Turning for home

This hotel is stuffed with UN staff. The parking lot is full of their vehicles. As I was leaving breakfast this morning, I said hello to a guy sitting on his own and he turned out to be an Irish Army Officer on secondment to the UN. Seems like a 6 month posting is the norm and this one to Laayoune is pretty good compared to some of the sub-saharan ones like Chad. And compared to one of the postings out in the desert next to the Berm seperating the combatants, the town of Laayoune is pretty cosmopolitan. Michael suggested I call in on another Irish Officer stationed in Smara about 120 miles away near the frontier so off I went. Nothing like a mission....and I got lost leaving and spent 40 minutes wandering the grubbier end of town through the markets on a beemer at walking pace. The locals seemed to enjoy it though.


5 requests to show my passport later and repeated questions about my occupation, I arrived in Smara and rode into this UN camp and went looking for this other Irish chap. It is bizarre to see how far you will go to meet a compatriot. When you are in the boonies, you make an effort. Cian made me a coffee and and he explained that this posting to Smara is better than the other postings on the Mauritanean side of the border or one of those even further out in the desert where the temperature reached 47C for 3 weeks running in the summer. It shows a positive nature when you can see these small differences as benefits..... I cant show any pictures cos the military are very twichy about photos of their toys....sorry.


What I can show you is pictures of the desert and one slightly sadder looking bike:-( Spot the missing light.
I am discovering just quite how big a place The Sahara is. I spend the whole day pooting along at 80mph and seemed to go such a little distance on the map. I think I saw about 15 cars the whole day. Some people have an image of it as just sand dunes but that isnt the case.




You see amazing colours, beiges, reds, ochres, browns, green, black and amazingly quite a bit of water.....and the occasional nice bike. There are mountains, hills, plains and salt flats. I think it looks its best in the early morning or later afternoon when the sun is not so strong. Today is the first day I started to ride north again and I can actually see clearly.

Just heard from Nigel in Marrakech and he is on the mend so hope to meet up with him next week. Seems the did an op on him and he was 2 days from "pegging it" to use his words. Lucky guy to catch it in time and close to some people who could help.

Duck...and other things broken

Got up at dawn to see camels grazing in the distance. Breakfasted with the family on bread and olive oil and got directions down the coast along the piste. After obligatory pics with the family on the bike I set off on the piste following the GPS track and map. Piste, I thought,we did 200km of that last year in Argentina and Chile. No problem.


Richard Allen predicted this bit quite accurately....It was all quite exciting and then it got very exciting. I was not paying enough attention and hit a patch of mud and threw the bike on the ground. The right side of the bike was completely caked it it. I managed to lift it and got going again and about 30 minutes later hit a patch of sand....seems I wasnt paying attention again! Seems thqt the slippy stuff is hard to see sometimes. After that, I was well warned and knew what sand and mud looked like and stayed clear when I could. After that the problems were a more obvious.


Oueds, lots of mud and very rocky pistes. I followed a gps track to get out of this as quickly as possible. This is a tiny example of the terrain.....stop, check it out, fill the bottom with stones if necessary and off again. I kept the bike upright and going for the rest of the 3 hours it took to get to some asphalt and it never felt better. I got to the next service station and had a guy hose the bike down and me too for good luck. I noticed then I had blown the headlight bulb and broken one of auxiliary lights. Bugger. The duck is officially broken now. I predicted at least one blip on the trip and this was it.


Decided to continue on to Laayoune about 200 miles south of TanTan. The road from Tantan runs alongside the cliff for a lot of the route and you see lots of people in the middle of nowhere with a rod and line hanging over the edge. The cliff mist be 150 feet high and very crumbly. You have to like a fish supper to want to do that. I saw this interesting hole as an example of the cliff.



This bit of Morocco (i.e. ex Spanish Sahara) is disputed territory and the UN are here to broker a settlement between the parties. There are police checkpoints all over the place and I had to show my passport 3 times today and they always ask what your job is. If you are a journalist, you probably wont be allowed to enter. The UN have block booked most of the rooms in the best hotels in town and the prices reflect their presence. Felt like treating myself and washing the mud out from between my toes so checked into one of the swankier places. This is as far south as I go.

Moroccan Hospitality

Left Tafaroute in blazing sunshine with a plan to see some rocks in the area...some pretty big rocks at that. The guidebook says that this area resembles the badlands of South Dakota,but I have never been so dont know. It is pretty beautiful though. Mile after mile of granite tors with the most impressibe of then being called 'Le Chapeau de Napoleon'

A bit further up the same road, in 1984, a Belgian artist had the bright idea to paint some of the rocks with 18 tons of paint and the assistance of a team of Firemen. They have faded a bit in the sun but it is quite a sight when you pop over the hill and see them. Some locals have added their contribution though sadly not with the same impact.


I wandered on south and left the Anti Atlas mountains behind with the aim of heading to the desert proper and warmer weather. I was heading for Tantan but had the bright idea to go see the 60km or so long 'Plage Blanche'. It was getting late and I had decided to pitch tent but was having trouble finding a suitable site. The road gave way to rocky piste (the GPS said it was a road....) and then I decended into a large Oued to get some softer ground to pitch on. Some passing kids invited me to pitch next to their house and one jumped on the back of the bike to show the way. In retrospect, it was a much safer place to camp as if it had rained in the mountains, the Oueds can flood very quickly. The kids even helped me pitch tent.....and I needed it. It was dark by now and I had never pitched the tent before....recipe for a cock-up. 'Always pitch the tent before you go to the pub' is the maxim.

As I was settling down to my freeze-dried pasta dinner, they brought me some freshly made bread and an invited to come to their house. The house was basic by european standards, a single room really. No electricity, running water and 3 generations sitting on the floor drinking tea by candle light. Grandad hacking away in the corner and praying at the ritual times. I gave them a slide show on the laptop of the pics I took in Morocco. The Granny was so impressed with it that she started trying to marry me off to the grandaughters when she heard I was single. Later, the only the males were offered bread and olive oil, not the females. Amazing hospitality from poor people, you almost never get that from people that have something to lose...i.e rich bastards like us.

Four Seasons In One Day

Got going fairly early (for me...9am) and started off south west through an valley stuffed with Acacia trees.For a tree that has given its name to hundreds of streets in the UK, it is a bit of a let down. None of the specimens I saw were taller than 5m and most were decidedly ticthy. There was plenty of evidence of the recent rain and the damage caused with roads washed away and lots of gravel/dust/clay.


I decided to head for Tafaroute to see some famous painted rocks and the 'Chapeau de Napoleon' so I turned north-east and back up into the Anti-Atlas mountains. More spectacular scenery than you can shake a stick at. You can get blase about it, there is so much jaw dropping stuff to see. If this scenery was available in europe, there would be trains of coaches clogging the roads. All I saw for the morning were about 10 cars....just me on this incredible twisty road (good surface too!) pootling along at 55mph rubber-necking the whole time.


Then I paid for the morning and got '4 seasons in 1 day'. I climbed on up to about 1700m and went about 50km and the weather started to close in. With about 90k to go to Tafaroute, it started to sleet/snow and the temp dropped to -1. In a car this would not be much of a problem (heater/wipers/stereo etc) but with my visor fogging up on the inside and the snow sticking to the outside, it took 3 hours to do the 90k and I didnt see jack. All I knew is that if the views (and drops) were anything like those on the climb up, then it was best to slow down and stick to the middle of the road. Checked into the finest hotel in town ( i.e. the one with a bath) and started the thaw.

On The Road Again

Nigel is still in the Hospital and still in the dark as to what is happening. Seems that the insurance company and the medics are coming to a consensus as to what happens next but probably it will mean a trip to Marrakech and further checks there and possibly a flight home in the short term. Like the saying goes "He who turns and runs away lives to fight another day" and the trip can start again when he is mended. There is a big complication with the bike. If you bring a vehicle into Morocco you have to bring it out, have it stolen or officially get it stored by the customs men or...you dont leave...it is as simple as that. Peter told us a story of a rider who crashed and broke some bones, left the hospital in plaster and went straight to the airport but was denied departure for a week as his bike papers were not in order. I am a little sad to leave Bikershome today, it is a sort of oasis of friendliness. Peter and Zineb are the sort of people you want to have near in a crisis. Nigel and I were extremely lucky to have decided to stop early a few days ago. We could easily have woken up in this tiny village Foum Zguid where I am now...and the story would have been very much more difficult. (PIC)

About 20 miles down the road, I passed this. It is a real double-take moment when you see it....American diner, complete with rusting American cars on the lot. It was built for a movie (The Hills Have Eyes?....or some other shlock scary movie) and is just sitting there decaying away on the roadside. Of course it has its resident guy asking for money when you take a camera out....

The road is just one amazing sight after another with deep valleys and jagged mountains. Already the faces of people around have changed quite a bit. People here are a lot more African looking rather that Berber/Arab and the villages are far less touristy and a more 'agricultural'. There is no industry down here other than agriculture as far as I can see. Continued on to a village called Foum Zguid which is about 40km from the Algerian border. Stopped in the only hotel in town and as far as I can see I am the only guest. Still got a very friendly welcome and am paying the princely sum of 200DH (£16) half board.

Bummer

Nigel woke up this morning complaining of pains in his chest and was having difficulty breathing so we decided to get it checked out. I thought it might be related to the altitude here or the stress of having made a big change in his life recently. Zineb brought us to the local private clinic and he was seen very quickly They did the necessary tests and he has been diagnosed with a heart problem so cant ride any further. We are waiting to see what a specialist cardioligist says but he may have to go off to Marrakech to be treated. What a bummer.


Spent the rest of the day visiting hospital & sorting some stuff out for Nigel. Eventually went to the souk and bought Betsy (or at least the outside of her) to sit on. I was fleeced (no pun intended) when I paid DH280 for her but it was the only sheepskin in town. She was a big 'un and would have covered 4 saddles :-).

Gorgeous Gorges

Left Tinerhir for a spin up to see the famous Todra Gorge. The walls of rock rise 160m vertically and at its narrowest, I guess it is about 30 feet wide. Only a little trickle of water runs through it at the moment but when it rains hard, it is a very different story. Outside winter, you can ride north through the gorge and come back down the Dades gorge but sadly all we could manage was about 5k beyond the narrowest point where frozen mud sent us back down the valley. I leaned later that there are 3x 2800m passes to cross on that route and all had lying snow on them so that is a non-starter on these bikes at this time of year. I got my first puncture on the way down and I got to actually use one of those bits of kit I have been hauling round for the past week. At least it worked and we got underway reasonable quickly. The very small bicycle pump I brought had me in a bit of a sweaty lather to get the wheel back to the correct pressure so I might have to think about that one again.


50 Km down the valley we turned right up to the Dades Gorge. The rock in this area is really not much more than compacted clay and is easily eroded so even small rivers cut deep. The last 1k up to the summit is spectacular. Serious switch backs with a 1 in 4 gradient in places. I saw a truck with a herd of sheep on the roof ( plus shepherd) come down it. Took the obligatory photo and fended off the friendly hawkers and started down the 'Street of the Kasbahs'. Kasbahs are fortified houses, some ancient and very crumbly, some relatively well preserved. All seem to be built of mud and stones and dont seem to weather that well.


We are now holed up in Ouarzazate in an excellent auberge (www.Bikershome.net) run by a Dutchman and his Moroccan wife. Some hotels pride themselves on their swimming pools, casinos etc. This place has a fully equipped workshop and a garage, a real luxury here. This place is dedicated to motorcycle touring in an area with some amazing terrain. A fantastic meal and great company. Going to search for a sheepskin in the souk tomorrow to put on the saddle to pamper my behind.

Camels in the distance....

First port of call today was the site of Morocco's Klondike. We headed 25k up a valley to the site which was mined for lead and silver until 1979. The road steadily deteriorated with big chunks of it eroded away by floods. The nearly deserted mining village was occupied now by 4 families and this old man introduced himself as the 'Guardien' but I cant see what he could possibly have been guarding. We managed to communicate with pidgin French and by writing in the sand. Where we were standing was under 20 feet of water in September 2008 and the surrounding trees had lots of the rubbish trapped in the branches swept by the floods. Almost dropped the bike in a huge puddle of slippery mud....nearly left same in my trousers.

Headed on south over the High Atlas on a very good road with a bit of lying snow on the north facing slopes. The next valley was a little warmer and saw first camels of the trip. I have been told there are no wild camels.....somebody owns them all as they are worth between 800 and 1500 euro. They are used for transport, their hair is used for tent making and apparently camel tagine is very tasty but I have not seen it on any menu yet.

Ended up in a tiny unheated hotel in Tinerhir and paid DH150 for a twin room. Bargain :-) After dinner, I got the whiff of a Sheesha pipe and the owner kindly invited us to share. I don’t speak any Arabic and his French was a little rustic but we managed with hand gestures and he taught us the finer details of how to set a sheesha pipe up. Apple flavored tobacco has a good hit if you don’t smoke. Woke up in the morning wearing every thermal garment I own (socks, leggings, helly, fleece & hat) and was lovely and toasty. Sadly, seems like I was the only one with the foresight to go to bed fully dressed as the other guests (Aussies) seemed to have rather a bad night.

Small World

All day the ground has been steadily climbing and the temperature dropping. The grape vines around Meknes gave way to fields of onions and then to Cedar forests. No sign of the local Barbary Ape population who are by all accounts quite a shy lot. This area also boasts some ski lifts.....but I will pass on that one if this example is anything to go by.


In 1929, the French built a little 'Poche de France' amongst the Cedar forests at a place called Ifrane. It takes you a while to come to terms with the fact you are not in a French Alpine town but in the Atlas mountains. The town is very clean & proper with manicured gardens, tree lined avenues and expensive homes with red tiled pitch roofs. Nothing like the rest of Morocco that I have seen and apparently quite popular with the Government set. The current King has a grand royal palace and there is plenty of security around to remind you. Like everywhere so far, people are interested and very friendly though mostly, they want to sell you something. All this man wanted was if he could have his picture taken with his daughter on my bike.


It is turning out to be a small world indeed. I pulled into a lay-by to admire the view and who should be there but Nigel Swaby (Bignose) that I met on the first day south of Santander....and again we decided to ride together for a while. Went further south and crossed the Middle Atlas at the Col Du Zad (2200M). Some lying snow on the north facing slopes and a little rain....and chilly 2C. On the descent, there is a great view of the High Atlas in the distance and worryingly, they are pretty well covered in snow. Staying tonight at an Auberge at the foot of the mountains with 36 rooms and we are the only guests. Very friendly place and the owner says there will be no problem crossing as the road is in good condition and anyway, there are plenty of snow ploughs. Beyond them is the Sahara and warmer weather.

Rain, Dope & Ruins

Finally got underway 'properly' in Morocco today. Following the debacle yesterday with accomodation, I decided to book ahead and play safe. I decided on the University town of Meknes near Fes which according to the directions given by the hotel staff is either 500km or 300km from Ceuta and the road would be either very cold or very bad or both. Unsure as to whether my advisers have the same view of what a good road is and what cold actually means, I trusted the GPS when it said 130 miles in a straight line and set off heading south . 20 minutes later I was in torrential rain....the roads were rivers of muddy water and I got soaked....but at least it was warm rain. It didnt last that long and I dried off pretty quick.

The early part of the day was spent along the edge of the Rif Mountains.....very green and pretty and also the centre of a large Cannabis/Hashish/Kif growing region. I stopped to take this picture and within 2 minutes a passing motorist stopped and offered to sell. Guys would wave you down on the road and offer. From the way some of them were driving and the odour (I could smell it riding along on the bike), I think quite a few of the drivers were 'feeling no pain'. Apparently, towared the interior ofthe Rif, the situation is a lot more agressive and is to be avoided.


About 20Km short of Meknes you crest a hill and come up on the ancient Roman city of Volubilis. This was the effective edge of the Roman empire and the garrison withdrew in 285 AD. Apparently the site was used in the movie 'The Last Temptation of Christ'....didn't recognise it myself. I arrived just before sunset and so had the place to myself....except for a shepherd who was grazing his flock in amongst the stones. Cant see that happening anywhere else....

Morocco at last... but only just

Leaving Algericas (not nearly as photogenic as as Gibraltar) the ferry across to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the north coast of Morocco takes 35 minutes. Sort of a Spanish Gibraltar, but they don't like to make such a fuss over it ;-) Ceuta has been occupied by just about everyone; Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths, Byzantines, Moors, Portuguese and the Spanish have held on to it since 1580. Nice castle in the middle and a huge garrison (just in case).... and sadly for me, very few hotels. I was hoping to take a proper look at it but logistics put paid to that idea.

I'm in Morocco tonight but only just. I had to cross the border to find a place to sleep. I ignored the advice in the Rough Guide to book ahead if you want to stay in Ceuta and thought there would be something....but I tried everywhere from doss houses to the swankiest hotel in town...nothing doing. I considered camping, but there is no campsite and when you take look at the terrain ( very hilly )...and some of the locals (:-0), you soon come to the conclusion that that camping is not a sensible proposition. So that left me with the option of tacking the bureaucracy at the border at dusk and hoping to find something...or taking a 60 euro ferry back with my tail between my legs so I went for it and hit pay dirt. Would you believe it, 5km over the border and an IBIS hotel with an unsecured wireless connection, a hot shower and some god-awful Moroccan red wine. I got chatting Moroccan Restauranteur got lots of good advice and an invite to visit his family in Fes and taste his Mother's Tagine. Result!

The whole reason for this late/early arrival in Morocco is my decision to take the long road here.. I stayed last night with friends Seonaid & Eric McLeod in Marbella (where I once again repacked and left even more crap behind that I hope I wont need) and saw that there was an interesting looking road to a town called Ronda. Rather than pop down the Motorway like a sensible chap I decided to take scenic route. This turned out to be a diversion along some of the best motorcycling roads I have ever seen. Bend after lovely bend for 50 miles.....bikers, get your gear on and get down here. And Ronda is a pretty impressive place too. Lovely castle, lots of pretty buildings and an amazing location. The town is split in two by an enormous fissure with a single bridge between the two halves.

New Friends

Travelling on your own, you talk to anyone who will listen and can bump into the most amazing people. When I thought I might go on a trip for a month, I thought I was being relatively adventurous. In the past 36 hours, I have begin to think my trip is a little tame and I might have to reconsider what is possible. On the ferry I bumped into Ben & Yvonne (right) who were turning a suggestion of a 'lets pop over to france for a holiday on the bike' into a 2 year 'let's see europe by bike.....and lets start in winter! ' And at the same table in the bar was seated Jim (left) who thinks it is quite sensible to ride a Blackbird from Santander to Alicante in one day starting at 2pm and sod what the police say....Do the Police in Spain use planes or helicopters to track fast movers?

At a petrol station a few hours later I saw a another heavily loaded bike with an english number plate and so I put the chat on him and discovered that he was on an even bigger quest.....4 years and round the world. Nigel (AKA Bignose)jacked everything in and decided to go walkabout. We decided to ride together for the rest of the day as we were going in more or less the same direction (i.e south) and found lodgings in Valladolid about 200 miles south of Santander. A few beers and cheap dinner and the world as soon put to rights.
Nigel's webbsite is at http://www.bignoseontour.org/index.html

Not having made as much milage as I had planned on the first day, I started early this morning and discovered that my bike battery really hates the cold. I had a few anxious moments as I thought I dont want to have to call out the rescue services on day 2 :-O It was cold and misty...at the start of the day it was 4C and after an hour and a half the temperature had fallen to -1C ...brass monkey weather. But it is nice down south now, a balmy 18C.

Re-Packing

Just been for shakedown ride with the bike loaded up and an already heavy bike is even heavier! Time to re-pack for the 2nd time...just how little can you make do with? Last think I want to do is be kicking myself that I left something behind that I really need....and the more you bring, the more difficult the bike is to handle on rough surfaces...and the more you have to wash :-)

I think I have been as brutal as I can, hygiene will have to suffer. At least the bottle of travel wash is staying in.

This is the steed (BMW R1200GSA) for the trip on the left, the C1 (right) would be a real challenge.... but then again, two lunatics managed to get 17,500 miles from Alaska to Ushuaia (Check this amazing trip) so a C1 'might' get to Morocco....I dont think I am that much of masochist.

Ferry at 12 midday tomorrow from Plymouth so must remember to set the alarm clock....over the last month, it has been an optional accessory in my bedroom. Not sure when the next update will be...maybe Tuesday?

Planning

If the the Credit Crunch has a silver lining then this is it. Nothing like the excuse of an enforced break to justify a bit of an adventure. Last February, when I was suffering one of my 'shopping' hangovers I made the mistake (or providential decision?) to crank up the laptop and see what was on Ebay. I spotted a bargain go round the world motorbike and put a sneaky bid on it just for therapy sake... and won it. So now I get to use it for what it was designed for.

London is looking decidedly wintery right now and Morocco is the closest warm place you can get by land and sea. This trip was initially proposed as a 2 up with my friend Richard but sadly, somebody in his company had the bright idea of organising more work at the last minute. This one is just a recce Richard ;-) Mauritania, Senegal and Mali will still be there for a while longer.

The last few bits and pieces have been purchased and I am about as ready to go as I will ever be. At the moment it is a case of what to leave behind rather than what to include. One of the experts on bike touring in Morocco advises that it is a "cold place with a hot sun". So I am a little confused about what to bring.

Thanks to those excellent guys in 'South London Motorcycles' who let me sit in the workshop for a morning and ask dumb questions about how to fix the bike if I bend it. Unfortunately there is no RAC or AA in the boonies so some knowledge of how to use a spanner might come in useful.

Of the month away, I hope to spend 3 weeks in Morocco and the rest of the time getting there and back again.....sounds like the title of an adventure? ;-) Hopefully, I will get to update this blog regularly. The guide books say you cant do it all so I wont try. Last night, I checked the proposed route with a friend who actually lives there and discovered that I have planned to do far too much on some days and very little on others. I feel a little improvisation coming on.

My initial idea of a route....I will update the GPS track as I go so you can see how I get along.


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