My 'shower' spot

Visa queue in Rabat

 Sean, the delicate thistle, passed on washing as the campsite ‘shower’ was a hose attached to an outside sink.  However, the water was running and clean so I washed my hair ……the water was so cold I lost all feeling in my scalp then sounded like I was hyperventilating when I tried to ‘shower’ – how can the days be so hot and the tap water be so mind numbingly cold?  Pulling up to the visa office fully kitted up on the bikes certainly drew the attention of everyone on the street – was great!!  Met Stef and exchanged details - would be great to meet up and swop stories or to ride together for a bit.  Cars here get very bothered if a bike stays in front of them, they expect you to let them ahead even if they can’t keep up with you.  I really upset a guy on the highway through Casablanca when I wouldn’t move out of his way, with traffic on all sides unless I sprouted feathers out of my arse and flew there was nowhere to go – the obvious, however, wasn’t this guy’s strong point as he spent the entire time on his horn.

Nice sleeping spot

Tinned Ravioli showed promise but..........

Numerous road sellers here, six or seven of them will be lined up along the road selling the same thing, how do they make a living?    Pulled up a track in a forest to discover a whole series of abandoned buildings, looked like a scout or military camp.  A quick look around revealed that despite being in fair condition no one was living there so set up for evening.  Had tinned ravioli, it was bloody AWFUL but Twix for dessert so all was good.  Beautiful evening, the sunset was amazing, we amused ourselves by playing Uno, Sean won most of the games, he must have cheated!

Early morning start - cool, literally!

'Posing' Camels

Up at sunrise, a man and his sheep arrived, then a whole bunch of women and a boy with livestock, no one was in the slightest bit bothered at the sight of two foreigners, two bikes and a tent, all just saluted and carried on with their business, such a difference to the up-tight European attitude.

Today people seem even friendlier, we had bus drivers, truckers, moped guys, bicyclists, postal car drivers all saluting us.  Stopped to take pics of camels and guys travelling in a huge farm  machine pulled up so they didn’t spoil our photo! They then called for me to snap them as they passed by, which of course I did.  Even the camel herder got the camels to stand up so I could get a better shot.

 In the afternoon we grabbed the opportunity to stop under the shade of big tree at the side of the road and indulge in water and peanuts.  We waved to all and sundry as they passed - like we were the queen of England. A man and woman on a donkey and cart approached, stopped and invited us to their house for food - the gesture staggered us.  It was obvious they had very little but they were still offering food and hospitality to two strangers who clearly weren’t in need, the kindness defied description.  Stupidly though we were focused on the fact we had another 200km before hitting our planned destination so thanked them but declined.  They were incredibility gracious and suggested tea, when we declined again the man got down off the cart, shook our hands and then they waved good bye, we waved as we passed them later on.  Refusing their offer was a decision that we came to regret, one of those moments that you constantly look back on and always wish you’d done it differently.

Today the landscape changed from woodland to agricultural, to lunar to desert scape.  At one point we came over a hill and there was a huge valley spread out in front of us in swirling browns with the road winding through it and over the huge gorgeous bridge – superb sight.  Stopped for a pee and there was skeletal remains of an animal with a long pointed lower jaw and HUGE canines, the leg bones were short, about 1 foot, and really thick about 2-3 inches square, can’t figure out what the fuck it might have been – a really big boar maybe??  Told Seanie I thought it was some kind of dinosaur which set him off all afternoon – he’s so easy!!! 

Camels, camels, everywhere....

Since we arrived in Morocco I have repeatedly seen some of the men dressed in traditional Muslim robes walking around grabbing at their crotch, at first I thought it was like the rapper thing i.e. they have to hold on to ‘it’ in case it falls off, however I’ve finally realised that what they’re actually doing is holding their robes up so that they can walk easier and for relief from the heat……..duhhh!! Something else we’ve passed time and again is people walking their various livestock along the roads, I twigged that what they are doing is grazing the animals as they have no land of their own, gruelling to walk such distances in this heat every day. 

Completely knackered when we found a campsite called ‘La Calme’, disappointingly it turned out to be anything but.  All through the night into the morning packs of wild dogs roamed around the site and howled, yelped and fought – have never experienced anything like it, sleep was a luxury we certainly weren't afforded that night.

Next morning as we were going back the track to the main road we saw a small kid with animals waving like mad, thought he was signalling us to slow down but turns out he was just waving hello.  As I passed I gave him a high five which delighted him – he was only about 6 but was caring for a few goats on his own – nuts.  Rode through some amazing twisties and changing scenery, up over the mountains and down again -  think of images you've seen of the lunar landscape, add bigger hills, dot trees over it and you have the exact scene in front of you.  It’s astounding that we’re doing this, not watching someone else’s adventure – two months in and a sense of reality hasn't hit yet. 

Headed towards Agadir and hit the coast, stunning views so stopped for some photos. Whilst snapping all and sundry I noticed a man, who had been walking along the road, sitting on the wall watching us.  We said ‘Bonjour’, he signalled us to follow him and took us down about 20 feet to show us that you could see further along the coast to a peninsula and thus get better pics.  We asked if we could take a photo of him but he declined pointing out that there were holes in his clothes, it was obviously important to him - a pity as would have loved to have a photo, he was such a nice man.  He had some food in a bag which he offered to share with us but again stupidly we declined as we were in a hurry to get to a camp site – rude, we will not do that again, the man was so nice, helpful and hospitable, and we couldn’t take 10 minutes to sit with him, shame on us, bad manners and no excuse for it.  

Been at the happy pills again.

Got a nice site 20km north of Agadir and that evening decided to ‘chillax’ by sitting down with mugs of wine and playing UNO, Seanie trashed me –damn it!.  During the night Seanie had to put in ear plugs because “there was a really weird animal making noise – like a squelch”!  The mysterious animal making the ethereal squelch turned out to be the water hose running through the hedges!!

Shower room buddy

Just hanging around

The campsite was nice (had lots of puddy cats!) so we stayed for a couple of days.  Finally set off again and passed through Tiznit on towards Guelim ‘ the door to the Sahara’.  Every so often you are completely overwhelmed by the smell of rotting fish, we eventually figured out that it must be the trucks dumping their cargo along the route when they can’t sell it.   Very good looking people the Moroccan’s, very surprised how completely Arabic everyone is – we’ve seen very few black people which, given that we’re in Africa, has surprised us.  Morocco is quite well to do and in the big cities all the levels of society you’d find at home can be seen here also. 

Chilly desert

We finally hit the desert, and completely contrary to expectations it was fairly freaking cold and VERY windy!  Tried to take a photo whilst sitting on the bike but it proved absolutely impossible, the wind was so strong it kept trying to blow the bike over.  We passed the maddest thing I’ve seen on this trip to date - a sign that said ‘Attention Sables’ – well bugger me, and here was I thinking that the Sahara was full of fucking feathers!  

Re-assembly!

After a while we pulled over to check our location, suddenly I heard Sean shouting for help, we’d stopped on a soft verge and his bike had tipped to the right, he’d slid half way off with his left leg still  caught over the seat but his right leg was sliding down an incline causing him to do an impressive splits!  I couldn’t get off my girl as the side stand wouldn’t go down and she was also tipping, the only way I could have managed would have been to drop her.  Eventually Seanie just had to let his girl go which knocked off the top box, sent the tent, panniers, etc. flying.  However he was unhurt, the bike wasn’t  damaged and we got everything back together in 10 mins. 

Top tip: despite how they look desert roadsides are usually not solid!

Ride into Tantan

Desert and water??

Riding through Tantan we got pulled over by yet another police check where they claimed we’d run a stop sign. There was one in the MIDDLE of a roundabout we slowed but had a clear view of all roads which were completely devoid of traffic so carried on.  The fine was M700 - each – however  the cop said he’d only charge for one but until we paid we weren’t getting our passports – we didn’t have the cash so Sean had to go back to town for an ATM.  Oddly though, whilst waiting for Sean to return, not a single local who went through the stop sign got fined.  While the cop was writing the receipt for the fine numerous scoots passed up and down, way over the limit, no lids, no lights, no problem =  rules only apply to tourists.  Finally got to carry on into the stunning evening and got a campsite in El Quatia, was really run down but cheap and right on the beach so we got to watch the sun set over the sea.

Always Remember: rules will apply to you, the stupid tourist, that will never apply to the locals – that’s how it is, don’t lose sleep over it.

 Following morning headed off down the coast, very windy but the temp was in the low 20s so it was nice. Rode through some sand dunes like you’d expect from the movies, but mostly the terrain was hard caked terracotta coloured land covered in scrub and of course the constant wind.

Riding through the desert

Nothing as far as the eye can see.

On the middle of a nowhere got stopped at a check point by very friendly police, got the feeling they were doing it just to break the boredom as there was nothing around, they were really interested in  our trip and while they took our details we shared some sweets with them, it’s great how you get the same reactions from adults and kids alike when it comes to sweets.  At every check point I’m greeted with a ‘Bonjour Monsieur’ but at one stop when I lifted my lid the cop was so stunned you’d swear I’d slapped him!   

Every town has goats

Fuel is much cheaper here, it’s only M6.97 a litre now.  Stopped in a tiny run down town that had fuck all.  It always strikes me how friendly these places are, they are not tourist regions but it never seems to bother anyone that we’re there, no ‘guides’, no begging, just ‘welcome’ and ‘hello’.  In a little general store I’d a great time getting supplies from the lovely old man running it who showed great patience trying to figure out what I wanted with terrible French.  He seemed greatly amused by my pronunciation of ‘ouefs’.   Crossed over some fantastic rivers, was strange to see sand dunes surrounded by water, seemed like a bit of a contradiction.  We passed some shacks that served as houses, very difficult to see that some people have so absolutely nothing. 

Beware of camels - do they bite?

Gorgeous Laayoune

Entering the town of Laayoune is incredible, you cross a long bridge over superb green/blue water, there are sand dunes on the right at the end of the town with lush green grass and  palms , very pretty, and a very well-heeled place with tons of military.  Rode on to see lots of signs warning about camels – is there something we should know?  

Exotic sleep quarters

Luxury accommodation

'We were 'ere'!

There was nowhere that offered cover for camping, no trees, no dunes, no walls, so we just went the  half mile off the road to the cliff edge.  We overlooked the white sand coastline and the views were magnificent.  Whilst cooking a car pulled up and one of the guys greeted us in Arabic and gestured for water, he took less than half a cup, gave the same small amount to his friend and both thanked us profusely – it’s a bit of a slap in the face to realise just how important water is, we so completely take it for granted. 

Wonderful locals

New friends!

Panoramic views

Does it  get any better than this?

Later on another two guys approached and greeted us, this time (having learned from our mistakes) we offered them water and invited them to sit with us.  Through pigeon French and sign language we swopped information about each of our lives.   We shared roasted peanuts and choc chip cookies that we had and though one guy was in his 40’s, the other in his 50’s, they were clearly delighted.  When they took their leave and I offered them the rest of the peanuts which they were thrilled with.  Put the tent up - we’re wild camping in the fucking Sahara, how mad is that!  Later as we’d just settled down and we heard footsteps and ‘Bonjour Monsieur’.  Turned out it was Mohammad, the older guy from earlier, he had brought us a tray of Moroccan tea!  Unfortunately for me I hate the bloody stuff but there was no way you could refuse such a gesture, it was very strong and sweet. We drank it offering many thanks and he sat and chatted for ages.  He tried his best to convince us to stay and spend the next day with him to fish, swim and eat but we explained that our visas for Mauritania start then so that we had to go.  Mohammed said his goodbyes still trying to convince us to stay.

Couldn't be invented......

Survival of the fittest (& prettiest).

Morning of 28^th took off along the only road which runs along the cliff edge which was fantastic as the sea was reflecting the most spectacular colour off of the water all morning.  Rode through miles of unchanging dessert scrub, endless miles of the same thing, hard to believe there is so much of nothing  There were isolated Berber tents dotted here and very occasionally there with several small ‘communities’ of them.  A few times we passed lone men walking to only the Gods know where.  We passed one in the middle of absolute nowhere – it was 70km from the last town and at least 100km to the next and the only sign of life random cars or trucks driving by, he was obviously a tramp and the lack of life in his eyes was harrowing, all hope was gone – the image of that man stayed with us for a very long time. 

Long way to nowhere.

Multiple police checks today, five in the first two hours, lost count after that.   Leaving Boujdour we were, yet again, stopped.  A cop, in plain clothes, struts up, asks where we’re from and, on hearing London, starts singing Pink Floyd’s ‘We don’t need no education’. He’d clearly seen far too many cop shows and thought he was Don Johnson out of Miami Vice.  He proceeded to tell us that we were going to be fined MAD700 for breaking a law, however since the last fine we’d been extra vigilant so knew he was full of shit.  The ‘law’ we’d apparently broken was that we didn't stop dead – (something we'd attempted at NUMEROUS checkpoints and it drove the police nuts, they’d wave you through madly, only ever wanting you to stop when they signalled you over) yet DJ was trying to tell us the opposite.

As far as the eye could see.

BUT dear Reader, take heart - all was not lost, he was not an unreasonable chappy - to avoid the fine we just had to ‘thank him’ by way of a 'present' ............. in cash!  The two cops with him were confirming that we should stop, but didn't join in on the bribe request.  I argued with them that we’d spent 3 weeks in the country and this was the first time we’d heard this rule, everywhere else was the exact opposite.  Meanwhile bullshit artist is haggling a bribe with Sean, he request M10 but when I handed a coin to Sean he shouted "no – paper money, paper money, like M100".  Sean said no way (though knowing we were between a rock and a hard place, a bribe of M100 or a fine of M700) so DJ said ‘ok give me M50’.  We thought fuck it, better €5 than €70 but we stuck to that well-heeled bit of traveller advice ALWAYS insist on a receipt before handing any money over to officials so Sean said he’d pay but he’d need a receipt first.  I took out M50 and DJ strides over sticks his hand in my face and shouts ‘give me the money’. I replied 'I need a receipt' he laughed and yelled ‘no you don’t give me the money’ but there was no way in fucking hell he was getting the cash until he provided an official receipt  so  I wouldn't budge.

At this stage the other two cops were getting uncomfortable and, I think ,were telling him to leave it go.  Again he demanded the money and I said ‘no, it’s not my money so I need a receipt’  Sean then takes out an old security pass and flashed it declaring ‘this is ridiculous I work for the police, I teach them English’ one of the other guys took the card and examined it.  DJ was back to arguing with Sean about giving him the money when the cop who’d taken the security card looked at me and said ‘we forgive you madame’, and made a sign that we could leave so I slid the money back into my pocket (oohhhhh the pure SATISFACTION!) and indicated to Sean that we were free to go, thanked the other two cops and left.  We have passed or spoken to at least a hundred cops in the past few weeks and  DJ was the first bent one.  Ten minutes down the road we stopped for a giggle about it all when two guys on an old battered moped stopped to say hello, ask where we were from etc. then offered some of their milk and then some of their prawns – wonderful country, such a place of extremes.

Rode on to get some miles under us, just can’t believe there’s so much nothingness – we’re starting to go a bit stir-crazy from the lack of any change, your brain goes a little do-lally from the absence of any kind of stimulation – I couldn’t stop signing ‘The Birdie Song’ and I don’t even like the bloody thing but it just kept playing over and over in my head! 

The Moroccans have the craziest road signs on earth – after about 100km of fuck all – not even another human - we say a ‘Beware of Cyclists’ sign ………WTF, I mean are they on fucking drugs….. cyclists????........ the fucking trucks were having trouble on these roads what kind of cyclist are they expecting in landscape that is a carbon copy of the moon????  Later, when we came to the peninsula that Dakhla is on, there was a ‘Beware of Kite Surfers’ sign – about a mile from the beach, the fuckers must have jet propulsion systems on their boards!

 

Trying to pee in the desert is a bit of a bother – there are no trees, it’s flat as far as the eye can see so there isn’t exactly many things to go behind.  We’d ridden for 30 mins without another vehicle so I stopped near a one foot high pile of rocks – the highest thing as far as the horizon, no sooner was I baring all to nature when two trucks and a car all turn up within 30 sec’s of each other – how the fuck does that work?  However, as they used to say on Mastermind ‘I’ve started so……………

Chillin'

In the afternoon the scenery finally changed – lots of chasms, sort of grand canyon like (on a miniature scale) and it was fabulous.  Riding along we saw a guy up ahead waving and signalling to a guy lying on the ground as if injured, my gut said something was wrong so held my breath that Sean didn't stop as I’d no intention of doing so, as we passed I saw that guy on ground was fine, obviously a trick to trap passing vehicles.  Only a hundred yards up the road there were two signalling they needed water, again it felt wrong, the movement of 3 or 4 other bodies attempting to hide out of sight behind a dune confirmed my suspicions - Sean hadn't seen the gits behind the dune but sensed it wasn't right so had carried on – scary that they try though, it obviously works on some poor stupid idiots – middle of nowhere, literally no town either way for a hundred km, no one to help you but obviously some around who will prey on you.  That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a campsite in Dakhla, was a bit over priced but we haggled him down and got to enjoy the pure joy of hot running water - bliss!

Cable Car View

Searching for?

May 8th, Gibraltar today, huge queues but there is actually a lane just for bikes to zip through – of course, we didn’t discover this until we were leaving!  Cool fact about Gibraltar - the main road runs through the main airport runway so when there’s a flight they have to close the road.   For a treat we played tourists and took the cable car up to the top, highly recommend it (except if you’re afraid of heights).  As soon as you get off the monkeys are everywhere, they are amazing, it's like looking into the face of another person (only with more intelligence!).  Asked Sean to take a photo of me, without thinking he dropped his bag and jacket, quick as a flash one of the monkeys leapt on his stuff and proceeded to open the pockets with amazing dexterity - pockets

Looking in the mirror?

The Culprit!

which contained passport, wallet, driving licence, cash, etc., aahhhh!.  Sean tried to get the jacket but was met with snarling and teeth baring resistance, of course a crowd gathered but no one was able to help – food would have worked but as everyone obeyed the rules, no one had any.  Finally, after a LONG 5 minutes, an American woman rattled a plastic bag, drawing the animal’s attention causing her to leave Sean’s stuff behind, Seanie sprang into action ‘like a gazelle’ and rescued everything – major PHEW!!  The rest of Gibraltar was lovely, lots of old military installations, but thankfully not as adrenaline filled!

Here we go, here we go.......

Underway

May 9^th – today is THE day, all those endless nights dreaming and planning, and today – AFRICA, aahhhhhhh!  Got our tickets for the 2pm IMTC ferry – OMG, we felt sick with excitement (and too many donuts).  Went to the Tangier Med departure point and much to our disappointment we were the only bikes in the queue - had been hoping to turn the corner to see hoards of other adventure m/cs!  Got in line and waited, and waited and waited.  Finally boarded and then waited and waited and waited………………….our 2pm ferry set sail just before 4pm ……..welcome to African time!   After all that time of looking at Africa on the map on our kitchen wall we are, finally, unbelievably, really, truly and actually, on the boat and underway.   

Tangier Med

The crossing isn’t very long and soon got the announcement to go to our vehicles.  Went to bikes full of trepidation and excitement for what lay ahead in the customs with all the procedures and paperwork, wondering how we’d deal with being badgered by fixers, problems with language etc.  We docked, rode up to customs - and it was ordered, fairly quiet, well run with not a fixer in sight!!!   Whilst at the police booth, another biker joined us and seemed delighted that we were English speakers.   Nick, had come from Norwich on his Africa Twin to do a quick visit of Morocco – his first overseas trip on a bike and he was doing it on his own AND traveling to Africa – sod the baby steps!! 

Coast of Africa

Sean had coordinates for a camp site south of Tangier, Nick asked if he could tag along, so now a merry band of three we set off on a magnificent evening into the wild blue yonder of Africa.  The route followed the coast and was quite simply stunning.  The road was good and was gently windy so you got some magnificent views from all directions – and we actually got to see some camels, yeah!   We were stunned by how friendly the people were, everyone seems happy to salute you, nod or wave.  We hit Tangier town and fuck me what a learning curve in how to ride - the three of us were running (riding?) to keep up – it was hotter than hell, traffic was manic –   and worse my engine ‘overheating’ light came on eekkk!  The place was absolutely alive – there is so much bussle, life and activity and so many things happening at the same time and the traffic reflects it all. 

Table & Chairs - WOW!

The road we followed became a footpath which ended at a huge wooden gate, thinking we’d gone wrong we stopped but were signalled through to follow a steep windy path downwards and half way down we found the camp site, Camping Miramonte.  Set up and checked out the facilities - they were fucking awful, the holes in the floor (i.e.  loos) were ok but the sinks were filthy, never been cleaned, and the showers looked like something out of WWII prison camps.  Sean and Nick immediately declared they weren’t showering in the morning - must be terrible to be delicate!  We invited Nick to eat with us, which he did only after being absolutely assured he wasn’t doing us out of food, and we’d had a great time sitting (on actual chairs PLUS a table - genuine treat!) and chatting about each other’s trips and lives – fab evening.

A break from the heat

Nick with his 'Donkey' & Us

Woke to discover that neither of the ‘brave’ boys had attempted the showers.  Despite their condition, it was running water so I wasn’t opting out - wasn’t pleasant but I was sweat free so all was good.  Nick was heading for Marrakech but decided that he’d like to ride with us for a couple of hours, a nice change for us. Warned him our top speed is dictated by Seanie’s girl and no match for his ‘Donkey’, he was ok with this so off we went in search of adventures into a very warm yonder.  One of the best things we saw and STUPIDLY failed to stop for, was a bunch of camels sitting together on a sandy river edge – WOW – WE’RE IN AFRICA, how the fuck did that happen????

Larache

Gobsmacked by the sights and sounds, everywhere is so vibrant, the driving is interesting but once you get the hang of it it’s fine. The people are so welcoming, they were shouting out of trucks, from bikes etc. ‘Welcome to Morocco’.  I was most surprised by the women, I had expected Morocco to be rigidly Muslim, however the women were dressed in traditional and western dress in all kinds of colours.  Reached Larache, wow, stereotypical Moroccan town stretched up a hill, all the houses in white and blue with the road going past  the remains of an old castle - all of this looks onto a lovely long beach. Baking in our own juices, given that it was 46 degrees C it was no surprise, so stopped for a bit.  Again we were bombarded with hellos, etc.  A Muslim woman passed, we

Melting in 46 C.

said Bonjour, in a very broad English accent she asked how we were!!! Shortly after had to say goodbye to Nick as our paths diverged but stupidly forgot to ask for his mobile, were dying to know if he made it to Marrakech that night. 

Taking some shade........

The heat was so intense that I was starting to feel sick.  Pulled over for a pee stop but my heart was really pounding and wasn't feeling good so took a quick break before carrying on. Stopped for petrol and again was feeling completely sick, thumping headache and pins and needles down my back.  I had to sit down on the forecourt floor; the very nice attendant brought me a chair!  Drank loads and poured water over my head to cool down – I was a bit stunned as usually when it's hot Sean is the one wilting and I’m the one basking.  In my defence, however, I’ve never been in 46 C, add in all the bike gear, and I’d made the stupid mistake of drinking and eating very little - apparently not a good combination!  Took several hours to find a camp spot but finally, with about 30 minutes of light left, we hit a woodland (rarity so far) and had our spot for the night only to discover we'd somehow lost our only two bottles of water!  

'Cool' morning

This is the life!

Following morning left the forest before 7am, were starting to realise we would have to avoid afternoon riding.  The Moroccan people are the most incredibly friendly people we’ve ever met, you can’t stop without someone saying hello, when you pass people wave, if you wave or nod, it’s always returned, you will be offered some of any food or drink they have, it’s wonderful.  Pulled up for water and returning from the shop I noticed a woman hanging out of her window curiously watching us so I nodded and she nodded back and when I smiled her face light up.  As I rode away I waved and she beamed, it made my morning that someone was so happy to say hello.

Camp site free loader!

Coast road

Off toward Rabat (the capital, remember for WWTBAM!) and into the insane mêlée that is its traffic, it’s simply nuts - you just have to keep up, no room for hesitation or doubt.  They do this ‘beep’ thing when the driver behind is overtaking, it seems to work for both 'get out of the way’ and ‘watch out, I’m overtaking’ – either way it’s a good heads up.  Rode along the coast for most of the way, got to the outskirts of Casablanca early afternoon and found a nice campsite, was a treat to have most of the day to relax.

Moroccan Sunset

Sea gazing?

Cassablanca

Mosque Hassain II

Cassablanca

Hassain II

Baking.......

Next morning we headed into the city towards the Mosque Hassain II.  Parked by a bunch of local men who looked like they were

settled for the day so knew bike would be safe.  Took off to stroll around the city - all the small shops, business and cafes are run by, and are full of men.  The women seem to be free to come and go but don’t seem to use cafes or work in shops, odd!  Came across old city walls so walked around the crammed, bustling, vibrant, street stalls enveloped in both very good and VERY bad smells – often within feet of each other.  After a bit a guy started chatting to us.  Crazy Gino was very nice, had excellent English and was started explaining all about the place.  He was amazing, he took us around incredible streets, explained their history, architecture, what had become of them, explained the culture, took us to different markets, took me into a communal wash facility where large groups of women come to wash and socialise, and there were loos – which explain why there are none on the streets, also explained women are only allowed upstairs in cafes.  He took us through the spice shops and got us to try them, into a bakery where they cook amazing amounts of things in deep chamber stoves fired by wood, took us into a community meeting and up a tower so we had a view over the town.  Gino seemed to know everyone, people were speaking to him in Arabic and asking him to say

'Crazy' Gino & Sean

Chicken & spiced rice, yum!

‘Welcome to Morocco’ to us.  A French family passed him and he switched to fluent French.  Apparently he has about seven languages.  After about an hour he brought us back to where he’d hooked up with us, EVERYONE who goes to Casablanca needs to find Crazy Gino and take a tour with him, it was astonishing.  Bought a rotisserie chicken from a roadside café for tea and it was stuffed with herbed rice – finger licking good, Cyclops, the camp site cat, thought so too.

I am officially in love with Morocco and even more so with the most amazing race of people I have ever met, their friendliness and welcoming nature rocks you on your heels and they’re not after anything, they are honestly amazingly genuine people.

Sight seeing

Don't wary.......

Have learned more about the traffic beeping thing, there's a mysterious illness in Morocco that causes the driver at the front of the traffic lights queue to go blind, so his fellow road users, being concerned citizens, are letting him know, by way of a cacophony of beeps, that the light has indeed turned green and he is free to proceed – once the ‘blind’ fellow moves forward the beeping stops as obviously the mysterious illness seems to cure itself and sight is restored, magic or what!

Wow, desert!

Moving on today so when packing several members of the Dutch camper group we shared the site with came over to chat, curious about our trip.  As we left the entire group was standing left and right of the track waving us off and wishing us ‘Bon Voyage’ like a mini entourage – it was really sweet.   By the afternoon it was the mid 40s, during one water stop an old chap on a bicycle asked for some water, only had one bottle left so handed him that, he took a mouth full and spat it out – it was hotter than you’d use in tea!  We can now see the desert in the distance which is very exciting.  We finally hit Marrakech where traffic was manic but the heat was worse, the air was very hot and hit your eyeballs the minute you lifted your visor – truly one of the most unpleasant sensations I’ve ever experienced. 

Ohh I can't handle this heat!

I was really struggling with the heat again.  We stopped and I was barely able to walk to the bench from shakes and dizziness.  Drank what water we had and suddenly realised that we’d been travelling 8 hours – the ride had been so fantastic that I didn’t notice time pass and drank very little – stupid!  

Pretty bugs

Found a campsite, sent up and got two beers for an extortionate €4 but they were ice cold and amazingly nice.   The guy in the shop did his best to coax me into his  Berber craft store next door ‘very nice, very cheap, I give a good price just for you etc., etc.’ but I politely wriggled out of it. Still knackered by the heat I went into the showers fully clothed, very odd sensation showering in full kit but ooooohhhh sooooo nice.  Too tired to go out we went  back to the site shop to see what we could cook and got two more beers (essentials!) and were again encouraged and enticed towards the craft shop, again, we politely declined.  Sean whipped up an unusual, but strangely delicious, spaghetti with ‘chilli, tomato puree and egg’ concoction with bread – it worked!  Exhausted but 36C at 11pm is not a comfy sleeping temp and took ages to drift off. 

Medina walls

Marrakech

Following afternoon we did Marrakech, the entire city is a terracotta colour, so blends in well with the rust coloured land.  Walked around the Medina – wow - it’s cleaner than Casablanca and had amazing colours and smells – except for the public toilets which had maggots!  It’s all very nice but a bit too sanitised and ‘touristy’, Casablanca is more authentic and all the better for it.  Saw two good looking well-dressed guys in their 20’s playing on the ground with two raggedy stray cats and having a great time – here everyone cares for the wild dogs and cats, they don’t seem to be considered a problem, as Gino put it ‘we live side by side with them’.

Tough life!!

Sean discovered a much nicer campsite down the road so after two nights we upped sticks and moving a mile, as we rode out the shop guy was still signalling for us to stop and come look at his Berber Craft Shop and was looking really annoyed – if we’ve been there two days and not gone in, I would have thought the hint laid in that, apparently not!  New place was gorgeous was only MAD20 more, and had a pool, Jacuzzi, and restaurant.  When looking for a pitch we spotted two German bikes, an Aprilla Pegaso 650 and a 1993 BMW R100GS. Once settled, Sean tested the pool and Jacuzzi and we got chatting to the German guys who’d spent 3 weeks travelling Morocco and were heading back tomorrow.

Evening skies in Morocco

Fancy a swim?

May 17^th, we realised we’ve nearly hit the 5000 mile mark, yeah hey!  The heat is becoming difficult to handle, by 12pm it’s 46 C in the shade – I never thought I’d say this but it is officially too hot!  Despite having 8 litres of water and juice we were out by 2pm.  Thankfully a wind storm  full of desert sand was brewing which blocked out the sun causing it to cool to 37C by 4pm – oh the relief!  Sean worked on his bike using a tip Nick gave him re the gear change and the splines.  Went to the local garage to get bike oil where the friendly shop owner offered his scoot in return for Seanie’s DR – Seanie strangely wasn’t keen on the idea, wonder why???

Back tracking

Was time to look at our next country and Algeria is out as it requires a visa from home, a guide and most importantly the borders to all countries we want to enter are currently closed, therefore decided on Mauritania. Did some research to discover the border visa system has been stopped, not only that but the only place to get visas is Rabat – 300km back the road we just came, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, stupid stupid oversight on our part – were so sure we could get visas at the border we didn’t even check.  So tomorrow we have to head back the way we came, only to cover all that distance again – for a THIRD time – stupid careless mistake and only ourselves to blame.  Once over the shock we decided we’ll go inland over the Atlas mountains for the route back and once visas are sorted shoot down the coast.

Atlas mountains

18.05     So the back tracking trip begins!  Midmorning we stopped in nice looking town as Sean spotted a market.  Parked by some schools and all the kids were going mad shouting ‘Bonjour’ to us, seemed delighted to see foreigners - not a tourist place.  Passed a girls' school who were very excited when they saw I was female and were hanging over the first and second floor balconies waving and calling frantically.  Walked through the market and found MAD20 so tried to give it to woman standing beside it at a stall but she looked like I was trying to bite her!!  Bought a load of veg wondering if we were going to pay tourist prices, it cost just over 80c – wow.  Riding alongside the mountains all day and eventually went up into them in search of the campsite; it was situated on the side of a valley that reached down to the most incredible blue/green river which cut through the mountains, very basic camping but very gorgeous spot.

Looking forward to riding through the Atlas mountains this morning.  Shortly after we left camp an old chap, sitting on a bit of a wall, toothless and well over 80, waved as we passed and his face split in two with a smile when we waved back – keeps overwhelming me, people here take such pleasure in human contact.  We did 70 miles of twisties over the mountains, took 4.5 hours, utterly knackering but fantastic.   Incredible scenery, all kinds from rocky mountain covered in trees to valleys with arable land, gorges and sheer drops with no barriers, to fantastic mountain views with cloud pouring over them like white icing.  Went through some really out of the way and very poor towns with very happy friendly people.  Went through a whole section of road where large portions of tarmac was missing so got to play ‘pothole dodgems’.

After another four hours we got to Ifrane exhausted, and the campsite no longer existed – noooooooo. We had to go back 20km to Azrou, though the site was basic it was only MAD50 and the loos and showers were so clean you could eat your dinner off them - welcome change.  Hadn't had the chance to pick food up today so  I rode into the town to forage.  Again very helpful and friendly, no problem with a lone female wandering around the place in strange clothes (i.e. bike gear!).  Sean whipped up a bizarre but delightful concoction whilst being staked out by the local cat militia – had to be on the ball as they made several sneak thief attempts and had already stolen dinner from a camper across from us.  Weather turned misty and REALLY cold, 10C when we retreated to tent - huge change from two nights ago when at 5pm it was 46C.  By 10pm we could see our breaths in the tent – shock to the fucking system I can tell you!

Rabat

Woke to fucking freezing morning, was a really cold night too.  Scenery to Meknes was astounding, sweeping scenes of lush green fields over rolling hills; if I didn’t know better I’d have sworn I was in Ireland or Scotland.  Freezing all morning – even heated grips weren’t touching it.  It rained on and off and was really weird to see men in traditional Arabic dress walking along with umbrellas and talking on mobiles.  Got to the campsite and it no longer existed……spotting a pattern here?  Asked a parking attendant if there was another and he gave directions in fluent French, none of which I understood except for the beach name Tamara.  He offered to write it down so I pulled some paper out of my pocket and with it came a D20 note, the minute he clocked the note he suddenly had a very sick young daughter and needed money, blah blah………con men must seriously think you’re truly brainless – I actually saw the calculation running across his face when he saw the cash.

Camp site view

Tamara inmate!

Headed toward Tamara but couldn’t find camping so asked two policemen on a roundabout, REALLY nice guys, explained very carefully to make sure we got it and then stopped the traffic for us– hhhaaaahhh, it’s great having the traffic stopped for you, has never happened before, may never do again, but it’s great to have it happen just once! 

Visa queue in Rabat

Rabat Medina entrance

Up at crack of dawn (as have to be at visa office when it opens) only to discover there are no showers on site despite being told otherwise yesterday.  Golden rule: ALWAYS check the facilities before agreeing to stay!  At visa office got talking to an English guy who, with three friends, flew to Marrakech, took the bus to the Mauritanian border and discovered visas have to be done at Rabat!!!  A French guy clocked our bike gear and started chatting with us, turns out Stef has done HUGE amounts of travel – two years on his Africa Twin and has clocked 100,000km – sick with jealousy.  He helped translate bits for us and we’ll meet him again tomorrow and swap details. 

Mosque

Rabat doors

Off into Rabat for a look see – walled town with medina inside.  Wandered around the streets, a mix between traditional Moroccan and UK high street, bloody odd!!.  Got 1 kg of veg from one of the street sellers for less than 50c!  Strange thing I’ve noticed is the unfriendliest people we have met so far are westerners – have saluted many and to date only one has responded – is this why the locals seem so surprised and pleased when we say hello?  A very poor reflection on Westerners if that’s the case. 

Kashba

Kashba

Walked through the medina out up to the Kashba of Udayas so went and had a look.  The inside is AMAZING - it has 3000 people living in it, stunning place, all white and blue little houses and all

cobbles.  Took a wrong turn down a private bit and a resident got chatting and offered us a room in his house if we needed somewhere to sleep, I love this culture.  Went down to see the gardens and a bunch of girls pounced telling us about henna.  I said no thanks but one grabbed my arm saying ‘let me show you’and started to draw.  Her friend grabbed my other hand but despite me saying no she also started.  Two others started on Sean without evening asking.  They finished after five minutes and said we’d to pay 1.50 each, I thought €3 ok, but they said no 1.50 for each limb, €6 was more than I had wanted to spend but it was nice so said to Sean it’s MAD60 - they said ‘No Madam, MAD600’ i.e. €60!!!!!!!  We were stunned, said no, so a huge argument ensued,  Sean gave them MAD100 from my wallet saying that’s all they were getting but they went on demanding cash aggressively and really loudly.  Eventually Sean started shouting that he wanted the police which made them disappear instantly.  We were pissed off with them for being such underhanded fuckers, especially when I’d said no 3 times but didn’t want to actually push someone away, mostly though we were pissed off at ourselves for being had.

Kashba entrance

We left the gardens in dampened moods until minutes later a lovely street cleaning guy stopped us to say hello, gave us loads of tourist info and wished us a good time.  We went around the corner and a real old fellow gave us a huge hello, a welcome and threw us a kiss – the scumbags are so outnumbered by the nice people here. 

Rabat 'Souvenir'

Stopped at a supermarket on way home and decided to treat ourselves to wine.  Yesterday I accidently ripped MAD100 note in two so decided to ask the cashier if she’d accept it.  I pulled out the small portion of the note and then the folded part, but when I unfolded that, it was complete.  Turns out that Seanie had opened my wallet and unwittingly handed the henna girl the folded portion of the torn note - as it was folded neither he nor she noticed.  The bit I still had had most of the serial numbers on, so the part Sean handed over was useless - we were down €10 but at least the con artists didn’t gain a cent, really made us feel better, karma is great!