But once actually on the plateau, I encountered the best evidence that the Flat Earth Society could ever offer in support of their cause. It was a flat, treeless expanse, with nothing to break the horizon except the occasional wandering camel. Toward evening on my first night out on the plateau a massive thunderstorm let loose – the kind where the thunderbolts hold their arc in the sky for several seconds. There was no place to hide the tent from the view of passers by or to shelter it from lightning bolts, so I just plopped it on the open plateau before the approaching storm clouds arrived. I did set my bike about 20 meters away in the hope that the lightning would be attracted to the metal bike frame rather than my metal tentpoles. I soon discovered that my tent had regrettably lost some of its waterproofing, so I strategically placed the raincovers for my panniers over my sleeping bag to allow a somewhat dryer night of sleep. The thunderstorm was pretty fierce – a real summertime, open-plain storm, with wind nailing the sides of my tent a good deal of the night. (6-03-05)

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View of the Approach of the Storm From My Tent, Night 1