STAR WARS!💫⚔️ Mos Espa & Lars Homestead

Day 134. 60km (79520kms) (+30 unloaded kms)

I’d had a pleasant couple of days rest in Tozeur, including my birthday which I always try to mark with some better than average accommodation and a bevvie or two.

I was now heading west to look at some Star Warsy things before turning south east. A 25km ride brings you to Nafta, from which it’s a 35km round trip to Mos Espa; a Star Wars film set surrounded by a whole bunch of sand and not much else.

The road out to the set was built by the Star Wars people so was still in very good shape. Weather conditions were also great today with virtually no wind, so aside from a couple of sand drifts that required pushing through I made very fast progress.

I confess I’m not familiar with the Star Wars franchise. But it was interesting to poke about a film set, seeing how small and flimsily-made these things are. Star Wars fans can dress up in costumes with rented lightsabers for photo ops. I felt bad not buying anything from these hard-working souvenir stalls holders so bought some Berber-style hot sand cooked bread. The finished thing was piping hot and contained surprisingly little ash.

Back in Nafta it was still too early to check-in so I got some lunch and waited in a cafe until 4:30. Even then it took some searching on the part of other auberge workers to find the correct person to hand me a key. I couldn’t help wondering how much more streamlined the process was with the National Guard in tow 🙊

After a shower and a rest I set back out, this time in the direction of the Lars Homestead. Unsure if I’d be able to make the the 3kms off road to the site itself I was pleased to find the track compact enough for cycling. With nobody else around I had the place to myself as the sun set over this solitary concret igloo in the desert.

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