Crossing the Sahara was a big deal but not unusually dangerous in the mid-1970s. The main challenge was the 1600 kilometers (1000 miles) between Agadez, Niger and In Salah, Algeria, where the pavement began. But the hardest stretch was the three-day, 900-kilometer trek from Agadez to Tamanrasset. Rocks, dunes, and endless plains stretched into the far horizon. Not a drop of water, of course, and you had to be careful bring your own food and canteens. There was no road. Drivers followed the tire tracks in the sand, with burned-out and abandoned vehicles every hundred yards or so marking the way. Trucks were a mixed bag. Sometimes drivers parked on small hills to jumpstart their trucks in the morning; sometimes passengers had to pitch in and push the truck until the engine started. Everyone was highly motivated to get the truck going, of course. In case of accidents or dead batteries, rescue was highly unlikely. The passengers on the truck were really on their own.