Walking in the dark

We arrived into the town of Palmyra late. Too late to the see the sunset and far too late to wander into the ruined Roman city which was the reason for the stop.

So, we moped around and did very little.
The next morning... in the middle of the night really.... Guy and I woke up.

Oliee and Chris were still asleep. They had decided against the ridiculous idea that Guy and I had concocted.

Wrapping ourselves up in our warmest gear to protect against the cold of the desert night, we trudged off to climb the citadel and watch the sunrise.

It was a hike just to get to the citadel.

Once we reached it, we decided that rather than go around and walk up the road (which would have been sensible) we would go straight up the steep face.

.... in the dark.....

We made it (just) and were able to find a good spot near the top to wait for the sun.

Very slowly it came.
The dust of the desert created some amazing colours.
And finally it appeared.
As we walked down off the citadel's hill after the sun had risen, we realised how dangerous our trek up had been.
The shifting rocks and the ridiculous steepness had nearly killed us....

And yet we thought little of it at the time.