Off Road in Morocco 2017

Leaving Portsmouth entering Santander.

Ferry was nice enough trip. Met up with PDiddy had a couple of beers and a chat, crossing was a bit rough apparently but I slept thru' it.

Was one of the first off the ferry which was good, but got pulled in by Guardia for a van search not so good. Turns out that the officer was a massive bike fan and was more interested in the bikes than anything else.



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WTF.......what was wrong with the van you had last year Marko..? We had a lwb sprinter available....yes.. a lwb sprinter with many anchor points.....
next time call a proper hire company......=ButtonMoon;4700930]










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WTF.......what was wrong with the van you had last year Marko..? We had a lwb sprinter available....yes.. a lwb sprinter with many anchor points.....
next time call a proper hire company......=ButtonMoon;4700930]

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[/QUOTE]

I know Mate, I don't really go back to the North East as much anymore and I thought it was going to be easier booking it in Essex. But what do I know (cost more from Essex).


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PDiddy, was waiting for me just before the exit, we had a chat and he was heading for Formista, I'd been before and said that I'd drive until I got tired then stop and if I made it there then I'd seem him for a beer.

We left the Port, Paul was ahead and we hit the main highway. Before I left the ferry I entered in the hotel details for Southern Spain in the Sat Nav and was following that, Paul was moving off in the distance but I knew we were heading on the same roads, so I just plodded along, the Sat Nav took me off the highway almost as soon I I was on it, never mind I thought, about 45 mins later I was still travelling on back roads, I was still making good time but I was a bit concerned that I'd not be able to get a hotel. So I stopped and re-entered hotel address in the Sat Nav the route stayed the same. A quick look at the settings and yes, the Nav was set for: No Main Roads & Off Road !! Silly Me.

Finally gets to Formista, finds the same hotel as we had last year (Paul D) was already there. It cost 35 Euro for the room without breakfast (bargain):

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Formista is a very small town, very popular in the summer and is I believe on a sort of pilgrim route, there are a number of small family hotels and hostels but nothing big, it has a very old church and a couple of bars, I wondered in one little bar and found Paul D, he'd already had food and said it was only 11 euro including half a boule of wine. Nice.

I ordered a beer and some food, we chatted and shared a bottle of wine, Paul had plans for the next day and wanted to be off early so we said good night and I ordered some more Tapas, three quarters of a bottle of red inside me I was ready for bed. Took these before I crashed out at the hotel:

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From the web:

Frómista is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2009 data (INE), the municipality has a population of 822 inhabitants.

It is a major stopping place for pilgrims traveling along the Way of St. James.

Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. (The name Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Vulgar Latin Sancti Iacobi, "Saint James".)

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I set my alarm for 6am, it went off I turned it off, then I heard a motorbike start up (bye Paul), I went back to sleep. I woke at 8:30am, shit, I'm supposed to be in Southern Spain by 2pm, shit, shit !!!!

Hang on ! Is this an adventure or a race ? Certainly not a race !!! So there sets my mind for the rest of the trip, calm down and what happens happens! So that's what I did, I slowly drove South, Sorry no pics I was driving, I made such good time! I had a audio book on the go (Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz give it a go), plus I had some Hancock's down loaded so the drive was a breeze.


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I get to Algeciras at about 3pm, I'd pre-booked our Hotel for one night before our ferry and one night after, I got a good deal at 50 euros inc breakfast (I think Paul D paid 70 Euro). Paul R and Rob were already there having had a morning flight, Paul D wasn't far behind me, given he'd took in a national park that day he did it in fantastic time, Graham had a very late flight and we didn't see him until later.

My Hotel room:
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My window View:
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All settled into hotel, we have couple of beers in the bar then wander into town for a bite to eat, we find this nice little cafe and have a couple of more beers and some food, back to hotel and one more beer, Mr Butler has arrived and has gone to bed, we all do the same as the ferry leaves at 8am next morning.

Up at 6:30am bags all packed on to the bike by 7:30am we are at the ferry terminal. I forgot my printout but the nice chap finds me on their system and off we go.

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Ferry crossing is what it is, cup of coffee and a snooze, before we know it we are in Tan Med. Off the ferry first, straight to customs and police, this takes much longer than normal, the officials seem very keen today and are searching most of the cars.

It comes to our turn and you have to get the customs officer to sign your import forms, which normally doesn't take too long. I'm standing next to Paul D and he's just filled in his form and hands the paperwork back to the customs officer. Paul has in his hand a nice Papermate pen, the officer notices it and asks to borrow it, Paul hands him the pen and it went something like this:

CO "can I borrow your pen?"

PD "yes, but I want it back"

CO "it's a ladies pen!"

PD "it's my pen and I want it back"

CO "I have to go to the office"

PD "not with my pen, it was a gift"

CO "I need to use it"

Customs Officer starts to walk back to the office.

PD "you'd better bring my fucking pen back!'

So we wait, in the mean time Paul R and Mr Butler who haven't been to Morocco before are sent off to the police to get their passport reference numbers.

10 mins pass and our customer officer arrives back with our paper work minus Paul's pen.

PD "Where's my pen?"

CO "What?"

PD "my pen, I want it back, it was a gift please go and get my pen"

CO walks away with out saying anything and another 10 mins pass by and the little fucker finally returns with Paul's pen.

We are done and it's off to the ATM's for some cash & insurance. While I was waiting I took a photo of my back tyre, not sure why.

Insurance all paid up 62 Euros for 10 days, not bad at all.


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DAY 1.

Rob left us at the port and was planning his own adventure, we didn't see him again until the ferry back to Spain. So off we go:

Paul D & Paul R
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Mr Butler
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Me, Mr Butler and Paul D
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Pics:
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That's some great stuff there Mark. I'll not be taking my fuckin pen next time ...

Here's a long and boring video from the first day - :D

 
That last drop down to the road did not seem as intimidating as it did last year...

Having now done that route on your 690 and the AT what's your bike preference for that trip?
 
That last drop down to the road did not seem as intimidating as it did last year...

Having now done that route on your 690 and the AT what's your bike preference for that trip?

Paul's AT was fantastic, the only time it seemed troubled was in deep sand and then all it did was just slow the bike down a bit. Paul R on the smaller KTM was like a little sand fairy, the bike is so light it just skipped across the sand. More on that later.

The route last year was much harder I thought, mainly due to the mud and wet trails, this year was bone dry as you can see from Paul's Vid.


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