We left Tata and set off north east towards Zagora. The scenery was mountainous, rocky and starkly beautiful. We passed herds of camels, roaming free but always under the watchful eye of a camel herder, usually sitting under a nearby tree.
Part of our journey was alongside a spectacular river gorge. In the distance we spotted a familiar blue van belonging to an English couple whom we had met several times on our travels. They had paused by the roadside to admire the view. We stopped to check they hadn’t broken down and spent a pleasant ten minutes chatting – we hadn’t seen any Brits for several weeks.
Traffic was sparse on those roads so we were surprised to see, coming from the opposite direction, a British expedition truck – they pulled over to see whether we needed help. We had not met Issie and Phil before but we knew of them just because the expedition truck world was very small.
So, now we had two expedition trucks and a van parked on a deserted road and six Brits chatting together – we should have set out our table and chairs and had a cup of tea! Once or twice a vehicle drove by, always slowing down to see if we needed help. A humorous Dutchman in an ancient van offered us a tow! After chatting for a while we all said goodbye and went our separate ways. However hard you tried you couldn’t arrange such a bizarre meeting in the middle of nowhere!
In the middle of the day the wind would often get up, quietening down again towards the evening. A French expedition truck had left our camp site one morning only having to return later in the day, unable to continue his journey. The wind had created a dust storm and visibility was reduced to almost zero. Sand (ensablement) had blown across the road causing his route to be virtually impassable. Bulldozers would eventually be brought in to clear away the sand.
Rain was extremely rare in those parts but along the way were signs of destroyed roads and upturned concrete bridges. We were told that recent torrential rain had resulted in several deaths.
