Tumbleweeds
The dirt road that came off the highway had two lanes and was not all that bad. Packed sand, no deep ruts, we were sure we would save a few Minutes. Then came the first fork in the road and we suddenly understood why we might not get there as fast as we would have liked to. No signs or road names, just a fork in the road. Left or right? We decided on the right path, as it looked a bit more driven on than the left. Just a few minutes later we discovered why that was: the path ended in a small settlement. It probably is used regularly by the school bus and thus looked better. So, back to start and take the left this time.
That is how it went for a while and, even though we had a map, every turn led to more uncertainty. Sometime along the way, “right” and “left” became “more to the south” and “that’s to far east!” Thus we arrived at the place depicted in the photo above. Even though it is hard to see on this picture, we were still on a small path, though it soon got lost in the tumbleweeds.
We drove a bit further, but the path just ended in the desert. We had seen another path shortly before, but it looked like it was driven on by the local herders about twice. Nonetheless, that was better than to blaze a new trail.
After much steering, we almost felt like local herders, too. The path got lost in dried mudholes or brush, only to reappear a few feet to the left or right. This wild chase after a long gone herd finally led us to a corral next to a rock formation jutting out of the desert floor. Aha, a sign of civilisation in the middle of nowhere! Just follow the fence, as far as that is possible… A few boulders, sand holes and even more brush later we got back onto a pretty good trail.
Wir fuhren etwas weiter, aber der Weg endete einfach in der Steppe. Kurz zuvor hatten wir einen Abzweig gesehen, aber der sah ganz so aus, als ob er bisher nur zweimal von den lokalen Viehhirten befahren wurde. Nichtsdestotrotz, das war besser als einen neuen Pfad zu “erfahren”.
A mile or so further, the next riddle: A razor wire fence crossed the path, no end in sight in both directions. Luckily the fence could be partially disassembled and thus made a primitive gate. Drive through, get out again, “fix” the fence, and on it goes… in the next entry.