Today was a long ride, 127km/79 miles from Toliara heading inland. When we woke up, it was still dark. We packed our belongings and had a breakfast in the hotel.

Turns out we had picked a nice hotel and had our own bungalow

After breakfast we brought out our luggage and met the driver we had arranged for the trip. Looking at today, I’m glad I wasn’t carrying fully loaded panniers. This also gives some options along the way.

We started through Toliara. It was crowded in the morning with pedal cabs, trucks, minibuses and people walking along the way. The road started fairly smooth, we were fresh and cycled faster.

After 5km was turnoff for the airport and it became quieter. At 10km we had the first hill as we turned inland. I didn’t capture many photos but today we crossed some villages and rural areas. Kids would see us, call out and get excited . I didn’t know exactly what they were saying but I sometimes tried mimicking back what I heard. Later in the day, perhaps as I got more tired and slowed down, they would run along. Except for one instance a kid grabbed the bike rack they left me alone.

At 40km it was time for a coke stop and some crackers. The road occasionally had some large potholes. These were tougher on the vehicles than bicycles at least where we could weave to find pavement.

The landscape was dry.

One of few village photos and this one was calm.

At 66km we reached the larger town of Andranovory. We didn’t realize it but we cycled past our driver and we didn’t see each other. So we stopped at last restaurant before end of town and got lunch (chicken and rice). We left messages and set off.

The second part of the ride the road was in worse condition. In sections potholes consumed the entire road. Sometimes this left giant holes that were like rollers to ride down and up the other side. Other spots were skipping from hole to hole.

We slowed down. I was watching the clock with sunset time and figured as long as I was going 13km in an hour there was enough time. As it turned out, I arrived right at sunset.

Now time to take a shower, post the blog, eat and get ready for tomorrow.