This was the day when things started to get extra hot! The terrain became very dry although the desert seemed more rocky than sandy with lots of hilly bits for us to cycle up and down. The climbs were really hard work but the views were amazing:
Ian and Patricia atop another mountain!
As usual there was the slight headwind although in parts the air itself was incredibly hot - it was like riding while being blasted with an enormous hair dryer!
another hill!
It was always good to see more camels too! They're such noble looking creatures. We stopped for lunch in the middle of some rocky peaks and found some shady shelter under a bridge built to carry the water away from flash floods - hard to believe given how roasting hot it was. We felt like refugees waiting for darkness to cross the border, although with much better food thanks to the crew who had excelled themselves with lunch. However, as the food was so good and we were so hungry it was quite difficult to get started again afterwards, especially as the first thing to do was another climb...The bedouin camp at Wadi Araba was such a welcom sight!
Bedouin camp - Wadi Araba
The tent was great and we all flopped and wilted as it was 37C in the shade. We had a walk to Robert's rock in the evening before the crew made a lovely dinner on the BBQ.
Robert's rock
We slept fairly well, thanks to Frasier for giving me his spare pair of ear plugs, and woke at 5:30 to start our final day's cycling...