Road to Tinerhir

As we left Daya El Maider, we began what was physically the most difficult part of our trip ... 10 hours over raw desert, one mountain pass, and enough dust to to choke a camel. Hot. Dry. While the Land Rover bounced over the rough terrain, we its intrepid occupants, bounced off the walls, seats, dash and roof. By the end, we were bone weary and (I'm sorry to say) grumpy as camels!

Do Not Adjust Your Set: These pictures were taken in Mid-April 2000 with a first generation digital camera. They are as big as they'll ever get.

From time to time, we would see mud brick houses like this. None were closer than 10 to 20 km from their nearest neighbor. Always with animals outside, only once did we see the people who called these home.
About the middle of the day, we passed through Fezzou. This was a "dead town", both literally and figuratively. Here is the cemetery of Fezzou. The stones mark the head and feet of those buried below. Islam custom calls for each person to be laid east to west. The grave is narrow, since the person is laid on their side, not on their back as would be the western custom. A disconcertingly large number of graves were too short for adults ... confirming life is hard in the desert and very hard on the very young.
About the middle of the day, we passed through Fezzou. This was a "dead town", both literally and figuratively. Here is the cemetery of Fezzou. The stones mark the head and feet of those buried below. Islam custom calls for each person to be laid east to west. The grave is narrow, since the person is laid on their side, not on their back as would be the western custom. A disconcertingly large number of graves were too short for adults ... confirming life is hard in the desert and very hard on the very young.
At last the pass ...

... and the dusty end to our day. You can see cracks and chips in the windshield. Life is also hard on machinery in the desert, too.