Last night, our police escort led us into Al Baha to a fish shop cum restaurant, very clean, and with a few tables for whoever wanted to eat there. There was a selection of fish - deep fried, or baked, and coated with delicious spices - that were served with marinated rice, and which we ate with our hands. As far as we know, the police escort have been outside the hotel all night. As always, they are ready to leave when we are, and we move out at 8 A.M. It is a fresh 68F, without a cloud in the sky. After 17 days on the road on “Maridadi”, our Harley-Davidson Road King, this is our final leg back home to Jeddah. We return along the Tourist Road again, to Taif, and this time I notice more traditional stone villages that either stand alone, almost blending with the mountains, or have become the heart around which new houses and villages have grown. We are not in a hurry, so ride at an easy 90 kph, enjoying the scenery and the perfect biking conditions. I am having fun taking photos of the back of my husband's helmet, which has a large skull painted onto it. We stop at a Check Point about half way to Taif, the border between the Asir Region, and the Makkah Region. There are large signs there, which read: Welcome to the Asir/Makkah Region – depending which way you are travelling. The Officers give us permission to take a photo by the sign. We have a beautiful ride down the Taif escarpment, and once at the bottom, it is a baking 105F. Our bike exhaust doesn't cool in that heat and my right leg feels as though it is burning. We have to take the Makkah By-Pass Road (known by some Western expats as the “Christian By-Pass”) a route that I like: it is single lane, two-way road, with not much traffic. There are sections of wide, open desert with low sand dunes and a fringe of dark hills, and occasional herds of camels and bedu camps. After the Schwaba junction, we hit the high-speed, four-lane Makkah-Jeddah highway, and accelerate homewards. Our highly efficient escort stays with us in relays until we arrive at a Check Point on the outskirts of Jeddah. There is a light layer of brown smog hanging over the city and we find our way home through heavy afternoon traffic. We park “Maridadi” at 3.10 P.M. in our carport, happy and very relieved to have arrived safely after riding 4,614 kms through Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Wednesday's Travel page will have a summary of Bizzie's Harley adventure through Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
