Day 27: Spain Again...

I'd had a rubbish nights sleep again. My Thermarest had a slow puncture from the first week, but now it has decided to go down in about 20 minutes. So I ended up sleeping on hard cold ground for the night. This made me grumpy as and I debated long and hard about just going home at this point. 

This trip has had more kit failures that all of the last ten years worth and I'm getting peeved with it to be honest. Still, I set off and eventually sorted out the correct route, The phone was miles out and the lag in its processing is so painful to work with. All day today, I'd missed turnings and had to turn around, wasting fuel, energy, time and enthusiasm because of crap technology. 

Once on the route, the riding was mostly easy with great views though. I rode until around 3pm, not passing a village or fuel stop. At one point I came across a load of lads on UK registered dirt bikes doing a multi day tour to Portugal. I think they were with Trail Riding Rhayader from North Wales. Anyway, I followed them for a short bit but our paths split and I had to peel off to stick to the TET route.

From there, the route just wound its way through the mountains all day. There was one technical section. The route went into single track, this became a washed out descent onto steep loose old trail. This then crossed a river on some very sketchy slabs before a steep and technical climb out back onto normal piste type trail. That section with disappear soon though as the hillside is sliding into the river, taking the trail with it.

After this, loads more scenic and easy open trails until a fuel stop and food for me. The first of the day! I caught up on internet stuff, got some cash from the garage guy on my card and then headed out looking for a camp spot as it was 5pm ish. I ended the day on top of a lovely hill, bathed in the final sunlight of the day, then an alpen glow as the sun set. Once I'd caught up on diary days, that was me for the night. Think its coming up wine time and I need to sort this leak on the Thermarest!

Day 25/26: Last Days in Morocco 2023

I set off from Taroudant with a plan to head south and check out the top of the desert section heading further south into Western Sahara. About 2 miles out of town, I stopped to take a look at Toubkal behind me in the morning light. It was all covered in snow and the 4000m mountains around it were the same. It was then I looked at my tyres and thought that between the GPS and the very nearly bald tyres this was a daft idea. So I changed the plan and headed to Agadir to sort tyres first. 

I took one of the A roads passing through loads of towns, which allowed me to see even more of the thriving and sometime run down region that forms this part of the Anti Atlas. In Agadir, I had no luck finding tyres and was told to go to Marrakesh. So I did. 

That was a long ride across lots of open plains after crossing the Anti Atlas. I crossed a couple of passes, all the time with the High Atlas overshadowing the route. The new motorway/peage runs alongside for a lot of the time, but there was still more traffic on the A road. 

Speed cameras seem to have become a thing too. Gendarmerie lurking in trees to catch unwary motorists with more stealth taxes. Morocco is moving up in the world financially if it can afford to charge its population for these kinds of infractions. 

Once in Marrakesh, I headed to my old haunt, the Hotel Foucould right next to Jamaa el Fenaa market square and the Koutubia. Probably the most photographed Muslim minaret around. I do have an affinity for that building for some reason. It is very eye catching and intricate in its stone work. 

It was 6pm when I got to Marrakesh, so dinner time. After checking in and paying to have my bike parked in a secure compound for the night, I headed out into the mad rush that is the Square. Dinner was in a local cafe I've been to before with some Berber friends, then it was bed time as I was really tired again. 

I checked out around 9am the next morning, heading to a tyre place. I'd forgotten though that it was a Sunday, so it was closed. That set me off, I knew Casablanca had a KTM place, so decided to head there via Safi on the coast. Never been to either, so something new again. The ride to Safi was around 100km on busy A roads and across miles of flat desert sections. Once there, I turned north along the coast road to Casablanca. I hadn't really looked at a map, so the distance between the two caught me by surprise.

 The coastline between the two starts out lovely, with huge limestone cliffs giving way to long beaches and then lagoons. After this it turns into a town by town journey and is not very pretty. Once in Casablanca, I found two bike shops, but of course, Sunday, both were closed. 

I stopped at a McDonald's there to use their WIFI and had fish burgers. I was amazed at how westernised the people were, but especially the women, Some really beautiful ladies were around with their kids, families, partners etc, but very few with headscarf's or traditional Muslim garb etc. As I was leaving a young guy approached me for some help. His scooter wouldn't start. His English and French were impeccable. His mechanics however, less so. The earth lead had come off, so the bike wouldn't start. We sorted this and I then left. 

In my head now, I just wanted to head to Spain. So I jumped on the Peage and headed north. 3 hours was the Google Maps time, it took 5.5 hours and I arrived after 12am and on fumes for the bike. Stupidly, I'd ridden past the last fuel stop when the reserve light came on as I thought I'd make it and fill up in Tangier Med. No chance, there is no fuel there! 

I ended up heading uphill past the ferry port, retracing my arrival steps as I knew there was a fuel stop, but I had no idea how far. Into a strong headwind, I ran out of fuel almost at the top of the hill. Out came the 1 litre fuel container for the stove, I had 0.5 ltr left. That got me to a fuel station. Next error. I only had 60 Dirhams in my wallet, the rest was in my bags. So whilst the attendant grumbled about having to get out of his warm room to put fuel in my bike, I forgot to turn off the electrics. Once he'd gone, the bike was dead. I thought I could bump start it on the steep descent. No chance, so I carried on rolling downhill until the next garage. I stripped off the bags, sheepskin etc and checked the battery. 2 bars left and not enough to start the bike. I asked at the garage for someone with jump leads and got a local lad who turned out to be the local mechanic. He jump started the bike and whilst chatting, found out I had nowhere to stay as yet and offered for me to stay in his garage. Sorted for the night. 

The next morning was wet and very windy. I packed up, left Messi with a huge thanks, he wouldn't accept any payment at all. Dropped to the road to Ceuta and had a weird breakfast of pancake topped in peanut butter which I'd ordered thinking it was a honey topping! Then through the customs and onto a ferry. The crossing was very bouncy, a few people weren't looking so good by the time we arrived. Once back in Spain, I went to two bike shops and eventually found KTM garage, who fitted me two new shiny Michelin tyres for 190 euros. Now it was riding time. Find the TET again, which I did. Navigation with a phone though is exhausting. Especially as I had nowhere to mount it. I ended up lost in some cork woods just outside of Gaucin. So decided to camp and sort it out in the morning.

Day 24: Some Superb Passes

A great day of riding today, despite the tech issues. Plenty of high and low passes crossed, some paved, some unpaved. A fabulous winding valley to finish the ride and Taroudant is a vibrant, busy Moroccan walled town with hardly any tourists!

I was nervous this morning about the whole navigation technology issue. I'd stayed up late last night doing some research on phone apps and finally settled on the OSMAnd app as it can follow a GPX route and I've heard good things about it from mates over the last couple of years. 

Back up phone would download the app, the background maps and even the GPX files for this trip, but it won't find the actual position, despite all the settings being turned on, so it won't follow the GPX track. My normal Samsung phone, will do all of the above, but I can't see the screen in bright sunlight and the bag its in. As I broke the phone mount on day 1 in the Picos, I need to source a method of attaching it in a place where I can see the screen, but that still leaves me with the sunlight issue and no back up system. 

The Garmin has worked sporadically through the day. When it's on and working, its like normal. When I throttle back, stop or go over any big bumps, the screen either scrolls out to the maximum, (which means I have a purple dot instead of a line to see), or it goes to the home screen. I then have to stop and spend 10 minutes pressing the screen to see what it does or reboot it several times. 

Oh well, the riding though was excellent. On leaving Ouarzazate first thing, I headed out on tarmac roads through some back sections of the town. This turned into a winding valley on new tarmac that climbed and dropped over a few passes and past several small hillside villages. Every time I got a view north towards the Atlas, all I could see was snow clouds and the nearby peaks had a dusting of fresh snow on them. This got my attention. After a few miles, I turned off onto a dirt road and climbed past several more villages. I started to see old ice and snow in the shady sections and the clouds seemed to be building. The road was a typical locals road, passing through villages with people out cutting the reeds for bedding, wandering from here to there and generally. This was Berber country. The mountain folk of Morocco. 

Their story is one of movement, no one seems to actually know their origins. There are stories they moved from Egypt, but no proof, until they settled across the higher mountain ranges of North Africa. Now they are a large proportion of several countries population, with different dialects, religious ceremonies and traditions. They are fierce fighters, loyal friends and generally hard working. They do not get on too well with the lowland Arabs, but there is a tolerance amongst each. I've been lucky enough to work with a lot of Moroccan Berbers over several years, I have a lot of time for them as people. Travelling back through these mountains is easy for me and relaxed because of that background I guess. 

Another section of tarmac wound on through the volcanic hills. At one point, I found a local guy on a scooter, who had an issue, I ended up towing him some 10 miles ish to a town, where he promptly fell over and grazed his hand as we came to a stop. From there, I crossed a small river, followed some tarmac to a rough dirt road and dropped over into another valley, where a goat herd and a village lady helped me find the correct route across a river and back to the next bit of tarmac. 

Some more winding road, this time on a section of road being newly built. I took a cheeky ride around the 'building' bit, which got me a bit turned around. Once I'd figured out I'd gone past the turneing to leave the valley, I just had to find it. That turned out to be a washed out track, crossing lots of volcanic slab at angles on a steep descent. Some pretty technical riding. 

More tarmac wound on to a sudden left turn up a really zig zagged steep ascent. This crested with a view over the High Atlas, all cloud and snow capped. I crossed another shallow pass and descended to a village, took a wrong turn and to the delight of about 30 kids provided a show of how not to ride a technical rocky section! Once back on the true road, it climbed, crossed over two passes and a plateau section before descending down steeply into a small village. Lots of the old men were in the street, waving me through with big smiles and waves. 

The day finished on a 40 ish mile valley ride, descending to the lower plains via a very tortuous and twisty road that provided access for some 20+ villages. It crossed the main river so many times on dodgy fords, I lost count.

Taroudant was the destination of choice. I'd not been there before and knew it to be a busy town full of Moroccans and not many tourists. It is just that. The main walled Kasbah is very old, very big and full of relaxed and smiley people. I got another hotel for the night so I could talk to various people back home, then went out into the hubbub to find food. Some spicy sausages, with chips and salad and finished off with hot fresh bread straight out the oven. 

Planning time now I guess. I've decided I'm not too happy with the idea of venturing into the most remote parts of the trip with shite nav tech. So I'm changing the plan and will head back north. If possible, once back in Spain, I'll try to follow the TET track again up to the French border, then follow a part of the French TET through the middle of France and get back home by the end of Feb sometime.

I recognised this was a possibility last night, then took today to play with tech and see how I felt. I'd rather come back when I'm in a better set up position and do the thing right, rather than be crapping my pants all the time worrying about when the electronics are going to leave me stuck. If at all possible, I'd like to tie in a return back up through Algeria too. Time will tell!

Day 23: Chores and a Rest Day

I decided to stay in Ouarzazate another night and get a bunch of things sorted out. I dropped my jacket off to a tailor, who will fit a new zip for 50 Dirhams, collection at midday after dropping it off at 9am! 

A lazy breakfast in a cafe, with hot coffee and cheesy pancakes, called 'baguettes' for some reason. Whilst there, I sat watching folks going about their early morning stuff. The old men sitting in the cafe facing the street doing the same thing as me. Women heading to who knows where, some in traditional Arab dress, the younger ones in more western attire, with their hair uncovered and even some make up in some cases. 

Later in the day, kids were riding around on little motorised plastic models in the main square, whilst a sound system was being set up outside an impressive looking central building.  The call to prayer sounding in the distance from one of the many mosques in town. A bike mounted policeman was stopping traffic randomly and in the case of one poor guy, getting a ticket for something.

Next up for me was a replacement screen cover for the GPS as I took the old one off thinking sand was causing the issue with the screen. I spent a fair bit of time trying to re-calibrate the screen on the unit, which worked to some degree, but now it's super sensitive and jumps around a bit. That will be annoying when trying to sort out route choices I'll bet. Looks like time for a new GPS, this one has only done 8 years or so!`

I've tried to hunt down a strap for the luggage today as well, but no luck, so I'll bodge something from existing stuff. I wandered through the souk whilst trying to find the tailor's place first thing. Chickens in cages everywhere and meat stalls next to shoe shops. It's early at the moment, so quiet, but as the sun warms the streets and air up, people are appearing and soon it will be buzzing no doubt.

Most important job is sort out the bank, as if I can't transfer funds, that's the trip over. Both Morocco and even more so, Mauritania, are cash based economies and I'll have to head back north with the remaining cash I have. I have no idea how to contact them. My mobile phone does not work out here, I haven't found a landline. I may have to buy a Moroccan sim card and try to use that but its not a recognised number with the bank. Failing this, my sister has offered to go into a branch at home for me with an authorisation letter from me, but reading the banks website, you need an official solicitors sign off on this and to go via a government process. All this online banking to reduce costs and stress and because of the criminal aspect of things, it's even more of a pain to try to use. Next time, I need to be better set up to deal with this, not sure how to do that as yet, but one of the things I need to sort out is some better online security and a password manager process as suggested by a mate as I was leaving the UK. In the end, my sister sorting things out for me to continue. 

One of the things that is striking about Ouazazate is the calmness of the place. There are no hawkers forcing themselves on you, I've wandered around several times today and been left alone. It's a refreshing change after constant hassle I faced in Merzouga and Zagora. It's still on the tourist trail, but definitely less in your face as a town. I even found a shop selling beer and hard spirits, frequented by some unsavoury Moroccans, but decided to continue with the alcohol free life of the Islamic countries, so mint tea it was then!

I collected my jacket at midday, new zip fitted and its been cleaned! Great stuff, that'll make life easier and warmer whilst riding. 

I've also spent some time online looking at routes and options. There is a desert unsealed road heading through the disputed territory of Western Sahara that is pretty remote, it runs from a small town called Assouerd and heads south to another small town Smara. Its around 450 miles across some remote desert passing a plane wreck en route and I've added in a section to take me upto Dakhla for a rest stop and fuel.

The whole area was one of the biggest land mine sites in the world at one time. The UN cleared a lot of it, but I've heard stories that there are odd ones still about, and the locals like to move them around to protect mineral mining etc. The road itself has been cleared, but if you stray from the road, only follow existing vehicle tracks. 

It's one of the roads I have in my planning, but periodically, it gets closed, and right now there is pressure to bring the long standing dispute back into the public arena to force a resolution, so we'll see.

The normal route is via the coast, but this is tarmac and the main road running south to Mauritania, which I'll have to return north by anyway. It may be wiser to leave it for a 4x4 trip another time combined with Algeria, but we'll see how things pan out as I get closer to that area. 

Finally, for the end of the day, two French lads rocked up to the hotel on road bikes, parked them outside their bedroom door and after a chat disappeared. They are from Bordeaux and doing a tour to escape their rain! I went out into town to get a hot dinner, settled into a grilled cafe place with loads of families eating there. The soup was lovely, the rest OK, but whilst there, I got talking to an older Moroccan lady, who was very pleased to see me eating their soup, hand carved wooden spoon and all. There is a festival in the main square tonight, so plenty of music I think and the town is already getting busy. Might be an earplugs night!!

Day 22: A Trials of Travelling Day

Today was a mixed day. Some great riding, some frustrating things with locals, kit and technology. 

The day started out with a beautiful sunrise. I love sunrise time of the day, all that glowing light, the promise of a new day to come, new adventures and/or great things to see and experience.

I set off in the cold air, taking a bit of time to settle in on the bike for some reason. The piste was mixed with rough stony sections, some soft sand parts and some weird grooved bits. The scenery was just stunning. Valleys, edged with rough looking cliffs, all the various shades of green and browns that make up the desert landscape. Then the flat open sections covered in small sharp stones, with views as far as you can see.

There is a depth to this landscape that reminds me of the Antarctic. Navigation is very similar too, ie follow a line on a GPS, as you get close, hone into the end point, use lots of land features as markers to keep you on track. 

The morning track meandered around a fair bit, then disappeared altogether. I ended up following my GPS line for about 15 miles across open desert. I knew it connected with a tarmac road and a petrol garage, so just put my faith in the technology.

Once at the garage, the grumpy owner ripped me off for the price of a coffee and his son tried to get me to go to his village so he could wash my bike. I set off again, heading towards Zagora. The first bit was on tarmac, then next across the desert again, then another tarmac section and yet another wide desert crossing finally into Zagora. The riding was great again. Some huge dried lake bed parts, some dunes to cross, some really rocky winding mountain pass sections and more valley parts. Such a varied day of travelling. 

Once in Zagora, I got chased again by moped riding sales reps, I stopped for a coffee, chased the first two off. Then decided to find some hot food, as it had been a few days since my last full meal. I found a lovely fish place full of locals, 80 dirhams got me 4 cooked fish, loads of olives, chips and spicy dips and a weird bottle of some Hawaiian fruit drink. Whilst here, two more sales reps approached  me, then getting fuel another one. I lost my rag at the last one, poor lad. The guy at the garage pumping fuel was laughing about the whole thing, he knew exactly what I was talking about, but what it did for me was make me want to lave Zagora, so decision made, I rode out of town instead of staying overnight as I'd planned.

Issues that are demanding attention: As I was leaving the fish cafe, the zip on my jacket did that thing where it unzips from the bottom and the puller is the only bit holding it together. I then ripped a tooth out whilst trying to get it undone. It now won't zip up at all. So there goes my main riding jacket. A couple of mornings ago, I'd noticed the stitching on one of my panniers has come apart and I'll need to source a strap to keep the bag attached. I've been locked out of my online bank, requiring me to call the UK to sort it out, not so easy with no working phone and no access to a land line. As I set off from Zagora, the touch screen on the GPS stopped working, I had to reboot it several times before I could follow the track. I finally managed to be able to use it again, after I'd tore off the screen protector and rebooted it about 10 times. Now, as I write this blog, the laptop mouse is going haywire and the keyboard has a delay on it and keeps switching to italics. I'm very glad the riding is good!

Anyway, I left Zagora at 5pm, so that left me 2 hours til dark to sort out somewhere to camp/sleep. I ended up riding in the dark to Ourzazate over a fabulous high pass and finding a hotel. The bike is parked in the foyer, I have a room for 80 dirhams a night with WIFI and the shower is in a room across the hallway! Hey ho...

Day 21: Rallies and Desert Traverses

Today was some truly great riding. I set off after breaking camp, it was so cold last night and first thing, I couldn't get my hands warm for hours. 

The main piste started off the day, easy to ride and follow, then the GPX route veered off left, which turned into an hour of route finding amongst stones and soft patches of sand. Eventually, I just followed the line on the GPS and gave up looking for the track on the ground. This turned out to be a good choice as the track appeared about a mile later and was really good riding including some small sand dune sections. 

I reached tarmac just before Arfoud, where I stopped for some coffee and to sit in the sun. Arfoud is one of the towns north of the main dunes of Erg Cheggi. It's a busy place with a nice atmosphere and clearly on the tourist bus route as campers and coaches were all over the place. 

I'd planned a route to loop around some hills west of Arfoud, but found that the road to start it no longer exists. It is now a shallow sea of dunes and to cross it meant going against the grain of the windblown sand. I think, if I'd had others with me who were up for the challenge, I'd have given it a go, it was about 10 miles across, but it would have been hard going. 

I returned back to Arfoud, had a think over more coffee and then set off for Merzouga. This is another place I've heard lots about and to be honest, its a shithole. 

I chose to follow the old route across the desert and not the new tarmac road. This showed off the dune sea to perfection, first a hint in the distance of some big dunes, then to cress a small hill and have the whole lot laid out in front of me, with the palm trees running along its base, it really set the dunes off to perfection. Now introduce the influence of man and his need for money and you get to the shithole bit. 

Several small towns and lots of exclusive hotels, built to look like old movie forts. Rubbish is everywhere. Moroccans chase you on mopeds and at cafes trying to get you to buy something from them, a tour, a bed for the night, their best mates superb '(insert your choice of item)'. I ran away as fast as I could once I'd gotten fuel. 

The afternoon turned out to be one of the best rides on the trip so far. From Merzouga to M'cissi is around 80 miles. The first 5 are on tarmac, passing the huge dried up lake bed of Lake Dayet Srij. At Taouzint, you turn NW onto an old dirt road that slowly turns W. This winds past tiny mining families and eventually follows a valley, then heads across another dry lake bed to where I ended up camping, En route, the scenery is all windblown volcanic rock hills, small spiky trees and some vast spaces. I stopped to take off some layers as I was finally getting warm. 

Two Defenders came past me, one Puma TDCi & one new shape, apparently, they were doing the Paris Dakar rally event that runs each year. They had glowing things to say about it. After checking I was OK, they shot off into the distance. 

I waited until their dust cloud had dissipated before setting off. Later I saw a Humvee, obviously doing the same thing, but with much poorer navigation as they were all over the place. 

My route veered off theirs a little later on and I wound on through the hills to find a sheltered tucked away valley to pitch my tent. Some food, a catch up on the notes and it was bed time again. Time for the tarp as an extra layer tonight!!