There were incredible wind storms starting around midnight.  We were up by 03:00, if not before.  Sand was somehow coming in through the roof of the tent, falling on our face.  That left us with two options - covering our faces with our blankets and thus being hot, or not covering our faces and having sand fall on our faces (Justin chose the former, Crystal the latter).  Crystal needed to go outside and learned the meaning of the phrase “pissing in the wind.”  She got sandblasted as well.  People pay a lot of money for exfoliation treatments; she was getting it for free.

As soon as it was light, we packed up and left the campsite.  We went west a couple miles and parked at the trailhead for Hoq Cave, where Abdullah and Adham made breakfast.  Adham also helped a goat that had gotten its neck stuck in a fence.  At breakfast, Adham and Abdullah kept telling Justin to eat.

We started the hike around 6:15, with Adham and a local guide.  It was very hot outside already, and the trail up to the cave was quite steep.  Justin was fine for the first half to 2/3, but then it became a grind, similar to Arher the afternoon before.  Crystal kindly took backpack for the last little bit.  Once we got to the entrance, things were much better.  We chilled for about five minutes, then went into the cave.

The inside was spectacular.  There were stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.  The ceiling was well over 50 feet in places.  We were very glad we spent extra money for ultra bright headlamps, as we could see almost everything, even if not very bright in the furthest recesses.  As we were walking back towards the opening, we saw a couple of the people from breakfast, but those were the only people we saw in the cave.  All told, we spent about an hour inside, then we headed back down.

Right as we were exiting, there was a big group that was just finishing their ascent.  The walk back down was quite slippery, as there was loose gravel and scree everywhere.  Justin’s clown shoes (he had purchased some good shoes at a huge discount on close-out, but they were available in only the wide version instead of regular) made it the reverse of the ascent - he was fine and everyone else was having issues.  It took us maybe 50 minutes to get all the way back down.  Once down, Abdullah made sure to give us lots of water - he was very good about looking after us.  Just as we were set to leave, we got a flat tire.  Then as we headed west towards Hadiboh, we got another one.  We weren’t sure exactly what they did to fix them, as they didn’t put new tires on.  We wondered if our planned lunch stop in Hadiboh was intended to serve multiple purposes.

Eventually we did have to stop, as the right rear tire was leaking faster than the left rear.  A couple local people from the village helped us replace the tire, and we saw Abdullah’s daughter, who was 1 year old.  After the fixed tire, we continued towards Hadiboh.  We got some gas at the local “gas station” - it was just the giant tanks and a hose.  At the one restaurant that was open (it was still during the three-day Eid celebration), it was a zoo.  There was lots of movement, loud talking, and food all over the tables and floor.  We estimate that there were 75-100 people there.  After about one minute, Crystal said “there’s no women here.”  Sure enough, she was the only one.  Abdullah was taking care of fixing the tire, so we ate with just Adham.  He put out some Saran wrap type stuff on the table.  We got rice with goat meat.  Adham had requested utensils for us, but we’d noticed everyone was eating with their hand (right hand only), so we just dug in before the utensils came.  Justin ate all his, and at Adham’s urging had more of Crystal’s when she finished.

We met Abdullah and continued west, past the airport, and then turned south to head to Diksam.  It was a very steep ascent onto the plateau in the center of the island.  Once on the plateau, the rear left tire went flat, again.  A random passerby helped us replace the tire.  We assume everyone helps everyone else on Socotra because it happens to everybody, sooner or later.  At the Diksam campsite, lots of people were around.  There was a huge group of tourists, we think maybe having lunch or something.  At the camp there was a western toilet and a shower; they were super basic, but better than what we’d had the past two nights, and a welcome surprise.  We had the big tent again, as it wasn’t supposed to be nearly as windy.

After getting situated, we headed out to a viewpoint of a Wadi and thousands of Dragon’s Blood trees on both sides of the Wadi.  From there, we took a really steep bumpy road down into and across the Wadi, then up the other side, to the Firmihin Forest.  Here there were tons of trees, very closely spaced, with lots of photo opportunities.  After a bit of solitude, a couple kids started following and chatting up Justin.  He had no clue what they were saying, though.  For as many times as he indicated he had no idea what they were saying, they just kept following him, making him feel not unsafe but at least uncomfortable.  

The ride back to camp was the opposite of what we’d just done, and just as bumpy the second time.  We got back a little before 17:45.  When we exited the vehicle, Justin noticed that the back right tire was leaking yet again - this is the tire that had just been replaced near the picnic spot.  Abdullah was beside himself, and told us that after 6 years of no problems, he now had 4 flats in one day.  The temperature at the camp was nice and cool, perhaps because of the increased elevation.  

Crystal decided to try her luck with the shower, and it worked just fine - she was able to get all of the Arher sand out of her hair.  Justin was chilling at one of the tables in camp, but got bit by a mosquito and went into the tent.  With all of the great photos we’d taken so far, Justin backed them up onto the computer.  There was nowhere to plug the computer in, so he knew it would chew through the battery.  After finishing the process, he realized that he would probably be able to do that one more time.  Dinner was around 20:00, a chicken and rice dish.  The rice had onion, garlic, tomato, chilies, chili powder, cloves, and Adham mentioned he would have used cinnamon if he had it - “every spice I have.”  We tapped out at 20:30, and immediately went to sleep.