Sanar de Luna to Ras Gahreb, 129 km
Strong tailwinds were a welcome boost, pushing us 129 km on flat ground in short order. Lunch was served roadside at 10:00 am, the ride was over before 12:30.
An improved highway today, with broad shoulders, tracing the coastline of the Red Sea, southward. Today’s challenge was getting used to the acrid petroleum refinery stench hanging over Ras Gahreb. We are, after all, in oil country here, as evidenced by the smell, the pipelines, and the helicopters overhead, ferrying workers to the offshore platforms.
Napping this afternoon was fine for a time. Then, the loudspeaker perched across the street barked out the Muslim call to prayer at high decibels. Later, we marched up onto the hotel roof to gain perspective.