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 12th – Sunday
Map Link – 180 kms
Aït Benhaddou– Marrakesh
12th (Sunday)
On the return from my morning stroll to the hill town of Aït Benhaddou, I came upon an old man walking in my direction. He was shuffling along at an old man’s pace, and I was coming up quickly from behind, my shoes crunching on the gravel. He turned to see who was approaching, at which point I greeted him with “salam alaykum“. His eyes lit up and the most beautiful smile creased his face. I think that he genuinely appreciated that I, an obvious foreigner, had made the effort learn this simple greeting. It made me feel good.
We were on the road by 9:30, pretty average for this trip so far. We didn’t have far to ride, and the roads there would be fast but interesting. I liked the sound of this!
It tried to rain the evening before
Heading north
Following the green when we can
Possibly a new dam construction?
We were following the ancient caravan route to Marrakech, not that there was any noticeable evidence of the route. I suppose the road at one point snaked along the oases and wound through some of the more hidden valleys.
When rocks fall down
Leaving the valley behind
Other than the green oases, there wasn’t much other for color – until we reached an area with layered, colorful hills on either side of the road. It was a nice change of scenery.
The donkey, making life easier for humans for centuries
Something that stood out along this stretch of road was a wonderful, floral scent in the air. What was it? It lingered in my helmet while I looked around for what the source could be. I never did see the source, but I found out later that it was the smell of blooming olive trees. Better than the oil they produce, that’s for sure!
This area has been under a severe drought for three years – and it showed!
Oooh – trees!
A tractor seems unnecessary in the desert
We stopped for tea shortly after I was enjoying the aroma of olive blooms. I wasn’t really ready to stop, but it is always a nice excuse to use the toilets and keep hydrated! Hana and David pointed out some earthquake damage on some of the buildings, but honestly, not knowing what it looked like before, it was hard for me to see what was different. Most buildings in Morocco looked like they had some sort of damage to them at one point.
I love the detail and variation of brick and stone work
Damaged buildings in the disstance
Our tea has foam!
After our tea stop it was a quick ride to our next viewpoint. The landscape changed rapidly from the gently rolling hills, to more aggressively rolling hills, to a full-on elevation gain. The road itself remained smooth and wide with easy corners that didn’t require much adjustment to my speed.
We pulled off in a wide spot at the top of the Tizi’n Tichka pass, joining a mass of wheeled humanity with the same idea. Scores of motorcycles, tour buses, even a couple of bicycle, all jammed into the area around the monument to the pass.
Tizi n’Tichka pass: 2,205 meters (corrected from 2,260 meters in 2022)
It doesn’t look very crowded from this angle, but it was
Cuteness!
There wasn’t much to do or see at the pass. A couple of shops offered beverages and stuff for sale, but that was about it. It looked like one of those places where people pull over, take a photo, and then get back on the road. Like we did. But the history behind the pass was interesting: it is the highest (major) mountain pass in North Africa, constructed by the French military in 1936 along the old caravan trail. And a sad tidbit of information from the wiki page: in 1942 the last known wild Barbary lion in Morocco was shot near the pass.
Wiki picture of a Barbary lion
We left the pass, but we didn’t leave the mountains. Our path took us through High Atlas range for a while longer, still following the old caravan routes between the Sahara and Marrakech. Evidence of road “improvements” weren’t uncommon, with massive cuts into the rock face to shorten a corner being the most obvious.
At one such “improvement” section the new road had been closed due to landslides, and the old road had been reopened. Having slowed down for the detour, some kids that were standing near the turnoff called to us to stop and buy things that they were selling. Not interested, I shook my head and continued pass them – except that one of them reached out and hit my arm. It wasn’t the first time I’d been subjected to aggressive actions by the kids in the country, but this was the first time that contact had been made.
Scenes like the unofficial pick up taxi above were not common, but not too surprising, either. Most people crowded on to the odd motorcycle-wagon amalgamation I had seen everywhere, and then the scooters and bicycles and donkeys took up most of the other vehicle and foot traffic I saw. A couple of unique sightings included a scooter with a lamb in the rear basket, and another scooter with a child nodding off behind his mother. Today was also the first – and only – time I saw an electric kick scooter, buzzing down an empty country road. Transportation options were a constant source of entertainment as I toured the country.
Looks like someone has a steady source of water
Stopping at a lookout for the view
I was in love with the colors in the landscapes
We made another stop, although to be sure I’m not sure what the point of this one was. This was tucked out of sight on one of the abandoned sections of road that had been replaced by a rock cut. There was no tea or coffee, no tremendous views, not even a toilet. There were, however, a couple of guys selling fossils, geodes and other local items. They had extensive tables set up with their wares and took our arrival as an opportunity to lighten some of those tables. And they were successful: Dan decided to buy a small, dark red geode. Good for Dan, and good for them! After greeting the local donkey, we were again on our way – to an actual tea stop.
Quite an elaborate tea stop
While the exterior of the building did not look special, the interior was decorated with highly polished stones and tiles. A terrace at the back overlooked a lovely view – which oddly enough reminded me of Lesotho.
Once we left the mountains behind the roads became straight and fast. There wasn’t much to look at and I was glad to see the gradual build up of infrastructure. There was even a golf course – such extravagance!
Oleander plants – somewhat toxic to animals, they helped to keep them from crossing major roads
I love the stop sign (someone said it looked like two people in a canoe)
Speaking of signage: I found it interesting how universal road signs can be. The same symbols were used here as they were used throughout Europe and North America. A man and a child: beware of pedestrians crossing the road. No passing zone, radar ahead, the caution exclamation mark… the key difference was that most of the signs were printed in blue in Morocco. I tried to get some photos as I whizzed by, but it never worked out.
We pulled the bikes into Marrakech and made our way to our hotel. We would have a full day off the bikes tomorrow, so Hana and David chose a place that would give us a nice place to relax and unwind. It wasn’t a charming hotel by any means, but it had a pool and a bar and restaurants, so we’d be set no matter what we needed.
The pool at the Kenzi Rose Garden Hotel
I am going to dedicate a fresh page for our time in Marrakech, as we did quite a bit and I don’t want to skimp on the information and photos. So, without further ado: Marrakech!