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!