9/25/05
Well after a not so restful sleep across three ferry boat seats we arrived in Melilla. Melilla is a small spanish enclave on the coast of Morocco. We arrived at 5:00 am and by the time we got off the boat and managed to get lost on our way to the border crossing it was 6:00 before I was standing in line to get our passports stamped. The border crossing wasnt to painful, just an hour of standing around and we were through the gate, the final border guard gave me a real crazy look when I offered him a piece of candy, he reluctantly took it not sure what to think. I could tell Anna was a little uneasy, her first time in a muslim 3rd world country. So I figured the best thing would be to go to a cafe for an hour and see first hand that these people aren't really that intimidating. So after finding a cafe full of people we had some eggs, bread, and cheese. She quickly relaxed seeing that they really weren't any different.
We headed south along a route Thomas had recommended when reached the small town Taourit and decided to stop for a break. Anna had her first experience with a Moroccan toilet, she even came back with digital pictures, she was quite in awe. Once I explained why there was no toilet paper and what the little faucet was for next to the hole in the ground she was even more in awe.
After a short break 7 moto-crossers pulled up and were heading across the Plateau De Rekkam working their way towards Merzouga. They said the route was amazing and the road not too bad. So I decided to go for the dirt road option instead of the asphalt.
The scenery was absolutely amazing high desert. Occasionally we would come across herders or people and they all wave and wanted us to stop in hopes of us giving them a cigarette. We stopped for a break at one point and in the 30 minutes we were sitting there the 3 cars that passed all slowed down and asked if we needed help.
The Plateau De Rekkam is a high desert plateau at about 5000 - 6000 feet above sea level. We were following a gravel road that started turning east, so after about 60 miles I decided I should take a road that would lead to Missour which Thomas recommended a hotel to stay at. Even with my superior navigational skills I was extremely thankful for my Garmin GPS and my Michelin map, the road was more of a dirt trail. I was pretty sure we were heading in the right direction from the tracks of the motorcyclists I had spoke to earlier. Good thing I am 1/54th native american, those tracking skills came in handy. So after a couple small heart attacks from Anna followed by me getting yelled at that there was a passenger on board and I should slow down. I quickly informed her that I was testing the off road ability of the bike now that it was fully loaded and this was for her safety down the road.
So after we made it to Missour we checked into a really nice traditional style moroccoan hotel for $25 a night. I am definately enjoying how much cheaper it is hear than Europe, though I guess everywhere is cheaper than Europe. Gas is about $5 a gallon so that isnt much cheaper but I am getting used to that.
Once we got the bike parked the doorman and deskman carried all gear including tires to the room, I almost felt guilty for letting them do all the work but they insisted and who am I to argue.
It had been two days since we had a shower so I wasnt too amazed that I was turning the shower water a nice color brown. After the much needed shower we walked into town to get some dinner. We found a little shop with a wierd looking bar-b-q out front with a skinned goat hanging on a hook next to it. This looked like the place to get some fresh dinner to me. So after a few minutes of pointing and the chef/butcher coming back quite proud than he had found out from a friend the english word goat, he quickly pointed at the dead animal and said goat. We ended up getting ground up goat meat mixed with spices bar-b-q'ed up in little patties, it was amazingly good.
After a long day, a belly full of goat, and a comfy bed I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90F Sunny
Distance: 160 miles Melilla to Missour Morocco
9/26/05
After laying in bed for a couple hours this morning I forced myself to get up and get the day started. I road into town and bought some bread, cheese, fruit, juice, and some local bread thing (it was quite good) for breakfast. I was definately a center of attention as I road down the main street, all the shop owners, kids on their way to school, and passebyes all stopped what they were doing to look as I road by. After pushing Anna out of bed we had some breakfast by the empty swimming pool of the hotel. A german couple who had spent the last 3 weeks touring Morocco on a pair of Suzuki 250 dirtbikes sat and gave us some recomondations and some GPS waypoints on a particular good piece of piste( piste is dirt roads).
Anna is starting to get used to my philosophy that nothing is really a problem and that I try to ook at everything as an opportunity. As we were loading up the bike we were both standing on one side of the bike and we leaned to much on the right side and the bike fell over breaking the blinker. Anna looked at me expecting me to be upset, she was quite amazed when I started laughing and then quite excited for the opportunity to use the roll of duct tape I have been carrying along. So after 5 minutes and some professional duct taping the blinker was as good as new.
As we finished loading the bike I noticed the rear support frame had cracked again (yep the same one that broke in the Pyrenees). Again this caused Anna some concern but I assured her we would find a machine shop during the next couple days we would find a machine shop were they would fabricate a Josh proof frame. I am also going to have them weld some aluminum tabs to the panniers to more easily store the thermarests, add some tabs for a gas can, and add a bigger foot to the kickstand for soft dirt and sand.
I opted to stick to the paved roads today since I didnt want to make the subframe worse.
We road for about 5 hours before stopping for the day at a campground. We were in the high desert all day, reminded me allot of parts of Nevada, but without the white trash and casinos. One thing that is amazing here is the amount of plastic bags that are on the ground. You can be in the middle of the desert with nothing for 100 miles but you will see plastic bags and garbage on the ground. It is kinda sad that such beautiful scenery can be so easily polluted.
The campground was quite nice, it was in the middle of an Oasis (just like you would see in the movies, middle of the dessert then out of nowhere about a square mile of palm trees, though the dessert is more rocky than the sand desert). The campgournd was more like a compound with a palmtrees and stream through the middle but with a 8 foot brick/mud wall around it, quite safe. After a some tea with the campground owner, a hot shower, and a tangene dinner (tangene is a Moroccan dish which is basically a stew cooked all day long in a big clay pot) we were off to bed.
As we went to bed the skies opened up and started to dump rain. I am not talking a little rain, I mean Noah build an Arc and load the animals up rain, though I was not too concerned since I have faith in the Bibler I-tent I enjoyed the sound of the rain on the tent and drifted off to sleep.
At 11:30 I heard some rustling outside the tent over the sound of the rain, with memories of Italy flashing in my mind. I opened up the tent and sure enough there was some guy standing next to the bike, I quickly yelled at him. Well I must have startled the little guy cause he jumped about 3 feet in the air. It turned out it was the security guard putting a tarp over the bike to keep it dry. So after his many apologies for disturbing us I let him put the tarp over the bike and went back to sleep.
Todays Specs
Weather: 80F Sunny-Cloudy-Rain
Distance: 160 miles Missour Morocco to campground halfway between Errachidia and Erfoud
9/27/05
This morning was a slow start since I was only planning a short 100 mile ride to Merzouga today, well that was the plan at least (you will soon see that plan went to shit).
Once we dried our stuff out and got on the road it was about 11:00 am. The scenery here is high desert but along the rivers are the most amazing oasisesess (or however you say more than one oasis) of palm trees and greenery.
By 1:00 we made it to Erfoud where I pulled off to the side of the street to double check the map, there are two options to reach Merzouga from here piste or pavement. Before I could turn the engine off I had 4 people around me telling me that I could never reach Merzouga on this bike and how dangerous it was blah blah blah, but amazingly enough they would show me the way. I quickly declined figuring the GPS and map would be enough. Once I declined one indivudual started swearing at me and said he would see us when we came back through because we couldnt make it to Merzouga. So once I had the directions sorted off we set. Now Merzouga is a town on the edge of the Sahara with amazing dunes right out of the movies, so this was a must see while in Morocco. So as we went down the road it went from pavement to piste to really nothing but desert. I was doing quite fine with the GPS and map until, well we started heading east away from the south direction we were supposed to be going. We were heading towards Algeria, now my gut feeling said hey you should really start heading south and stay on the west side of the Dunes but for some reason I had the urge to see what was on the east side of the dunes. We rode for about 15 miles when the sorta road we were on headed straight into the dunes. At first we stopped and took some great pics and were having allot of fun even when we were riding along and the bike decided to fall over., sometimes she has a mind of here own. Anna was a little surprised as we picked ourselves up from the ground. She really thought I was joking all the times that I said we would be falling off this motorhome, silly girl. So as we picked the bike up from the sand we still had smiles on our face, and then 5 feet later when the back tire was completely below, we were still smiling, In fact Anna was having good fun filming me digging and getting stuck. Though I will say for 46 kilos she is quite strong and quite handy to help pick up the bike, they grown them tough in Poland I tell you. Once we decided it wasnt a good idea to play in the deep sand with 1000lbs of bike we turned around, getting stuck and falling over several more times. It was getting late almost 5:00 and we were quite exhausted and starting to feel a little dehydrated. It is amazing how quickly coordination goes when you get tired and dehydrated, and I dont have much coordination to begin with. As we backtracked I asked Anna if she wanted to go back to Erfoud (the safe route) or risk the route where I made the wrong turn. She looked at me like I was an idiot and replied "Then we would have to see that asshole, we go to Merzouga" With a big smile on my face off we headed towards Merzouga. As we made our way back around the dunes and towards the Merzouga I followed the GPS and map and it was quite easy, there really wasnt a road, just hard pack dessert and you really just make you own road.
Merzouga is a tiny village, mainly a collection of mud brick building with several nice hotels to cater to the motorcyclists that come to ride in the dunes. As we got close to the town we stopped at one of these hotels about 1/2 kilometer from the town, after hard negotiations we had a room for the night including dinner and breakfast. Hotel Panorama sat on top of a small hill overlooking the town and had an amazing view of the dunes, I couldnt really have asked for a better place, a bargain at 25 euros. Once we got the bike unpacked we sat down with Ahmid for the customary "hospitale" tea. I really believe by the end of this trip I am going to be addicted to tea. Ahmid and his cousin who quickly joined us spoke very good english, as well as French, Spanish, Italian, German, and their native languages as well. The people in this area are Burber, mainly nomads, so I have theory that they are particularly good at languages, it seems most people speak several languages here, Anna disagrees saying it is just the tourist industry.
As we drank sevarl pots of tea and Ahmid explained the Burber culture and answered our million questions, I really try asking unique and interesting questions because after this trip I know what it is like to have people ask the same 20 questions over and over again, you start feeling like a broken record after a while. Ahmid made us a huge dinner that we couldnt even come close to finishing.
With a full belly, exhausted muscles, and sleepy eyes we barely made it to bed before we were asleep.
Todays Specs
Weather: 85F Sunny
Distance: 100 miles campground halfway between Errachidia and Erfoud to Merzouga
9/28/05
This morning we woke up 10:00 and layed around trying to figure out our plan. We decided we would stay another night in Merzouga and take a tour into the desert via camel. One of the tourist attractions here is take a camel caravan into the center of the dunes and spend the night in a Berber tent and then watch the sunrise and come back in the morning. Every hotel has their own guides and camels so Ahmid said he would set it up and we could even leave all our stuff in the room so we could shower when we got back and he would watch the motorcycle. Again what a bargain.
So the caravan didnt leave till 5:00 so we had allot of time to kill, I asked Ahmid's cousin if he knew a mechanic in town who could do some work on the bike, and of couse he did. I need to get the rear subframe support fixed and I wanted some tie downs added to the panniers for a jerry can and the therma-rests. Again after some strong negotiations my new mechanic friend agreed for 15 euros he would do all the work. I could have got it for cheaper but as my friend Geoff said you are not over paying if you feel you are getting a fair deal. I know I am paying more than a local would pay but for the work performed I feel it was a fair trade.
As we left the bush mechanic Ahmid's cousin gave us a tour of the town and explained everything from the plots of land that are assigned to each family for farming to water distribution to just life in general as a Berber. Quite an amazing afternoon, it is nice to meet people who just want to show you around, he didnt have to, maybe he just didn't want to go back to the hotel to work, but it was a fun afternoon.
So after picking up the bike and leaving the boxes for the mechanic to attach the tie downs ( I would pick them up tomorrow) we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the camel ride into the desert.
At 5:00 Ahmid knocked on our door saying the camels were ready. As we walked out of the hotel to see two camels. I was assigned the second camel in our two camel caravan. I quickly asked them what my camels name was, I got nothing but blank looks in return. I was shocked, if I owned a camel he would definitely have a name, Well as they shook their heads in disbelief I quickly named my camel Bruce.
So off our two camel caravan headed off to the desert. My camel was tied to the back of Anna's camel, now there aren,t to many worse places than behind a camel, they really have some digestive problems I think. I mentioned this to Anna and she said this is why here camel (the lead camel) was named Lucky.
Riding a camel through the dunes was completely amazing, you really feel quite timeless with nothing around you but sand. After an hour, which is a really long time on the back of a camel, we reached our Berber tent. The tent was already set up all we had to do was unroll a huge Moroccan rug and lay out some pillows to sit. We sat for about an hour and enjoyed several glasses of tea conversation. At one point I made a comparison about Bruce's nose ring being similar to Anna's, not the best move. I think I may have lost some tact over the last few months, well not that I really ever had any. So as I was nursing my new black eye our guide brought out dinner, a Moroccan version of beef stew. During dinner there wasnt much conversation as we sat enjoyed the dinner while enjoying the feeling of sitting in the middle of the Sahara (well more like a dune on the edge of the sahara, but you couldnt tell from where we were sitting).
With full bellies and dreams of camel caravans we all drifted off to sleep.
Todays Specs
Weather: 85F Sunny
Distance: 0 miles Merzouga to the Dunes via a Camel
9/29/05
Sunrise comes early here so at 5:45 I woke Anna up to go climb to the top of the nearest dune to watch the sunrise. She grumpily conceded and we began the hike up the dune, hiking up dunes is quite laborous and since I am not in the fittest shape of my life (sitting on the back of a motorcycle everyday has taken its toll) it was quite tiresome. Once we reached the top of the dune we realized it was a little to hazy to see a good sunset but we sat and watched anyways still in awe of the endless sand around us.
When we got back to the tent our guide had breakfast ready for us and then it was a two hour camel ride back to the hotel.
As we headed back to the hotel we could see the other tourists across the dunes on the backs of their camels, so it was kinda touristy. Our guide explained that in total their was 5 different companies who do these camel rides. Well this is a tour bus that I don't feel embarrassed to take, a camelbusian instead of a tourbusian.
Once back at Hotel Panorama we showered the scent (well more of a funk than a scent) of camel off of us and packed up the bike. We were definately moving quite slow so it was after 1:00 before we said our goodbyes to Ahmid and his cousin.
We made quick time to Erfoud where we were quickly assailed upon by 10 people trying to offer their services as guides. As we politely turned them down they became rude and walked away, I really believe this town is the worst in Morocco. An example of the locals believing all visitors owe them something. Almost every town we went to we were offered these same services or quickly approached with offers to look at shops but if we declined it was no problem and the people thanked us for our time and said maybe next time, but not here.
We stopped for gas and I tracked down some oil for the bike, it was time again to add a litre as I do every 1500 miles. At the gas station was 8 spanish motorcyclists who had been out in the dunes with there bikes, they were all on much liter 450's so they probably didnt have the problems we did.
Once on the road we were happy to be out of Erfoud and heading towards the Gorges Du Todra.
As the sun began to set we stopped off at a little campground for 3 euro a night. After the "hospitale" tea with the owner we were off to sleep.
Todays Specs
Weather: 85F Sunny
Distance: 150 miles Merzouga to just before Tinerhir
9/30/05
After packing up camp it was a short ride to the Gorges. The Gorges Du Todra is an absolutely amazing canyon, you drive along the bottom looking up a sheer cliff walls. At one of the several stops for photos we came across some rock climbers who were half way up the a sheer rock wall. I quickly took several photos thinking how jealous my brother in law would be as he is a huge rock climbing fan. I was so impressed with how these climbers had gotten up this wall that I quickly wanted to take up the sport. That thought faded as quickly as it had came after thinking about how strenuous it must be, where did that snickers bar go as I got back on my motorcycle.
Now there are two routes you can take, one route is up to Agoudal then back down the other side or you can go half way then take a piste road across then back down, about half the distance. Here is a perfect example of asking locals for directions. So is the road to Agoudal piste or like this (pointing to the pavement) -reply- like this as he points to the pavement -next question- kilometers? how many kilometers to Agoudal??? -reply- 50 yes no more than 50.
Quick check of the gas gauge off we set to Agoudal enjoying the best scenery besides the dunes in Morocco. As the pavement gave way to piste I realized the local had no idea and probably never been to Agoudal. As I checked my map and GPS followed by a quick glance at the gas gauge I knew I could make it to Aguoudal but not any further. Looking at my surroundings there was no chance of a gas station anywhere ahead of us. Well being sure something would work out I pushed on. A little way up the road we came to a little little village named Ait- Hani. I quickly found the only little scooter shop and sure enough he had a drum of San Plomb (unleaded gas) the shop owner quickly filled my tank using an old water bottle to measure out the petrol. I was quite surprised when he told me the cost, it was only 4 cents more per litre than a real gas station, hadnt this guy heard about ripping off tourists. Quite amazing.
So with the gas worries gone we headed to Agoudal, no my advice to anyone going to Morocco is to take this road, unbelievable scenery. We passed about 5 camel/donkey nomad caravans on the road. They werent to happy about photos but I managed to sneak one or two. The piste was actually in good shape so we made it to Agoudal by 1:00 where we stopped for lunch. I dont think the 3 guys at the restaurant were expecting any customers since they didnt have any food, I figured this out after we ordered and one of the guys hopped on his bike and road down the road to return 10 minutes later with all our ingredients.
One of the guys was home from university where he studied history, his english was really good so he told us about life in Agoudal. A village of about 3000, town has 4 or 5 telephones, no electricity besides generators. We were at about 9,000 feet so winter is fast approaching so he told us about life in the winter when it gets really cold. Quite an interesting lunch, all this over some of the loudest hip-hop house music, they put this on when we first got there thinking it we would enjoy it over their Moroccan music.
After we finished our lunch and said goodbye our new friend said to take the road slowly as it is a "little" bumpy.
The road from Agoudal to Tilmi was far beyond a little bad. With sheer 1000 meter cliffs on one side and narrow loose gravel troads hat are rutted out is far beyond a little bad. I was pretty sure Anna was going have a nervous breakdown and walk, I had to stop several time to not only calm myself but assure Anna I had this completely under control. Good thing I had my helmet on and she couldnt see my face.
So after 60 kilometers of gnarly roads and a 1500 meter descent we came to more level ground.
As luck would have it as we started thinking about camping for the night we came across a bicycle tour group who were setting up camp and invited us to camp with them. So after sharing stories over a free dinner called it a night.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90F Sunny
Distance: 150 miles just before Tinerhir to just past Tilmi
10/1/05
After a slightly chilly night (we were still quite high in the mountains) we woke up and said goodbyes to our Austrian friends and headed towards Marakesh. After hearing several stories of how bad the road was between Quarzazate and Marakesh I was a little disappointed. I was expecting another hair raising day, but I guess due to the road of the day before almost anything would seem tame. Dont get me wrong it was a little narrow with lots of tourbusses but nothing to bad.
So we made it to Marakesh about 5:00 and decided we should find a cheap pension for the night. So I explained to Anna my theory of sitting at a cafe and things will randomly work out. She gave me a suspicious look and then looked around at the completely foreign place we were in. We were definitely in a 3rd world city, but this is still a touist town so we didnt stand out too bad.
So as we drove the motorhome down the narrow streets, often time clearing all inhabitants so we could get by, I found a little cafe that met my standards.
As I finished my coca-cola right on que a guy came up and asked if we need a pension for the night. After a quick discussion he said for 10 euros we could even park the bike inside. So I left Anna with the bike and went to check out the place which was only a few hundred meters down the street. Well it was quite a dump and dirty but close to the square and safe parking for the bike. I told the guy it was perfect and I would be back in a few minutes with the bike.
Anna was a little shocked that I agreed to stay in such a dump quickly smiled saying it was all in the adventure ( I swear she is a real girl and not just my imaginary friend I invented after so many months on the road).
After unpacking the bike the owner help me park the bike in the courtyard of his house. So after shoehorning the bike down 6 steps and 3 doorways we had the bike stored for the night (tune in tomorrow to see how we get it out).
After the bike was parked the owner asked me if I wanted a hot shower, I said yes a hot shower would be good. So he told me to follow him, as we walked down the street he explained that there was a Moroccan bath house down the street. We stopped and he showed me the women's bathhouse, unfortunately we weren't allowed to go in, but he said my husband ( he referred to Anna as my husband, I think he has his genders slightly confused) could go there. Then we walked on to the mens bathhouse, where he explained for a dollar I could get a massage, he insisted we take a tour, so after seeing more naked sweaty Moroccan men than any person should ever be subjected to I told him I don't think I had time since we wanted to go have dinner and see some of the city. He looked a little disappointed but said no problem.
While I was gone Anna decided to take a bunch of photos of the local kids, mistake #1 never interact with local kids. For the next hour and a half while we unpacked and showered in our kinda shower toilet all in one, you would have to see it to understand, the kids pounded on the door and tried looking through the window, finally the owner came and chased them away. I quickly informed Anna never to play with the local children.
Once we cleaned up we set off to explore the Square, the square was used up till 1960 for beheadings as well as a market, now it is just a Market but is full of everything from snake charmers to belly dancers.
So after much sightseeing and wandering around we headed back to our pension for a nights rest.
Todays Specs
Weather: 95F Sunny
Distance: 180 miles just past Tilmi to Markakesh.
10/2/05
About 10:00 we rolled out of our bed from a fairly restless nights sleep. The beds in the hovel we are staying in arent really that comfortable and they smell quite bad, we actually are using our sleeping bags on top of them. This place really is a dump but it is close to everything and the owner is quite friendly and helpful.
So after I wiped the sleep from my eyes I decided I should do some laundry since I am down to my last pair of chonies. After rounding up some soap from the corner shop, the corner shops here are little different than what we are used to, you dont walk in and the bell on the door rings as you close it, the corner shops are about 10 feet deep and 8 feet wide and are stacked from floor to ceiling with as much stuff as they can fit in and you just point to what you need and the guy working grabs everything for you. So as I was saying after grabbing some soap I heated some water up on our propane plate warmer and washed up my clothes. I tried convincing Anna that she should be doing my laundry but she wasn't buying into it, damn modern women
After the laundry was hung out to dry we headed down to the main square to find an internet cafe. On the way we stopped and had some bar-b-qed lamb with pita bread, quite good but Anna didnt seem to enjoy it too much. We found an internet cafe and since it wasnt that fast of a connection it took 3 hours to download 18 pictures and the journal and check my email. So for all you people I really hope you appreciate the pictures. I think this was a fast connection for Africa too, so in the future if the connections are this slow I might not be downloading so many pictures.
After the internet cafe we walked around and took some pictures before heading back to the hotel to relax for a little while. I will admit I did get suckered today, I came across several snake charmers and I was quite excited and i forgot to negotiate the price for pictures up front. So after I took about 30 pictures they said they wanted $20, after 10 minutes of arguing I walked away paying $10. I really should have paid about $1, o-well you win some and you lose some.
So after some tea with the owner of our pension we decided to go walk around some more. One great thing about this culture is that you could really get anything you want at anytime and anyday, everybody says America is the bigger better faster society, well I think this society has the title in the better faster catagories. My new motorcycle jacket I bought in France needed a couple upgrades done to it, mainly the edge of the collar was causing some serious chaffing and I also wanted some snaps added to the side of the coat as it is kinda big when I am not wearing the Armor. So at 10:00 PM how many places in the world can you find a seamstress to sew this on for you and even be willing to negotiate the price. Well in Marakesh I really believe anything is available 24 hours a day. So after some finding a place that I thought would do a good job the said they would have it ready for me first thing in the morning. Quite happy with getting this accomplished we decided to call it a night and head back to our dirty little room.
Todays Specs
Weather: 95F Sunny
Distance: 0 miles Markakesh
10/3/05
The plan for today was to leave Marakesh and head to Essourria, well it is good to have plans even if you don't follow through with them.
First thing was to go with our pension owner and check on the camera. (When we were in the desert my old digital camera that Anna was using somehow got filled with sand, and I mean allot of sand. I started to try to take it apart and as the pile of parts kept growing and every time I took one piece off there were two pieces behind it to take off I quickly realized I shouldn't be messing with digital camera innards, so when we got to Marakesh our pension owner new a guy who new a guy who could fix my camera. Anna thought I was a little crazy for just giving the camera to some guy who rented us a room to head off into to Marakesh to get it fixed, but you gotta have blind faith sometimes.) So the pension owner and I hopped in a cab and went to the camera shop where surprisingly the camera was waiting all fixed and good as new, well as good as a camera can look after spending 5 months driving around the world in a tank bag. But this camera genius was like the man who put humpty dumpty back together again, I was quite impressed and gladly paid the $30.
Once we got back to the house I parted ways with the house owner but not before he insist that at 1:00 Anna and I come over for home made couscous, I gladly agreed to this looking forward to a traditional home cooked meal. So I swung by the seamstress to pick up my coat, which the guy had done a wonderful job so I again gladly paid $5 and headed back to the house.
After getting Anna we went to the owners part of the house and sat down for a couple hours and enjoyed some good conversation and some traditional Couscous with 7 vegetables and beef. This is definitely the advantage of staying in Pensions or with people, you would never get this opportunity if you stayed at a hotel, this is definitely a good way to travel granted the luxuries and amenities aren't always as nice but the rewards are much better.
Well by the time we finished lunch I looked at the clock and realized we werent getting on the road today. So after a nap we decided to go do some souvenir shopping. My sister has been doing some serious wining about a Moroccan necklace.
So after finding a really nice place I found a great gift for her, Molly you owe me huge for this, I really am the best brother. It is kinda fun buying stuff here as the price depends on your negotiation skills but I always feel that maybe I could have gotten it just a little cheaper if I had worked the guy a little harder. Owell.
After walking around the market till after 10:00 I was quite tired both mentally and physically, bargaining takes so much out of my little mind.
Todays Specs
Weather: 95F Sunny
Distance: 0 miles Markakesh
10/4/05
Well I hate to admit but I really think I misjudged somebody and I feel kinda bad. I really wasnt too sure about the owner of the house, he always seemed like a nice guy and trying to be very helpful but I thought everytime he was offering assistance there would be a price attached to it. He actually spent allot of time getting my camera fixed and preparing dinner and always making sure we were enjoying our stay. Today when we left I paid him $30 for three night stay, a bargain for two people and indoor parking for the bike. I was expecting him to ask for more money for the lunch and all his troubles with the camera and it never came. I now believe he was a nice person and being hospitable beyond our agreed upon price for the room.
Getting the bike out of the house turned into its usual fiasco, after enlisting the help of a couple passerbyes, much sweat and one broken blinker we were out the door. Getting the bike out of the house had worn on me a little but as I loaded the bike my 6 foot padlock decided not to work, I think between 5 months on the road and the sands of the Sahara finally put it to rest. This frustrated me a little and after 20 minutes of trying to open I gave up and decided it was dead. I will have to find a new lock the next couple days.
So with a short 3 hour ride we made it to Essouria where we quickly found the only campground in town.
After checking the email we found out Thomas wont be here till tomorrow late afternoon. So after sending him a text message vie email with GPS waypoint of the campground, you gotta love technology, we decided to explore this old fort town. It is a very cool old Moroccan fort/fishing village. It is a little touristy but not too bad and the shop owners are not nearly as pushy as Marakesh. I liked Marakesh for the opposite reasons I like here. Marakesh was busy and full of energy but here is a small fishing village that is quite and mellow, really polar opposites.
So after grabbing a bite to eat and looking around we called it a night.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90F Sunny
Distance: 140 miles Markakesh to Essouira
10/5/05
I woke up fairly early for a morning swim in the Ocean which was very cold so it was more like a run in the ocean stand there shivering then run out. But it definitely got the blood flowing.
So after the morning swim and walk on the beach in which Anna thinks it would be a good idea to collect shells. She informed me we would have to make space in the panniers to carry her new found treasures. Great just what I wanted to carry stinky sea shells across fricken Africa.
After walking down the beach and exploring an old 15th Century Portuguese Fort, that had literally been swallowed by the ocean and sand, we headed back to the camp for an afternoon nap.
Thomas arrived about 5:00, so after greeting and he got his tent set up we headed off for dinner. Thomas had met a fellow on the ferry who recommended a local restaurant. So we treated ourselves to a nice dinner and a couple bottles of wine, it is quite hard to find any alcohol in muslim countries.
Todays Specs
Weather: 80F Sunny then foggy
Distance: 0 miles Essouira
