Day 2, along the ridge and down from Taif

View from my friend's house

The day dawned very nicely as I sat out on the porch enjoying a cup of coffee or two. So I was able to get some fairly good photos. The weather was in only a temporary respite apparently.

Over across the little valley (if you look very carefully at the two pictures) you can see a herd of goats being headed up the hill. Look about in the center of the picture near the white building.

It got very foggy very fast. This was after we had gone out for breakfast in town. My host wanted to show me the view but the clouds got there first. Even so, I don't like heights so I'm not climbing up there with him. 

There is a lot of granite in this area. If it is of good enough quality the people here are sitting on a gold mine, so to speak. It would also mean industry and jobs for locals if it was to be properly developed. I doubt it will ever happen if it has not so far.

Okay, and finding my way out of the hills when the fog rolled in the rest of the way was quite the challenge. Visibility was approximately 6 feet in front of the vehicle. I went the wrong way a few times and ended back where I started then managed to take the correct turn to get back to the main road. Twisty little passages, all different indeed!

Along the road towards Taif there are even more of these sniper towers, this was one of the best. No mortar construction. Looks like it would be a good 7d2d horde base.

Going through small towns the speed limit was reduced to 120 kph (75 mph) and that is with no barrier to the side and wide open on/off to the buildings. Gotta be sharp crossing the road or even merging with traffic. In the larger towns the speed limit is 100 kph (62 mph) and there may be a small curb (or maybe not). The rest of the way the speed limit is 140-160 kph, depending on traffic.

Looks like some of these buildings are still occupied.

If it's not sheep or goats along the side of the road it is a herd of camels. They seemed to know where they were going even with no herder in sight.

This female decided that I looked as if I might have some food in my truck. I didn't. I think she was disappointed. 

There is a little turn-out near the top of the road from Taif. Can't tell what this represents but lots of people were stopped here. This is just down from the fruit stands in my first post about Taif.

Still cloudy but quite the view down from the mountain. 

There was another stop a little further down with a lot of baboons. I guess some people like to feed them. And the baboons respond by tearing things off your car and stealing things from you if they don't approve of your offerings.

Spoiler Alert! Don't watch the following video if you are squeamish about twisty-turny rides. Also, I know it's not safe to do what I did (kids, don't try this at home) and it is probably borderline illegal. But there it is. https://youtu.be/F0eI36wRQW4 - road down from Taif