Distance: 76 km
Time: 4:12:00
Max Speed: 33 km/hr
Ave Speed: 17.3 km/hr
Temp: 27 C
Weather: Cool morning, warm afternoon. No river breezes...
Another jamil sunrise, even more beautiful reflecting off the lake and turning the castle behind us into a blazing gold. We drank some tea and packed up, then biked back inland over the hills, heading toward the opposite dam crossing. There were many ambulances and police cars on the dam, but people seemed calm so we assume a test of some kind was happening. Later we noticed several ambulances blazing down the street in multiple towns as we biked, but never saw any signs of problems or danger...
Sunrise is a natural call to wake up...
Final views of Qalat Jaber
We decided to follow the road down Al Furat (the Euphrates River), hoping it would be scenic. Unfortunately, the highway doesn't come near enough to see the water, so we ended up cycling down a somewhat crowded, boring road through many unpicturesque villages.
Euphrates highway, no river in sight
Even though we weren't near the actual water, there were plenty of well irrigated fields, presumably growing feed grass. Behind the clusters of cement homes large cliff jutted up in the background. Surreal to see the real Mesopotamia, just outside the Land between the Rivers.
Wild desert grass! A bovine delicacy.
Not a restaurant or food stall the whole way; luckily chris' charming face got us invited in to eat lunch with a family, inside their cool courtyard compound. Again, many many children, brothers, and wives; amazingly delicious foods served in tiny bowls on a big silver platter. The family was really curious to know about us and how we ended up cruising through their town, also wanting to take many photos on their cell phone cameras. We happily obliged, asking our own questions and snapping our own pictures.
That's ONE family (who kindly fed us lunch)
Lunch 20 min; Talking 1 hour; Posing for photos 1.5 hours
After lengthy shukrans (thank yous) and masalams (goodbyes) Chris and I continued toward to the next big city, Dier Ez Zor. To get there we hitched the last 100 km through stark moonscape desert, not at all the scenic rocky landscape I enjoyed before.
Blah cities. Welcome to Dier Ez Zor.
Dier Ez Zor is a small city bisected by the Euphrates, on the highway crossroad toward an Iraqi border. One of the suspension bridge crossing the water is pedestrian only, surrounded by riverside parks and cafes. Leading out of the downtown square is a large outdoor market full of winter produce. I was pleased to see so many tomatoes and eggplant which are virtually obsolete in Gjiro's treg back in Albania, and happy for one last year of persimmons, which Syrians tell me are mangos.
Mighty Euphrates passes through Dier Ez Zor
We didn't want to stay in town so after hitting the main sites we biked westward on the highway toward Damascus, only 16 km out before the sun set. Thanks to Syria's wonderfully paved roads we could bike easily in the dark, with streets illuminated by passing headlights. Unfortunately, the expansive desert is full of packs of wild dogs, several of which came lunging out of the darkness toward us. This causes me immense panic, reflexive screaming and my heart racing every time, so after 3 subsequent packs appeared I demanded us to stop even though we had plenty of time and energy. We ended up staying at a gas station, welcomed to sit inside by the tv and eat our picnic dinner until we were sleepy and set up the tent in an abandoned room. Judging by the thick layer of dirt on the floor I guess they haven't stepped inside in years.
Crossing the bridge in Dier Ez Zor
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