Distance:   75 km     Total Ascent:   965 metres

Before our out and back ride today we stopped to look at a fascinating irrigation system called a Khettara, built over 3000 years ago.  These are a series of wells dug from the source of the water (or aquifer) all the way to the  farming fields and were linked together by a winding underground tunnel.

I could have lingered watching the antics of a baby camel who was skittering all over the place but we still had the Gorge ride ahead.

The gorge had us cycling through impressive red rocky limestone cliffs that have been carved out by the Todra River and at one point narrows to just 10m across.

As we climbed away from the narrow rift the landscape opened up and we gradually ascended to the high point of the day before turning around.  The few villages we passed were significantly more disadvantaged and isolated. Some of the kids catapulted some well aimed pebbles at us as we cycled past so I wasn’t in the mood to hang around long.

Unfortunately the headwind we encountered on the way up didn’t cooperate to become a tailwind for our descent!