BILLY GOES TO MOROCCO

The smudger

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As the title suggests, after planning a trip with a few mates and they all backed out, I went to morocco alone......:comfort

The trip started on 22nd April, just haven't had time to upload the pictures etc..

The ride down to Poole was uneventful. The crossing was cheap and cheerful, LD lines from Poole to Gijon which for a return with a cabin and the bike was £160, I thought that was good?

The boat is a little tired, the Norma Asturius, looking a bit dated and no bloody WiFi!

26 hours later arrived in Gijon at 8pm, and with nowhere booked for the first night decided to head for Leon. I did take a couple of wrong turns and ended up arriving at Leon around 11:30, with nowhere to stay and everything looking like it was closing up I remember thinking this could be interesting.. I stumbled across a nice looking hotel with underground secure parking, can't remember what it was called, it was late! 60 euros for B&B and the parking, I had decided prior to the trip that my budget was around 40 euros a night but it was now midnight and needs must...

Headed out early, had a McDonalds (good old Maccy D!) breakfast and sat by the river in the centre of Leon thinking about the day ahead.

The plan was always to ride straight down through Spain as the destination was Morocco. So I headed out of Leon and south for Madrid. Spanish motorways are quite good, and of course in the light of day I came across numerous hotels along the motorway I could have stopped at rather than the expensive one in Leon but hey-ho...

Zamora, Salamanca, Caceres, Merida, Seville, all went in a flash. Hit some serious rain north of Seville but it seemed to came and go real quickly, then just south of Seville I decided it was time to get the camera out......






I really liked the tree opposite, can't say why but it looked like a nice tree?





So, had a quick drink here and a snack, then decided to press on.

I had always planned not to plan? i.e. not to book hotels, just seems a bit more exciting? Looked at the map here and decided to head for Jerez where I would try to find a hotel.

I got down to a nice little place called El Cuervo. Bit of a one horse town but very quaint. The first hostel I came to looked fairly clean and at 15 euros a night for B&B I thought I couldn't go wrong?



Even somewhere for the bike!



A bit of a walk round the town, a couple of beers and some tapas, then an early night. I was about 2 hours from Algeciras so an early start would see me at the port early enough to get over to Morocco reasonably early.

A 6:30 start from El Cuervo saw me in Algeciras at 9ish. The Moroccan 'way' started there. As soon as I rode into the port I was hounded by 'hustlers' all wanting me to buy a ticket from 'theyre friend'. Luckily as soon as I parked the bike and saw about 3 of these coming towards me a police car came round and scattered the roaches. The policewoman in the car was really helpful, as I really didn't have a clue about what to do! She directed me to the ticket offices where I bought a return for 120 euros.


I had read some horror stories about boats that never leave on time, taking hours to load but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!

The boat loaded almost straight away and a 10:30 sailing actually left at 10:30!!






Well, within 10 minutes we were in the Straight of Gibraltar on a high speed Cat, crossing time 45 mins, Africa Here I come!!







A large Chinese container lorry sailing across made me wonder where was all that stuff going, it was huge!!



Then into the port of Cueata there is a statue of some god or something holding up a couple of pillars? I think its supposed to signify the mountains either side of the Gibraltar straight?



So, docked in Cueata which is really still Spain. A very short trip to the border, god was I dreading the border...

I had decided to cross to Cueata as opposed to Tangier Med as I sort of figured it might be easier doing the two separately?

The border was definately one to forget......

As soon as I came within spitting distance at least 3 'fixers' made a bee-line for me and rushed towards me waving frantically. I had decided that I would try to make it through without getting involved with the 'fixers' and seeing a couple of official customs guys in the blue suits decided to ride across to them, and ask for advice. Now I read all the bumph on crossing the border on here, but nothing quite prepares you for the complete 'mayhem' that is the Moroccan border..

One of the 'fixers' that were coming over was now waving really frantically and shouting, but I had fixed my gaze on the officials and nothing was going to stop me reaching them, except that is a make shift barrier, made from a scaffold pole and 2 plastic blocks...:blast:blast

I dont quite know how I managed to stay upright, or damage the bike more than I did, but that sound of me hitting the barrier, albeit at 5-10 mph, and the shear shame of it will live in me forever.....

After collecting my thoughts, and the unwanted attention of the whole of the border, I decided to get off and survey the damage. The scaffold pole was at exactly the right height that it went under the oil cooler air duct and over the top of the front mudguard, I honestly couldn't have caught it any better that I did, virtually no damage at all, even the blue paint of the pole came off the underside of the fairing, although it was fair to say i was pig sick, and actually felt physically sick....

I had been told all about the border and how crooked it was but nothing prepares you for it, so blatant, even the police at the exit who check your passport again flick through it, checking for money, he was disappointed as there was none in mine, and very abruptly said I had to go back, "No Stamp" he said, I was that pissed off by then that I got off the bike, opened the passport and stuck the fucking stamp right under his nose, he looked surprised and just waved me on and walked away!

So, the 'fixers' now had me. About 20 minutes later and about 10 quid lighter I was in Morocco!

Stopped in a bank to pick up some cash, then a quick look at the map, and I was off, heading for Tetuoan, then ChefChoaun.

More tomorrow..
 
Great, a BMW bike without TKC's and alloy boxes, heads into Maroc:blast

Must be rare, quelle surprise !

Sacre Bleu:D
 
So, the cashpoint was interesting....

I really should do more research before I travel but I feel its more of an adventure if you just turn up not knowing what to expect, well, most of the time....

I stood at this cashpoint thinking, "what is the currency here"?? It just gave me a screen of options, all big numbers, I worked out the currency was MAD, which sort of made me chuckle considering what I had just been through at the border. Anyhow, I opted for 200 as I was not sure of the exchange rate. That actually turned out to be about 14 quid............:blast:blast

A tin of coke and a ponder by the bike, looking at the damage, none too bad really, could have been a lot worse. This was a low point. I did actually consider turning round and getting back on the boat, I mean, it was Morocco's fault that I rode straight into a barrier right?

I spent an hour there, staring back at Spain, then decided to press on...

Heading onto a motorway, only using a map as I hadn't downloaded the maps for Morocco to the navi (did I say I hadn't prepared?) I made for Tetuoan. Arrived at Tetuoan after about an hour, it was a pretty uneventful journey as it was motorway, then into the town centre. Absolute chaos reigned. It was here that I learned about the rules of the Moroccan roundabout.

Now here, in civilisation, you give way to traffic coming from the right. In Maroc its a bit different....

Basically if you are on the roundabout, its your right of way, unless someone else pulls onto it, then its theirs, well OK, there are no rules....I came up to a set of lights and there's a moped next to me. "Welcome to Morocco"!!!! shouts the guy. "You English?" he asks, I casually nod, "Where you headed?" I told him Chefchaouen, "Follow me" he shouts, and like the good englishman I did. After a mile or so he pulls over, ran out of fuel, and asks me if he can get on the back of my bike to continue the directions!! I politely decline, and on seeing the signposts up ahead thank him and start to move off, not having that was he? Jumped in front of my bike and said "TIP"!!!!!!

This was to set the standard for the whole trip.....

About half way between Tetouan and Chefchaouen I came across a village, Beni Hassen. Lovely little place, full of kids running about, really poor area, felt a twinge of guilt here, these people have nothing but appear happy. I had my first Tagine here, the salad was good....










I arrived in ChefChaouen at around 5:30. It was very green travelling down but I was always aware of the riff in the background, some nice scenery. I found my first Maroc hotel,




I parked next to the entrance and wondered if my bike might look like this in the morning......







The owner asked me If I wanted to buy this, 400 MAD, quite how he thought I'd be interested was beyond me, as well as how I was expected to get it home.....

The food was good. I basically had a B&B, and a fairly substantial meal in the evening for 190MAD, quite literally as cheap as chips..









I had a wander around Chefchaouen, I really quite liked it here. Almost everything is blue, some really nice sights...












I suppose when needs must, a couple of old motorcycle wheels come in handy...






Bit sad to leave Chefchaouen, I could have spent a few days here and in hindsight probably should have. I packed up and left around 9:30 in the morning, as the south beckoned.










A fuel stop and were heading down towards Fes.




More tomorrow!:thumb2
 
Hey UF, sorry I missed you re the oil light switch, turns out I had a spare you could have had, glad you got sorted. From memory it worked out about 200 MAD a tank on average, if you say 130 MAD is a tenner, then yes its cheaper. I noticed though that going through the Atlas the more remote stations were cheaper but in the towns I paid from memory 280 MAD for a tank.
 
No worries, thanks for the offer, we may be back there as the hotel service was so bad that they offered us another night free of charge, LOL, not sure if or when we'll be taking it.
So it's costing you about £18-20 per tank, not too bad I guess, glad you're having a good time, weather looks GREAT :thumb2
 
Great pics & nice concise narrative - makes very interesting reading.

Good on you for going solo too....
 
So, came out of Chefchaouen and took the 419 to Bab Taza. It was a bit green for my liking. Dont know what I expected, well OK I do, I expected to get off the boat in Cueata and there be a desert, right there, off the boat. I expected to be greeted by Peter O'Toole, standing there, on a dune, with a towel wrapped round his head... I suppose I watched Lawrence of Arabia too many times?

A very Green place, up in the Riff, very nice temperature as well. I found a really pretty wild flower field just out of Bab Taza, with the odd broad bean plant thrown in.....








Then, out of nowhere came Barrage El Wadha. What an amazing piece of water. I have never seen an expanse of water that took my breath away quite like this one. Emerald green, which sounds like a lovely colour, doesn't even begin to do it justice...





I could go on waxing lyrically about this but the picture tells the story...










What a stunning place.

Now I could have stopped at every bend to take picture, the scenery was outstanding..




So, heading down the 501 through Karia I was making my way to Fes. In Fes the traffic was stifling, I have lived and worked in central London but this was madness...

Heading towards the Medina I decided that it was all a bit too hectic here for me. The trip was about enjoying the culture of Morocco, but it really was like 'Wacky Races', so, discretion being the better part of valour, I stopped here for some refreshments and to work out where I should plan to stay tonight. Just outside of the Medina I found a carpark area next to an old castle, looked nice...








I do remember looking longingly at this hotel on the hill. It was starting to get warmer now, about 30 degrees from memory and I was sure I heard someone jumping into a pool from where I was, but no, had to resist, remembering my budget I took a few more pictures and moved on...












So, after a nice lunch (my wife had bought me some ready meals, a tuna one had just hit the spot...) and a fill up with water, I looked at the map and decided to head for Azrou.

I had been on the bike for about 8 hours and looking at the map Azrou didn't look too far... I decided to get on the A2 and crunch a few miles. Pulling onto a motorway services to fuel up I discovered I had overshot my junction by some 10 miles, and worse than that the next junction to turn round was about 20 miles, bollocks...:blast

Oh but hang on, this is Morocco! The guy at the pump showed me a short cut, over the walk over bridge..:D I must admit It looked a bit 'wooden' and 'old' and I was riding a fully laden RT, plus I am a fat bastard, AND the drop was standard motorway bridge height, but what the hell, why was I worried? the pump attendant wouldn't send me over there if it were dangerous, right?:augie

I admit I got off and walked over first. Then, back on the bike and started riding over. About half way across someone started walking towards me from the other side, shit, I was going to have to paddle back now...that was the least of my worries, it was a copper... I stopped, he stopped. Like a scene from a spaghetti western...:roll eyes: He waved me over! Funnier than that he actually saluted me as I rode past! I felt quite smug, like royalty as I dropped off the kerb on the other side, my smugness didn't last as I had failed to see the kerb had an 8 inch drop....for the second time in a few days I nearly fell off!!!!

Heading down towards Azrou I came across this, again, a simply stunning place to which the pictures do no justice...








First hotel I came to in Azrou I stopped. It was now 6:30 and I had been on the bike so long now. It was a non starter for me, at 380 MAD it was too dear, plus the car park was empty, as was the hotel! I did notice outside a few Stork nests, noisy beggars as well but everywhere!!


More tomorrow...
 
come on Smudger....im up n waiting for the next report...... loved reading it....good pics and funny too... im coming next time..
 
Sorry guys, thanks for the inspiring comments, been real busy this week so planning to add some more tonight.
 
So, as I said I arrived in Azrou. The Hotel Amros. Too dear but it was a shame as it has a pool and looks quite grand. I did offer 150 MAD for a night there but they smiled and said no. On the way out I noticed the Storks, they were everywhere. This was clearly for them nesting season and the nests were full....







I was mesmerised as I have always been an avid birdwatcher, but never seen a Stork, or in fact so many. I then had a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock moment........and rode away...

Back out onto the N13 and towards Azrou town centre. About 3 miles further on I found the Motel Riffi, more like it at 180 MAD a night, real cheap and cheerful but at approximately 12 quid it was for me :thumb






Next to a 24 hour fuel station so pretty safe...




Nice view out the back as well.....




The place was so typically Moroccan, full of men drinking coffee and water, smoking like trains, jabbering away in Arabic Moroccan, with the odd woman hiding in the corners..No food here, No English spoken, No French either, I sort of got the impression that I wasn't wanted here, you know the feeling, lots of people just staring like I was two-headed or something, they all but asked "what are you doing here?"....

But I was only staying 1 night, and it was cheap...

I headed into Azrou for the evening, quite nice to get out in a pair of shorts and a t shirt (I know, I shouldn't, but it was less than a mile to town). A very typical Moroccan place is Azrou, one straight road, loads of cafes, restaurants, hotels and people. Very lively though, loads of people sitting outside the cafes, a real nice feel.

I found a gem of a restaurant, just as you enter Azrou on the left. It looked real expensive but nothing is really that expensive in Morocco, I think from memory I had a starter of Moroccan salad, followed by a Lemon Chicken Tagine and a couple of cokes which was 79 mad, maybe 7 quid with a tip? I did forget to take the camera here though, no pockets..The owner/manager loved the bike, kept getting his mate the chef to take photos of him next to it.

I think JohnnyBoxer was right in an earlier post when he made reference to an RT going to Morocco, I was really taken aback by all the attention the bike got, I think i'd have gotten less attention had I pulled up in a Rolls Royce!!

One of the most important things for me was the use of WiFi. I had literally walked out of a place before because there was none! I had to speak to my wife and the kids every day, as much for my peace of mind as theirs. Now although I only spent 7 quid in this restaurant I reckon I was there an hour and spent nearly all of that time face timing the family so considered I had got more than my money's worth...The food was excellent as well...




After the meal I had a slow ride through Azrou, by night..A nice place.

OK, up at 6 and down for a coffee and a think about where to go today. No-one there? place all open? money under the counter? strange place. If this was England.......

I left the money under my key behind the bar and headed back into town, looking for breakfast.

I think it was the Hotel El Fath. Again, it was early and it was full of men, drinking coffee and chattering before work, quite a nice community feel to the place.

A couple of strong coffees later and a quick FaceTime to home and I was on the road. I took a few pictures and headed for Marrakech....


















May get chance to do some more later...
 


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