| Málaga – the beginning | |||||
| Day 1 - Leaving Spain | Day 2 - Chefchaouen | Day 3 - Fes | Day 4 - Er Rachidia | Day 5 - Merzouga | Day 6 - Tinghir |
| Day 7 - Aït Benhaddou | Day 8 - Marrakesh | Day 9 - More Marrakesh | Day 10 - Cascades (Ouzoud) | Day 11 - Ifrane | Day 12 - Tarifa |
| Day 13 - Málaga | Day 14 - Torremolinos | Day 15 - Torremolinos-1 | Day 16 - Torremolinos-2 | Day 17 - Caminito del Rei |
May 8th – Wednesday
Map Link – 352 kms
Fes – Er Rachidia
Unlike when we arrived in Fes, our departure the next morning was directly through the city – and its accompanying traffic. It was bad enough to ride a motorcycle through this chaos – I can’t imagine having to navigate it in a car! And trust me: this photo does not do it justice. As mentioned before: anytime that the traffic got really bad, both hands were on the bars and not on the camera. Safety first!
We were heading south – and would continue in that direction the entire day. The roads were pretty good and they were soon empty of traffic – or anything else, for that matter.
After an hour or so we took a break for tea at a roadside stop. It was the morning routine: I was the Holder of the Coffee Kitty: everyone placed their drink order and I would pay for it out of the Kitty. This allowed for a much more efficient use of our time, rather than everyone scrabbling for Dirhams to pay individually. While others enjoyed their beverages, I was looking around at the countryside.
Solar panels on a house in the distance
Manual labor in the fields and apples in the background
Packing: the Next Level
I was surprised at the number of apple trees in this region. Based on the presence of irrigation tubes and bird netting, it takes a lot of resources. Morocco really does produce a lot of agricultural products!
Pride in producing apples
Our lunch stop was at the lovely Hotel Kasbah Asmaa in Midelt. It stood on the outskirts of town, set apart even more so by its impressive architecture.
Hotel Kasbah Asmaa
Inside the courtyard
The traditional method of pouring the tea, demonstrated by our waiter
With the exception of mint, I am not a tea person. Therefore I was a little apprehensive about the tea culture in Morocco. I dreaded the idea of declining the tea day after day, but much to my surprise, I enjoyed the tea here; it was mint tea! I learned later that the tea should be poured from a height so that bubbles are formed. One would be perfectly within their rights to refuse tea that did not have bubbles – not that we ever did. Lunch continued the trend of “too much great food”, with everyone ordering a variety of Tagine, Briouat (a triangular-shaped savory pastry covered with warqa (a paper-thin Moroccan dough) and Brochettes (skewered meat). The food in Morocco was a constant, pleasant, surprise.
After lunch we continued south, crossing over the High Atlas Mountains. The scenery started to change drastically: we were leaving behind the green and productive north, changing it for a dry and arid landscape. How anything grows or thrives here is beyond me.
We didn’t leave all of the green behind yet
I would love to see this after a good rain
Random house
Throughout the entire country there were road checkpoints. The police would stand at the side of the road, temporary signs informing approaching drivers of their presence, while the smartly-dressed officer waved 99% of the drivers through. We were never stopped, and the few times I did see a vehicle pulled to the side for questioning, I couldn’t discern any visible reason. This occurred mostly near the edge of a town or village; the population size didn’t seem to matter. I wanted desperately to photograph them in their fancy uniforms, but the fear of recrimination kept my camera in its bag as we rolled slowly by.
You never know what you’ll see in town
Many towns had these little “welcome” alcoves, but – like this one – they were empty of anything meaningful
The Atlas Mountains get snow in the winter, some parts enough to allow for skiing. Even knowing this, I was surprised by the snow fence that ran parallel to the road. The snow fences I’ve seen are made of wooden slats, wired together and placed off to the side. But this? This was a fence made of bricks!
Time (and most likely a shepherd or two) had removed some sections, possibly to more easily allow for the passage of their flocks. But the design was ingenious otherwise: air gaps to keep the wall from falling over, buttresses to help support it from the wind, and tall enough to redirect the blowing snow.
Moroccan snow fence
Welcome to Mars
Before now, there had been an incredible display of wildlife: the storks, small white egrets (Cattle Egrets?), and countless white butterflies. Most of that had been left behind with the green grass and trees. What I saw next, however, was probably cooler: a Fennec fox!
Sure, it was small as it ran across the road ahead of me, but it was close enough that I could comfortably ID it when I looked up later. No photo, of course, but it looks great in my mind’s eye.
Photo from #morocco.wild/
I love how every town put a huge effort into their approach roads and streetlights
The green football field really stands out in town
Looking for fuel – the first station was empty
Three-wheeled scooters were incredibly popular everywhere
A finely painted Mineret
And an even nicer Mineret
Laundry day
The geology of Morocco was amazing
We were finally crossing the Atlas mountains. The road was new – it was still shiny and dark black from paving, and hadn’t been bleached out by the sun yet. I could see sections of the old road, now mostly abandoned, although some parts were still in use for local transit.
Following the Ziz River
A prosperous-looking Mosque
We had been riding for hours on some non-demanding roads, and now our day was coming to an end. As we entered Er Rachidia there was a lot of new construction. Big, square buildings, some of them empty and some of them full of surprisingly “modern” items – like vehicle sales and home supply shops. But it felt like someone had the great idea of “if we build it, they will come” – but no one had come yet. The potential was great, however!
We had finally reached our destination: Hôtel Le Riad. We parked the bikes under a bamboo sunshade, next to a couple of dune buggies. It was a hint of what was to come tomorrow! After taking our rooms we informally met by the pool to enjoy a drink before dinner.
Hôtel Le Riad
The pool
Dinner was on site and while it wasn’t the best service or meal we had, it was by no means bad. There were two large tagine dishes (chicken and beef) and a big salad, as well as many smaller dishes to fill in any empty table space.
The dining area
We were in Berber country!
I had noticed today that there had been a gradual shift in clothing. North of the Atlas Mountains there was some evidence of traditional clothing, but once we crossed over to the south, the presence of robes, Djellaba, Burnous, and scarves were the norm. The flowing fabric looked so comfortable to wear, but I know that I would feel like an imposter if I gave it a try.
After dinner we went to our room, which was comfortable and large, if not a little dated. But it was clean and everything functioned – outside of the one dead bulb in the bathroom, and the bare wires (!) dangling from the shower area. We had been drinking bottled water throughout the trip, and used it to brush our teeth as well. I already had a small bout with intestinal issues and now that they had cleared up, I wanted to keep it that way. It had been a good travel day and tomorrow promised to give me something really new to experience: we were going to the Sahara desert!