Hi Patricia
Sorry for not acknowledging your post before now, but am living with cancer which takes up too much of my time! Being two of 'the old guard' we know that we are right regarding the valley!! I remember riding with you there vividly and was always envious of your riding outfit as all I had was a tshirt and jeans, and there was you in all right riding gear, and of course I fancied you like mad!!Oh the joys of youth, hope this finds you and the family in rude health................
Regards Roddy
No complicated explanations required. Throughout Little Aden the refinery could be heard. Unless the wind was louder or in the wrong direction. So when you went into Silent Valley, the silence was palpable. It was like a pressure on your ears.
I experienced a similar thing in the North of Saudi Arabia wher we had a dry lake which went to the horizon in all directions.
At sunset on a windless day you had, in all directions, at your feet a flat powder sand to the horizon, and above you a clear blue sky to the horizon. Only your tyre tracks disturbed the perfection. The silence was again a pressure on the ears.
When the sun went down the sky transformed into a myriad of stars with constant. rain of comets. Totally unforgettable