopping Mall. New pants for me (Stefan) and lunch. As always, the vegetarian selection is shockingly small, but we find something. Now to the city center. Ta'if is nothing special, and yet we spend a very leisurely afternoon.

We visit the souq (market) and are surprised how authentic it is. Unlike Kuwait and Bahrain, this one is much livelier. We enjoy tea in the middle of the souq and stroll through the streets in the late afternoon. The souq really comes alive after 5pm. Clothes, perfume, spices; everything is offered.

We let ourselves be tempted and buy typical Saudi incense and fragrances that we can later light in the beautiful little pot that comes with it. These incense burners are very popular among the Saudis at home and the scents are lit on special occasions.

By the way, we're slowly realizing that the West must be more conservative than the East, because Maryse is absolutely the only woman who doesn't wear a headscarf or a veil. Without anything on her head we stand out, but nobody bothers at all. We drive out of town in the dark and the road takes us another 1600 feet (500m) in elevation uphill, near the town of Ash Shafa. A cool breeze blows around our ears and the temperatures drop below 48°F (10°C) at night. Just right for a good night's sleep.

February 16^th 2023

Ash Shafa, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 17’700 (28’500km)

We are sitting comfortably in the camper, doing the dishes, when suddenly a horde of monkeys (baboons) appear from the bushes and come straight at us! There are about a hundred of them, in the lead a tall male and grim-looking fellow, behind him cheeky teenagers, mothers with their babies on their backs or on their breasts and also a few more mature colleagues. We get quite nervous as the gang of monkeys approach, fearing they'll besiege and tear our car apart! And what happens? Of course nothing! They pass us relatively disinterested :-).

Around noon we drive to the nearby official viewpoint in Ash Shafa village. You can tell that there must be a lot going on here in the evenings and weekends: there are a number of camels, horses and ponies on the square ready to show the viewers around. The monkeys are also waiting patiently for something to eat, rummaging around in dumpsters or frolicking around for fun.

Of course, it would be nice to explore the rest of the high mountains that stretch from here along the entire southern coast to the border with Yemen. But the distances are too far for us and we still have a long way north ahead of us. We want to treat ourselves to a delicious cappuccino in a very modern and beautifully furnished café and are promptly invited back by a Saudi. He then sits down with us and with the help of the Filipino waiters, who translate into Arabic, we can talk to our host. The waiters offer us a cake later. Then we go back to our peaceful place to stay, where we will later be joined by Silvia and Christoph from Germany, who are also traveling with their camper and have roughly the same schedule as us.

February 17^th 2023

Ash Shafa – Ewaha, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 80 (130km)

Miles total: 17’780 (28’630km)

What a bad night. We slept little because a strong wind blew all night! So, we take it very easy and around noon we go again to the small town of Ash Shafa. We stock up on food because we want to kitesurf in the next few days and there are no shops there. We have lunch in one of the restaurants and finally leave at 1:30 p.m. The mountainous landscape is great. The road is constantly going steep down and we still have a queasy feeling about the transfer case. Is everything really fine or does the loud bangs suddenly appear when driving downhill? Everything seems to be wonderful, but we don't just let the full load sit on the gearbox, we always use the brakes a bit. And we actually manage to overheat the brakes again! I am amazed by Maryse's reaction to my statement: "I can't brake anymore". She remains completely calm :-). Of course, we can still stop, because we weren't going fast on the road and we can tell beforehand when the time has come. After a longer break we continue until we take another break at a beautiful wadi, stretch our feet and admire the beautiful flowers. And yes, the transmission holds up and everything really seems to be in order.

As we drive on, men from an overtaking pickup wave at us and tell us to stop. The curious men are from India and Pakistan (in Saudi for over 10 years) and are keen to take a picture with us. Since we want to stay a few days by the sea, we still have to fill up our water tank. Not always easy, but as we rush by we see huge water tanks, so let's go.

We fill in 55 gallons (200L) of fresh water and give the poor guy a $5 tip, 2 oranges and candy :-). He and we are very happy and say goodbye. Soon the next local is already waving at us. He stops at a gas station, we drive past, but a few minutes later he catches up with us again and hands us a bag with cold drinks! The dear man wants to invite us to his place, but we decline with thanks. We actually want to go to the sea today.

On the way, the silvery, shiny grass blows beautifully in the evening sun while the camels are strolling behind it. The distance is then still too far and we spend the night off the road in beautiful, wild nature.

February 18^th 2023

Ewaha – Mastabah, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 70 (120km)

Miles total: 17’850 (28’750km)

As almost always, we sleep in the middle of nowhere. That's why noises coming from outside are always exciting when all the blinds are still closed! We hear something! We open carefully and see a number of camels grazing right next door :-). We tackle the last miles. 

February 19^th 2023

Mastabah – Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 80 (130km)

Miles total: 17’930 (28’880km)

First, we look for a laundry there. It's not exactly common there to bring bags of normal laundry like we did. First, they want to sort through all our dirty laundry and calculate each individual piece based on the price list (estimated at 70$). We suggest that you simply make a flat rate. After some back and forth, we agree on a price (without ironing and folding 20$) and the pick-up (8:00 p.m.) and we get the rest of the laundry (bed linen, etc.). However, it is now lunchtime and the shop closes before we can drop off our laundry. Half an hour later we are back at the counter with our three big bags and to our surprise the owner is now there himself. We get talking and he tells us that he has been to Switzerland on vacation several times. Finally, the friendly man offers us the laundry and we can pick it up again in an hour and a half. Typical Saudi! We move on to the old town, which is best known for its typical traditional buildings with protruding wooden and partly barred windows. This construction (Mashrabiya) serves to protect against direct sunlight and to ventilate the room while at the same time maintaining privacy. 

Some of the houses have been restored, but most have been neglected for a long time and are unfortunately in a very desolate condition. Many of the buildings are totally crooked and appear to be in danger of collapsing. Nevertheless, we are fascinated as we stroll through the narrow and winding streets, because there is another gem hidden behind every corner. And things are happening in the old town, there are many construction sites and the government is striving to save some of the most beautiful specimens and bring the old town into shape. Our walk finally brings us to the souk (market), where one of these traditional 400-year-old houses is open to the public and has been made into a museum. The living rooms of the four-storey house are authentically furnished and decorated with various antiques. 

The wooden and decorated ceilings are also very beautiful. After the old town, we make a short detour to the second highest flagpole in the world, which towers 561 feet (171m) high over the city. To spend the night, we look for a place on the city beach, where we are not completely alone. The shore is fairly parked up, people sit in front of or beside their cars, picnic, fish, drink tea, smoke hookahs or just enjoy the evening sea breeze. In the back rows, however, there is still enough space where we can stand. We get there at around 10:00 p.m., sit outside for a while and assume that it will soon be quieter on the square. You’d think! More and more cars are coming until midnight! And it's a perfectly normal weekday. In winter, people enjoy being outside in "cool" temperatures. Since we are tired, we crawl into the Iveco after midnight and try to sleep. It will be a rather moderate night...

February 20^th 2023

Jeddah – Rabigh, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 140 (210km)

Miles total: 18’070 (29’090km)

Finest fresh bread directly from the baker next door :-). This compensates a little for the hot and noisy night on the city beach. First stop today: Ikea. Yes, there is one here too and apart from the visitors it looks identical to ours :-). We need to redo one of our punctured and unsalvageable bed sheets. Next, we go to a US camper dealer to find out if we can fill up with LPG gas somewhere. But he is neither present nor reachable by phone. We hope that our LPG gas will reach Jordan or Israel. The Gulf States are the first countries where it is difficult to fill up with gas. 

We continue north and we look for a spot by a lagoon. This is where we have kitesurfing in mind for the next few days.

February 21^st – 25^th 2023

Rabigh, Saudi-Arabia

Unfortunately, we only have enough wind on two of the five days. But it's always fun to kite anyways!

We finally have time to reflect on the past few weeks and process our reports and photos.

At our wonderful place to sleep, we get a visit from the friendly border police almost every day. We chat with Google Translate, share dates, and have fun. However, the 23-year-old young border policeman doesn't want a kite on his back on the last day :-). Occasionally men still appear who are probably looking for crabs in the sea at night or individual people who come to have a picnic. Wonderful days in a very quiet place.

February 26^th 2023

Rabigh – Masturah, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 70 (110km)

Miles total: 18’140 (29’200km)

After almost a week on the quiet beach, We’re off again, off again in a country full of surprises. We go to lunch in the town of Rabigh and as soon as we sit down, a Saudi comes along and explains to us in good English that he has invited us to lunch! And we should come to his house tonight and have dinner, he would be very happy. We should think about it and write later via text message. He moves on, we eat our lunch and leave the restaurant without paying anything. It's already after 2:00 p.m. anyway and we still have to go shopping and get water. So, we say yes. In the meantime, we go to the "Water factory" (filling station for drinking water from groundwater) to fill up about 65 gallons (250L) of drinking water for 5$. After shopping we treat ourselves to a shower so that we arrive fresh and happy at our host Othman's. We can see his American RV in front of the noble house from afar. We are warmly welcomed. In addition to him and his daughter, his friend is there with his 10-year-old daughter, we enjoy dates, coffee, drinks and biscuits and after two hours of chatting we eat a barbecue.

After a fresh ginger tea, we set off at 10:00 p.m., drive another hour in the dark and spend the night near the coast.

February 27^th 2023

Masturah – Yanbu, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 130 (210km)

Miles total: 18’270 (29’410km)

The border police honked us out of bed at 7 a.m. Oh, how nice! Stefan hurries to get dressed, but outside there is already a second and third honking impatiently... The two border police want to know who we are, what we are doing here and when we arrived yesterday, the usual procedure with passport control is played through. Of course, we are too close to the coast again, we had a hard time judging it yesterday when we arrived in the dark. However, the two men are very friendly and finally, despite our resistance, give us their breakfast (porridge of lentils, eggs, cheese, helva, bread)! Crazy! Well, now we're awake, it's not that bad and we can be glad they didn't spot us in the middle of the night and send us away. A few hours later we set off and after 20 minutes on the main road we are waved out by an overtaking car. The man named Obeid greets us happily and invites us to tea in his cottage in the desert. Since it's only 5 minutes away from here, we agree. The improvised cottage is very simple: a small kitchen, a "living room" and a small yard with tomato plants. We communicate using "Google Translate" and learn that he had a kind of chicken farm here, but had to give it up because of Corona. We cannot conclusively discuss the connection. It's also quite funny when he shows us some videos on his cell phone of other travelers (some with bicycles) whom he has also invited to tea or even to his home to stay the night. Of course, we are also included in his video collection :-). 

On the way again, we soon reach the highway, near Yanbu we pass huge refineries, oil and gas power plants, water desalination plants and other industries. Arriving in Yanbu, we first want to organize our planned snorkeling tour. Since we would like to join a group for costs reason, we go to a few diving schools. Unfortunately, without success, so we book a private tour for the day after next. For the night, we find a quiet spot on the large lagoon south of town, where we actually feel safe from the border police, since we are not camping directly on the coast. But who honks us out of the car at 10 p.m.? We are not allowed to stay overnight here either! Thanks to google satellite, however, we quickly find another spot in the dark, far away from the water, where we spend a peaceful night.

February 28^th 2023

Yanbu, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 18’300 (29’460km)

When it is quite hot, we want to visit the old town in the early afternoon. Of course, there is absolutely nothing going on and all the shops in the souq (market) are closed as people take their usual siesta until 5pm.

Like the locals, we want to make ourselves comfortable on the beach, but nothing comes of it. The border police greeted us for the third time within 36 hours! Caravans are not allowed on the beach in Yanbu. Are they kidding me? Discussing everything doesn't help! Maybe it's because of the locals who would stay there for weeks with their big RV’s (like in Kuwait). We move on to a park and make ourselves comfortable on the lawn under the palm trees with a nice breeze and spend some time. But now back to the old town, where there is more going on in the meantime. Here, too, everything is being modernized and we pay a visit to the free, interactive and modern Yanbu Museum (history, shipbuilding, etc.. in a renovated old town house) which is only five months old.

The small but beautiful old town has a 2500-year-old history and you can even see the house where Lawrence of Arabia lived. 

As in Jeddha, renovations are being made here and the core of the old town is unfortunately closed off.

March 1^st 2023

Yanbu – Yanbu Al Nakhal, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 50 (90km)

Miles total: 18’350 (29’550km)

Fortunately, early in the morning we received the definitive confirmation for our snorkeling trip. As the weather was uncertain, a decision was only made this morning. At 9.00 a.m. we meet at the small boat harbor and soon we are chugging across the lagoon with Captain Turki towards the open sea. Before we leave the lagoon, we stop briefly at the Coast Guard for passport control and registration. The strict coastal surveillance is mainly due to illegal immigration and smuggling. And off we go. But it doesn't take long and we've already reached our snorkeling spot, which, contrary to our expectations, is relatively close to the coast. Actually, you could almost have reached this spot from the shore, but swimming on the Saudi Red Sea coast is only permitted in designated and monitored areas. But of course, the trip was worth it! The water is crystal clear and shimmers in different shades of blue, the corals and fish can already be seen from the boat. fantastic!

We take snorkel, goggles and fins and set out to explore the underwater world. We spend around three hours in total, with breaks, in the water and are fascinated by the beautiful corals and countless colored fish. And we're lucky: we can also see two turtles gliding weightlessly through the water along the coral. A fantastic picture! And we also discover a smaller stingray hiding on the seabed from us. Despite the warm outside temperature of about 88°F (30°C), we freeze after a few hours in the water. Again, there is a stop at the coast guard when heading back, a border policeman briefly searches the boat and we can continue. Back in the Iveco we first have a shower, then we head into town. For lunch, there is pizza and salad and when we want to pay at the counter as usual, the friendly veiled Saudi lady at the cash register invites us to this meal! She is very happy with us and we, as always, have a guilty conscience about paying... Then we continue to fill up with water at a drinking water shop, do some shopping in the large supermarket and then leave the city.

March 2^nd 2023

Yanbu Al Nakhal – Al Figrah, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 80 (130km)

Miles total: 18’430 (29’680km)

Today we go over a mountain pass. But not just any, but one that is actually closed to traffic. According to information from the Internet, you can still cross the pass with a 4x4. On the way, an oncoming Saudi stops us and asks us if we want to go over the pass. We're already thinking the worst that he's forcing us to turn around. But no, he just asks if we have a 4x4, takes a look at the car and says we can just drive (with a hand signal) :-). A year ago, parts of the paved road were washed away during a storm. The area is scenically beautiful. Rugged desert mountains tower on all sides. The road is extremely steep uphill and we can only move forward in first gear. And there it is, the spot that’s washed away. 

We are effectively forced to engage four-wheel drive, diff-lock and reduction and scramble up the extremely steep, bumpy and stony piece at a snail's pace. Within a few miles we are 3’300 feet (1000m) higher, at 5’400 feet (1650m). The view is spectacular and we allow ourselves and especially the Iveco to take a break at a vantage point.

 In this area, we also see countless donkeys. As we later learn, most are actually wild, free-ranging, and happy-looking donkeys. On the way down, a local man stops us with a bunch of kids and insists on inviting us to his camp. We allow ourselves to be persuaded and finally land 1300 feet (400m) down in his camp. As usual, half the relatives are suddenly present :-). There is Arabic coffee (with cardamom), some biscuits and lots of cell phone photos in the small tent camp. 

They use this camp only occasionally during three months in winter, otherwise they live in their house. Now we start again, back the same route, up the pass again, because we didn't really want to go down that far because of the warm temperatures. We find a nice place at 3600 feet (1100m) and settle in. Soon a herd of camels appears, we go say hello to the camel-shepherd hoping to get some camel milk. And promptly he offers us fresh milk. We get a big cup and give it to the shepherd. With years of experience, he feels his way up to one of the camels for a few minutes, first lets the young suckle and then goes to work. The cup is full within 15 seconds! 

Exciting experience :-). The taste takes a little getting used to, but it's still delicious.

.

March 3^rd 2023

Al Figrah – Dther, Saudi-Arabia

Miles: 120 (200km)

Miles total: 18’550 (29’880km)

We drive to Medina (pop. 1.3 million), the second holiest city in Saudi Arabia. 

The whole thing is too much for us and we leave Medina. Shopping or lunch is also canceled as all shops are closed at Friday prayer time! Passing large parking lots, crammed with pilgrim coaches, we head north-east. In the afternoon, we make a 10 mile (15km) detour into the desert where we see wonderful rocks and to our amazement many flowers struggling through the sand. 

The perfect place to stay.

.End