A few more shots of Aoudaghost to wrap up.

Next we visited a village near the ancient city for tea. They presented us with bowls of cow milk to drink… it wasn’t very fresh and I had trouble drinking all of it. Among the village residents of various ages was an elderly woman who reminded me of Virginia Davidson, a friend who remains part of my inspiration for this whole project.

We drove to another village where the driver led several men in prayer with a nice chanting voice. We again drank bowls of milk, this time so fresh it was still a bit frothy and quite tasty. Then, we drove through the desert back to Tamchekett. The driver invited me to his place for couscous with meat on top even though I had explained about my vegetarianism. Fortunately, the meat wasn’t mixed with the couscous. He offered to open a can of carrots and peas, but I was so sickened by how much I had to pay him t hat I had lost my appetite. He actually had the gall to ask me for a present after I paid him an enormous sum. Because he son was apparently afraid of me, he said I had to stay elsewhere, rather than taking the opportunity to help his son learn about other cultures and people who are different. Also, it was quite late and I’m sure his son would have been asleep any minute.

So, he took me 7km to another village where he left me to stay with a driver who had a truck scheduled to go to the Tamchekket virage the following morning. The driver was really a nice guy as was the owner of the truck who came along for the ride. The bed of the truck was covered by branches and a fiber netting so that cattle could be stored beneath where the baggage was fastened to the truck and where the passengers who couldn’t fit into or pay the higher rate for the closed cabin area of the truck would ride.

I slept on a mattress pad provided by the owner of the truck, in whose home I spent the night. A young woman was wide awake and noisy much of the night playing with a cell phone. So I didn’t get much sleep, but the view of the stars was exquisite. About 5am, the truck drove up and lights shone at me and the owner of the house. We woke up and went to the truck. I had to ride in the truck bed on top of the uncomfortable branches. (Little did I know how luxurious that ride actually was in comparison to at least one later ride to follow.) I was scared that someone could fall off because we were traveling very rapidly through the dark on very bumpy desert roads, along with vegetation like bushes and every so often a tree.

I felt quite bumped, shaken, and bruised by the time we arrived back at the virage. On the way, I discussed with the driver and the vehicle owner how much the other man had given them for me to ride in the truck. They said 3000 ougiya… I told them I paid that man 5000 ougiya for the ride and that they should get the rest of the money from him. They kindly took me along with them past the virage to Tintane, a city on the way back to Ayoun el Atrous. There we stopped first at a cow market to sell the cow that rode in the truck with us, then to the nearby goat market to sell the dozen goats that rode with us.