June 21

 Another day expected to hit at least 100 degrees.  Within the first hour on the road we had each finished one bottle of water.  It was going to be a long day.  53 miles planned, with the last 30 all uphill.  Remarkably we made good time but stopped frequently to resupply with water - and rest.

In one small town, more of a crossroads, really, we stopped at a small Alimentari shop to see it they had any water.  I bought 1.5 liters and a pack of Skittles.  The brothers who ran the shop were from Pakistan and one of them spoke pretty good English.  He had many questions about our journey - and we had questions about Pakistan - so we stayed a bit and talked.  Before we left he said he would like to give us something so he brought out another 1.5 liter bottle of water for us.  We topped off our water bottles and then polished off both of the 1.5 liter bottles!!

Friendly Pakistani brothers who gave us water.

Down the road we headed into the 100 degree heat.  There was no air moving and the heat was really oppressive.  Pretty soon it was time to reapply sunscreen so we stopped in front of some shops where we  saw a bench to sit on.  Right where we parked our bikes was a very small manual car wash garage.  Again, two men of Middle Eastern descent came out to check out the weirdly dressed bikers in front of their stand and to ask us some question.  They were nice enough to let us use the hose in the car wash to soak down our headbands, neck gaiters, and shirts before we hit the road again.  Super nice.  I regret not getting their picture.

Here are the only 2 pictures from the rest of the day:

We passed so many olive trees and grapevines today.

These enormous plants are growing all over the sides of the road.  They look to me like they're trying to reach out and grab an unsuspecting passerby!

             Tomorrow we enter Rome, The Eternal City.