2100 miles - the road to Dakhla

Three more roadblocks so far, both very courteous and passed without trouble. Pre-filled fiches eased the pain. Apparently the roadblocks are in place to limit the movement of the "terrorist" / independence fighters - Western Sahara is rich in phosphates, and the north of the region has quite a few factories and refineries, so you can see why it is being fought over.

Every town here is fortified and has a miltary presence - the larger places have huge barracks, and the smallest have at least a compound with walls and razor wire, in addition to the eight-foot walls around the town itself. You get a roadblock on the way into town and one on the way out, at the minimum, now staffed by a mixture of police and army.

We've been driving along the coast, basically on a clifftop, for the last few hundred miles. The roads are good, 100 limit though we're only doing about 90 to save fuel. Every now and then we get a breathtaking view out over the coastline, down about 50 metres to the sea. Dakhla - our destination today - is stuck out on a big headland, so hopefully the view there will be great.

Heard by SMS that Team Fat Blokes in a Car are one day behind us, setting out from Agadir this morning for Laayoune. They were going quite a lot quicker originally, but their alternator failed and had to be rebuilt in Asni (at a cost of £21, bargain!) Team Nomader also killed their Transit but it was repaired at the roadside. We're still travelling alone but expect to hook up with the front runners (if there are indeed any ahead of us!) in Dakhla tonight.

Dad, the car needs a wash, and I think that the sand has taken most of your polish off already :-) Scotty, your stickers are still looking as good as they were the day we left (under all the dust!)