We had a HUGE breakfast. Fruit, muesli, yoghurt fruit juice and then porridge. I was feeling quite full when our hostess brought out bacon, 2 eggs, 2 kinds of sausage, baked beans and tomato. I was totally bloated after eating 1/2 of it! I cannot believe how much South Africans eat for breakfast. We started our journey at about 8:45 as we had a fair distance to go. We chose to drive a 90km dirt road which was more direct and saved us about 50km. At first it was a lovely smooth road which turned into a very rocky not well maintained road as the landscape changed to more mountainous terrain. It may have turned out to not be a very good decision as you will find out. We finally arrived at Wepener, which is where the border crossing is. This turned into a bit of an adventure as you had to have your passport stamped to leave South Africa and then drive across the border and get stamped at the Lesotho border. There was a long lineup and when it came to our turn, the border guard looked at my passport and said where are you going sir? I said Semenkong and she looked at me with a suffer me fools look and pointed to the other booth which was for entering Lesotho. We had been in the departure booth lineup. Ah well, live and learn! Once through, we started driving and immediately made a wrong turn. After getting back on the right road, we drove very slowly as there were no speed signs until we were well out of town. Then we quickly learned that town and the very numerous bus stops are 50kmh and the country roads are 80kmh. The main town we went through was obviously having some sort of festival because everyone was very brightly dressed, mostly in yellow. Hundreds and hundreds of people on the roads walking and in the backs of pickups. We passed one gentleman dressed in a suit an wearing a bright red sash and some sort of medal. He looked very important. As we were driving, dutifully watching the speed limits, very expensive German cars with Lesotho license plates were whizzing by us oblivious to speed limits. After going through a small town and getting on the 80 zone, we suddenly noticed a very strange sound. Pulling over, we discovered the right rear tire was flat. The spare was one of those thin don't go over 80kmh tires. As if by magic, these 2 guys showed up, one from a field near by and another in a passing car. They took over changing the tire. We had a small hiccup when we discovered one of the lugnuts was an anti-theft nut. Jean discovered a fix for that in the glove compartment. We got the tire changed, gave the guys a good tip, took a picture and headed out to the next town where we found a guy who repaired tires. He put a plug in but said we should get the tire changed as it had been a bit damaged by being flat. The hole was on the inside wall of the tire and was quite large. We elected to continue with the spare tire, driving well below the 80kmh limit. Kinda wished I could talk to Bill Ellens as we are not sure what to do, whether to put the repaired tire back on or to go the 130 km of paved road and then 30 km of not good dirt road to the next town in South Africa on the spare. I will talk to the camp owner. Certainly, in Lesotho, on a Sunday, service is not to be found. As for finding a replacement tire, dream on Dave, dream on! Getting to the town of Semenkong, we had to drive down this "road" (more like a torture test) to get to our camp. I was worried about the spare tire going. Don't know how the small cars made it here. We will phone the rental company on the camp phone tomorrow and see what arrangements we can make. We have decided to leave one day early from here so we have time to get the tire replaced. As it was, it was going to be a mad dash to get to where the Drakensberg Boys Choir was singing. This will give us some leeway time wise. Will have to find an alternate accommodation in South Africa if we leave early. Oh well, who said everything would go without a hitch! Sorry, didn't get any pictures of the incredible scenery in Lesotho as the mountain passes were very narrow and no turnouts and I was really stressed about the tire. Virtually the entire route, we encountered shepherds with flocks of sheep or herds of cows. The roads are incredibly steep and peoples rondavels were everywhere on the slopes. We would encounter women climbing from the valley bottom with big pails of water balanced on their heads. The people looked very smart in their blankets and hats. The mode of transportation in the countryside is either horse or donkey. We cannot begin to imagine the hardships these people must go through yet they wave and smile at you as you go by. Just amazing!! We just returned from dinner. There were not many people in the restaurant. A couple from Switzerland and 6 young people who were speaking Spanish. They were very noisy! We both had beef tenderloin with braised veggies and mashed potatoes with a delicious gravy. For dessert, a chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream. Boggles my mind that they can serve such wonderful food in such a remote place. We are now in our room. The staff has lit a nice fire in the fireplace. Lovely and cozy!!