Archive for January, 2007
Saturday, January 20th, 2007
103km Plaine de Gareb – Guercif
This journey took us two days, through a rural area of Morocco where we enjoyed being away from the usual tourist route. Here there is no hassle from local shop owners or kids asking you for pens, candy and dirhams. Just long stretches of road from which we took in the scenery of local villages. Having passed several kids on donkeys but equally having been overtaken by a few tractors, we also noted on this stretch of road that our speed falls somewhere between the two. Quite the idea to think we are trying to go around the world at a pace slightly less than your average farm vehicle. Shopping for food was another new experience as so few people speak French. It took four helpers to get across to one aging and hard-of-hearing stall owner in the town of Saka that we wanted some couscous, but we got there in the end! On our way into Saka, the only town of any real size on the N15 highway, a local cyclist joined us for a few kilometers. After the usual questions like where we were from and where we were headed he said goodbye, but not before warning us that there were many robbers in Morocco and we should be careful. It is advice we have been given many times before on this trip, most often from people warning us about the country ahead. The Canadians warned us about all the crime in Europe, the English told us to be wary of the French and the French reminded us how the Spaniards only want to rip you off. Undoubtedly there are some bad people out there, but so far our experiences have all been good. Not long after Saka we found a local well a little way off the main road and stopped there to camp for the night, much to the amusement of the dozen or so locals who came by just before dusk to get water. The next morning we finished the journey into the reasonably large town of Guercif by midday and got a hotel there for the night. We could have carried on but after two nights of wild camping the idea of a shower is greatly appealing!
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Morocco by andrew
Friday, January 19th, 2007
59km Plaine de Gareb - Saka
see this post for more details
No Comments » - Posted in Morocco by andrew
Thursday, January 18th, 2007
62km Mellila – Plaine de Gareb
After three months in Europe, we crossed into Morocco today, a country we’ve been to twice before, but never on bicycles. Before we’ve concentrated on Marrakech and the desert and we hope that this time we will be able to do a proper tour of most of the country. Our entry took place at the border town of Beni Enzar and as we approached from the Spanish side the streets became increasingly full of people, buying up everything from toilet paper to clothes to food and packing it into huge bundles to carry back to Morocco. Quite why Spanish toilet paper is such a sought after item we’re not sure, but it was probably the most common thing we saw people lugging, and in huge quantities. The Spanish police waved us through, not concerned at all about who was leaving their country, although there were tall spiked fences and a multitude of guards closely watching and interrogating anyone who tried to enter from the other side. The Moroccan paperwork took a few minutes but before long we were on our way, first past dozens of packed cafes where people must wait for their delivery of toilet paper from Spain! Then onto the main road where a short journey took us to the port town of Nador. We enjoyed our first mint tea there and a lunch of chicken and chips, stocked up on groceries and then continued along towards Fez. The famous city is some 300km down the road so it will probably be five days or so before we reach it. As we got further out of the city the landscape was dominated by agriculture and plenty of local people out grazing sheep and goats. Although the roads were quieter the cars and trucks seemed to take great delight in honking their horns at us, waving and smiling as they passed. There is no doubt people seem friendlier here, and our arms may be quite tired after a few days of waving back. Near dusk we found a dried up river bed and followed it off the road a bit to pitch our tent. A small trail, presumably to a local village, runs not far away and we saw a few people passing by, all of whom smiled and said ‘Salam’ to us, the ubiquitous greeting in Morocco. A little bit of star gazing before we climbed into our tent for a quiet night.
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Morocco, Spain by andrew
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
22km - Entering Africa
There wasn’t so much cycling today, but lots of running around before we boarded the ferry for Africa. Not, of course, before a morning coffee and a tasty tortilla sandwich in one of Malaga’s cafes. Next it was off to a downtown bicycle shop, where we played a game of charades with the owner, trying to explain that we wanted to buy two spare chains for our bikes. At first he thought there was something wrong with our chains, and tried to repair them, but after quite a bit of pantomime and broken Spanish we finally got our message across. We aren’t sure if it is overkill taking spare chains with us but they don’t weigh much and if we are in the middle of nowhere when a chain breaks it would save a fair bit of walking! A last minute stop at an internet cafe and then it was off to the boat, where everything ran smoothly. We boarded along with the cars and had a pleasant, if long, journey across the Mediterranean. The ferry was extremely quiet and we wondered how they made any money on this route. Coming off the boat, we instantly felt that we were on a different continent, even if we are still in Spain. The streets were livlier late at night, and many people shouted greetings to us as we cycled past. We easily found the centre of Meillia,just a few minutes from the port, although hotels seemed scarce. We drove in circles for some time without seeing a single place offering rooms, before finally stumbling on two 3-star hotels across from one another.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Spain by andrew
Monday, January 15th, 2007
56km Torox – Malaga
We set off from Torox a little worse for wear, as our colds drained us of energy. We were keen to get to Malaga though, to check out what ferry services were available to Morocco. After several weeks on the Spanish coastline, we’re now ready for a change and we’d heard that there was a new fast ferry to Africa. The ride to Malaga was the easiest we’ve had for several days, quite flat and keeping right along the coast. Only the final stretch into the city was a bit hectic with heavy traffic but we were able to get onto a walking path before too long. Malaga surprised us as a city. We thought it would be full of British pubs and generally a tourist trap but we didn’t see one English bar the whole time we were there and enjoyed the architecture and the city’s historic centre. The tourist office was very helpful with all of our questions. We found out there was a new fast ferry to the Spanish enclave of Meillia, taking 3 hours instead of the usual 7 hour journey, but it only runs on Mondays. Instead, we ended up buying tickets for the slow boat at 33 euros each, with no extra charge for the bicycles. We also picked up a map for Morocco and a few extra parts for the bikes.
