14 days in morocco dec 2009

[punisher_uk]

sorry just finished posting this and remembered our bikes are aprilias
still they were made on the same production line as the F650
if it is a problem please delete the thread it was just we used alot of info from your site and thought you might like a read

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196336
to read the story in full as this is only my side of the trip ther are plenty of more pics and tails from the other two friends on this trip koho aka lubo and men8fr aka IAN

MOROCCO
The route aprox 2500k ish

MY DAY 0
27,DEC,09
Starts around 10 am loading the bike and waiting for phone calls that take a long time coming
1.45pm

Eventually I jump on the bike, kiss the wife goodbye and set off on the 400k ride to TARIFA my planed stop for the night aprox 20k from where we were to meet the next day.
Now in my mind 400k at 100k per hr + I estimated my arrival around 6.30pm boy was I wrong!!
9.30pm I arrive, very cold. Simon, the owner of the b&b, had given up hope, so was very suprised to hear me riding up his drive. He showed me to my room and asked if I would like some food and a drink.

Great little place, I got the cottage with a 4 poster bed, all to myself, (well it is winter ) 20 euro I think I paid for bed evening meal and breakfast www.fawltyfincas.com

 

[punisher_uk]

Day 1
28,DEC,09
Breakfast, load the bike and hit the road, 20k to the ferry.
before I left I was shown morocco, only 13k away over the water.

Arriving 30 mins later, I filled up with fuel so as not to delay our departure and found a rock to sit on outside the port entrance. I didn’t want the boys to miss me as I knew they had dropped their trailer and were riding towards me, 3hrs ride away ish.

Many hrs later and a huge sore bum, I had a call “we are here, where are you? “ my reply cannot be posted!! Needless to say I was slightly upset at being left to sit on a rock for over 5hrs, not wanting to leave for food incase I missed them, also it had been planed to get the earliest ferry possible so we would not be riding at night on our first night.

After taking a huge chill pill (counted to 100) we sat and chatted and arranged the tickets, which I had been quoted 120 euro return, they actually cost us 80 euro so that was a bonus.


20 mins later we are sat onboard the ferry ready to start our adventure.

Departing the ferry and heading for the boarder asap only stopping for supplies and cash.

7.40pm still sat at the border crossing, we did take advantage of a fixer, who promptly moved cars, vans, rocks, anything to get us to the front of the que, sorted the paper work and we were done, only his fee to sort, he wasn’t a happy chap when we gave him 15 euro lol.
Hey a fiver a piece is good I think!!
I’m not sure how long all this took but I punched in the sat nav for the nearest camp site and off we went, it felt good to be on the road but was looking forward to my tent and the first night in morocco, it had been a long day.

 

[punisher_uk]

we had a few friends round for tea

i have only dun the first 2 nights as most of this was my story b4 we meet hopefully the rest will be a joint effort
Day 2
29/12/09
Day 2 our first full day in morocco, the day started early for me, around 6.30am, I lay in bed with the door open, smoking, just watching the world go by, hoping, wishing, the other 2 would wake. The sky was clear, looked like we were in for a nice day .

My little friends came past again and I needed the loo, so I dragged myself from the warm sleeping bag, well not so warm, I did have 2pair of socks and 2 pair of jog pants 2 t-shirts and a jumper and wooly hat, this was to be the norm. From now on the nights were cold and my sleeping bag was only good for +5 (hey come on I do live in Portugal)
Around 8am I decided it was time for the kettle and a nice cup of tea, the sound of the kettle boiling soon woke lubo and this was to be the normal for the next few weeks. I would wake early lay in bed until I could not lie any, longer then kettle on and lubo up, ian, well he loved to lie in and would get up for the second round of drinks.
Finally we packed up camp, loaded the bikes and hit the road. I think time was getting on and it was around 10.30am or maybe even 11am, our plan for the day was to ride from our camp site at MARTILL to AL-HOCEIMA 130K as the crow flies. But as we know, the crow flies straight and the coast road was anything but straight.

I think we should have set off earlier but hey, if we did not make the camp site we could always find somewhere else to stop, but as you will read, anything can happen and it did!

 

[punisher_uk]

Stopping along the way for pics and cigs the view’s passed us by and so did time. The roads were good, to start but they were resurfacing the roads and around every corner there would be a digger and a team of men cutting back the cliffs or removing landslides, then right and left one after another on knobbly tyres, gravel on every corner thier were a few bum twitching moments the roads would be great when finished.

Smoke time every car/van that passed would pip and wave asking if you were ok

Lubo thinks he is DAVID BAILEY but I’ve seen his pics and they are better than mine
On we go more twists, turns, more gravel, more road works, more beautiful scenery, more cig breaks

Time for fuel aprox 10.30 drams per ltr works out about £1 per ltr for super which we think was same as 95 octane. The fuel stop also allowed me to mask up and clean up as we had been chasing tipper trucks for what seemed hrs and I was covered from head to toe in dust, this was 3.15pm, no lunch yet but we had had porrage for breakfast. I think we had stopped for coffee and ian got some bread on the way, or we were just about to, can’t really remember but 1 hr on, time for more pics

we looked at the map and planed to stop at EL JABHA this was aprox half way, well if we had not planned to stop, we had to anyway as ian, as usual, wanted to be first to try everything, even a puntcher riding through el jabha he picked up a nail, so time to pull over and crack out the tools, good job myself and lubo had the foresight to bring everything I supplied, the tyre levers and lubo the tube.

 

[punisher_uk]

30 mins later the bike was back on its wheels (lucky ian had center stand) lubo made lunch, tuna sandwiches, as far as I can remember, I set of first only to stop 2 mins up the road and eventually turn back, ians centerstand had seized and would not go back up, after a quick fix, jumped on it and pulled it up!! Lol. We were off, time was getting on and dark was only an hour ish away and we still had miles to go, none of us clocked the distance but I’m sure we rode over 300ks that day, arriving in AL-HOCEIMA AROUND 9.30pm very tired. Opps! almost forgot, when we entered the town it was duel carriageway. Me leading, ian second and lubo last. Dark, cold, been in the seat for around 10hrs ,needing sleep, I noticed a black line in the road, water? Fuel? Oil? Shit I realized a split second too late ass my rear end stepped out. Foot down, you know the toe stinger, OWW!! ian was on my left and noticed the bike skip, lubo not so lucky followed my line through the corner and looking in my mirrors I saw him go down FxxK fxxK fxxK I pulled up and ran back down the road, ian had stopped, must have seen it all, and a car pulled up stopping the traffic. Lubo was on the floor, I ran heart in mouth, shit!! He stood up and was ok, good, was a fright, only 2 days in and a crash already. We all picked the bike up as it was facing the wrong way, bags intact, leavers ok, broken front indicator, phew lucky!! Lubo smiled, he was fine, pushed bike to the edge and jumped on, turned over a couple of times, small fuel leak on the road and she fired into life, great, off we go!
I had searched the internet and found a camp site on or near the beach, after searching and asking many people we discovered the camp site had shut 2 years ago. We were gutted and I so wanted my bed!! So, back on the road, ian suggested we just rode out of town and found somewhere, anywhere to pitch the tents for the night. We agreed, as I was too tired to say no, about 2k out of town we turned left along what we soon realized was the coast road, there was nothing, nowhere, then ian found what looked like a disused farm. I stayed on the side of the road whilst he checked it out, I noticed a carpark or something in the moonlight on our right. Lubo went to investigate, it was and there was a small forest to one side. I asked if we could get in and ian returned saying that the farm was a no go. Pointing out the woods, ian was off checking it out. As he drove into the wood his lights vanished, well if we can’t see him that means nobody will see us, so we all set off, great stuff! 20ft from the beach, hidden in the woods. Time to pitch our tents and get the stove on the go. Time for a nice cup of tea and lubo our chef made food. I collected some fire wood and we all sat there around an open fire everything was good.

10.30pm all was well but morocco had not finished with us yet.

 

[punisher_uk]

Whilst collecting fire wood, I noticed two men on the beach. I whispered to the others, then the two men started to walk over to us. OMG I sat in the tent door. I had brought a couple of things with me for safety, one of them being a police cosh, the expandable type, this was now between my legs and I was ready, ian and lubo were checking out there bikes (now remember they speak French and we don’t ) well hello and goodbye was about it. One of the men asked for something, turns out he was asking for papers, we said “no” again. Papers! said the man, why? asked ian !! papers! why!! Policia!! yeh really??!! I asked for his papers, he looked at us blank, I asked again, then he pointed to his camouflage jacket and said policia again, we laughed, ian got his camouflage trousers and said same. Military said the man, ian said yes, small white lie there. It tuned out the man was maritime police, him and the 3 other men (2 more had arrived) patrolled the beach at night for drug smugglers. This was feasible, as we were on the northern coast, just over the water is Spain. The 4 men looked through our paper work and I handed out a few cigs and we chatted for a while, then they went. 10 mins later, one came back, he missed the reg numbers off. We offered him tea and he sat with us, infront of the fire for a while, we ran out of water so lubo or ian went with one chap to thier hut on the beach and came back with 4 bottles of water, more cigs and coffee. They were great. I was tired so hit the sack but ian and lubo sat chatting with them for hrs. I slept well, knowing we had our own personal bodyguards.

Day 3
30/12/09
Day 3 planned to be one of our longest days as we had fallen behind and really needed to cover some klm to catch the Africa race which left NADOR this morning at around 6.30pm, or first light,so we planned to catch them at their overnight stop, which we knew was somewhere within a 30 or 40k radius of TENDRARA

The night before the police chap had helped the boys map out a route and when adding a waypoint or two to the sat nav, we realized that we needed to cover around 300k (straight line). If the day before was anything to go by, we had no chance of making it. The road did look straighter and we had chosen a more major road (or so we thought) so we should be able to cover the distance and still be able to make camp in time for tea.

View of the ocean from our camp​

 

[punisher_uk]

And from the beach looking in

Time was getting on and we had a long way to go we had breakfast early and started to break camp

Lubo ready for the road

9am things were looking up (too much gear on my bike) cant really remember much about the first part of the day, nothing really happened. We headed east to NADOR along the N2, approx 100k and then south, at last we were heading in the right direction. Stopped for fuel on the way in one of the small towns and lubo managed to get 2 mobile phone sim’s, what a guy! We both had unlocked mobiles so now I could text and phone the wife (got to keep them happy for next time!!)

30 mins coffee break and some shopping done, fruit and bread for dinner, bikes full of fuel and we are off.

2hr later, around 2pm, warm but windy, we pulled up on the side of the road behind a hill to stop some of the wind. Ian made more tuna sandwiches, they tasted great! Looking again at the maps we had traveled quite a way but not enough

Now you know why aprilia have a table on the back, it’s for lunch!! Ian’s bike really did have everything but still cannot find the onboard sink. We must press on so off we go again, head down as fast as we could, klm after klm, sore but headache from wind noise, no time to stop, no cig breaks, must press on, wind got worse I’m sure.

(Red ring ) time for a break, pics and a smoke. I chose to highlight this spot for you for couple reasons, you can see just how far we got in 7hrs, great section of road, pics to follow (no dout lubo’s will be beter)

 

[punisher_uk]

This section we climbed from around 700ft above sea level up to 1600 ft, great section of road, twisty curves, no crash barriers or walls, one mistake and opps, goodbye and again, lubo would insist on riding on the left. I’m sure he kept forgetting he was not in the UK , overtaking on bends and just being plain silly. I felt I had to tell him, if a car had come or a donkey we would be collecting his belongings from the valley below.

[/LEFT]

Day 3 Part 2

This is one time my camera skills let me down, let’s hope lubo has some better one’s, the pics do not do the mountain range justice. 30 mins later we found ourselves on a flat Plato at around 1300ft, sunny but cold and windy but flat and it went on and on and on the road was boring, there was nothing, not even grass, no life at all!! I think they grew rocks here and that was it. I think the boredom effected lubo first

“It was this big honest”

More map reading and we decided time was getting on, 4.40pm, quick smoke and off again, dark in an hr or so, best ride faster.
Riding fast is boring just going in a straight line, time for a smoke again, oh look, life!! “lubo look out behind you “

 

[punisher_uk]

Off we go again, by this time ian had found flat tracks on either side of the road and proceeded to play on them to kill the boredom, they must have been the old road before tarmac, 30 mins later this is where I think the boredom effected ian.
I saw ian pull over in my mirrors so I pulled up 20ft infront and walked back slowly (might as well grab a smoke whenever you can) ian then got all his paper work out of his map pocket, (don’t know why) and the wind got hold of it, remember its gusting up to 70k ish, well something blew away so like an idiot I ran after it, yes fully loaded, helmet gloves, jacket, I think I got about 100yards before I gave up, waving to ian to chase it on his bike, well he did and caught it, it was his logbook! I’m sure lubo has a pic with the tyre prints lol

This is him heading back to the road after rescuing it
[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aYRYvoWPhxw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aYRYvoWPhxw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]
Now the sun was setting and we were around 70k from our overnight stop, which we still had to find and as I mentioned, we knew the rally were bivouacking somewhere, but not sure where. It was now dark, windy and cold, as we arrived at a junction, left or right ,we stopped and looked at map, there was nothing anywhere and too windy to pitch a tent. We all agreed to head left towards TENDRARA, if we did not find the bivouac we would find something in or near the town, 30mins further on rounding a bend we saw lights, it was either locals OR!! We got closer and yes it was the rally, out of nowhere we stumbled across their camp. Great stuff! Parking the bikes outside the walled enclosure, we dodged past the police, who were standing guard, I suppose it was to keep locals out and we looked the part, head down, keep walking and we were in. Wondering round the pits, bikes and cars all light up, mechanics working on the cars and the big support trucks.

 

[punisher_uk]

Ok I must own up, the pics are stolen from a Spanish chap I met called tomaz, coz mine were shit. He gave me his email address, so we exchanged mails and he sent me some pics.
Sorry, went off on a tangent then. Back to the night, it’s now around 6.30pm and I decide to find an marshall and ask about camping, 3 walk by and I start with the French and a little Portuguese, they look at me funny and reply in English! PHEW! that made things easier. After explaining we are here to watch the race, and found their camp. It’s cold, dark, and windy can we camp inside the walls. He had to go ask some head honcho and asked us to stay with the bikes and he would pop and see us in 5 mins. Pic time again.

Time ticked by it got darker and colder and windier
Some time later, about 1hr, I hunted round and found the marshall, he looked at me and said “oh sorry, I forgot” GRRRRRR well its colder and darker and too windy to ride on (put the pressure on a bit). He got on the radio and said, follow me, you guys can pitch the tents here, you can’t use the food tents but you can get beer in this tent. GREAT STUFF!!! Went to find lubo and ian, lubo was standing with the bike’s and ian was still looking round so we rode into the camp and pitched the tents. Lubo got the coffee on and I got some warm clothes on. Time was getting on and as normal I was tired, when we had stopped for coffee ian had bought 6 steak’s. Lubo dug through his bag of tricks and found some pesto, I got the frying pan out and we had steak and pasta. Then ian came back and pitched his tent finally, he had been chatting to some drivers getting info on the next day’s stage’s.

11.30pm and ian still not sorted, meanwhile I’m ready for bed

Yes this is me, ready for bed. No joke, it was 0 deg, I was frozen, again, same routine, 2 shirts, fleece jumper, thermal underwear, jog pants, and the thermal liner from my bike pants, 2 thick pair sock’s, wooly hat and riding face mask, nope, still cold! Jacket over the sleeping bag, little better, just the feet, freezing. Text the wife good night and mentioned the cold feet, she replied, what about the hand warmers you got for the bike? (that’s what wife’s are for) she does look after me. Just before we left on the trip I purchased a pair of tucano urbano mits as I didn’t feel I would ever use heated grips in Portugal. These are wind and water proof and thermal lined, quick to fit and to remove.

And jokingly when they arrived, my son put them on his feet as shoes! Well I kid you not, I was so cold I would have tried anything. Out of the bag they came, slipped them on and tucked them into my pants, climbed back in bed and job done! Warm feet warm heart, time for bed.
Nn

 

[punisher_uk]

ok was thinking about uploading the full trip but maybe i should wait for a comment or two if the thread is ok and you want more i will upload later

 

[Mr K]

I'm enjoying it.

 

[Buz]

I'm enjoying it.

+1

 

[punisher_uk]

ok 2 thumbs up is good enough for me

DAY 4
NEW YEARS EVE
Early start today the boys, decided to catch the rally at the start of the first stage, or a check point not sure, this was their route

The alarm went of but I wasn’t really asleep, first job kettle on and wake lubo then attempt to get ian up.
I make the tea without getting out of bed, got really good at that before the end of the trip!!

Around 20 mins later and the boys were off, they expected to be around 2hrs (just realized my camera time is 1 hr out opps) anyway it was 6.30 am, very dark, as the boys rode off into the dark

I went back to bed for an hour, until the sun came up, then breakfast, as I expected the boys back at around 9 ish I slowly started to pack, chatted to a couple of bikers and the police, they kept popping over for cigs. Around 10am I started to get a little concerned, most of the trucks had gone and they started to drop the tents. I wondered where the boys were, had one of them broke down (no credit on mobile) they couldn’t be lost, they both had sat nav’s. Had one of them fallen and hurt themselves? Funny how strange things go through your mind when you are all alone.
[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FLt-R5poNN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FLt-R5poNN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]
Please excuse the language, if you are offended, do not watch. In my defence, talking to one’s self alone, bored and worried for the other two, swearing was low on the list of priorities!
4 or 5 young kids appeared from nowhere and started going through the rubbish, one jumped the wall next to lubo’s gear and walked to it, so I walked over and he stopped, I picked up a can of beer from the night before and gave it to him, he accepted with a big smile. I tuned away and noticed the police officer walking over to him, next thing I saw him putting the beer in his pocket, then walked to me and asked for a smoke! The wind picked up so I had my face mask and goggles on with a wooly hat, sat in the corner, out of the wind, more kids and a couple of men appeared, this was starting to bother me, I got all the boys gear, opened ians tent and threw it all in. Now I only had to watch 2 tents, finally I hear bikes and sit and watch the boys roll up. I will say now, I was pissed off, it was around 11am 4+hrs later, it didn’t help when ian said they had been playing off road. Pack you shit and lets fxxk off!! was my reply.

First TENDRARA for fuel ,water and supplies. Fruit and veggie for dinner. The plan for the day was to ride southwest in the direction of ERFOUD, small place called Source Blue, around 250klm, but also we had the off road bug so would try and find a few tracks. We set off from TENDRARA on the N17, we rode for around 15k and spotted a track heading in the right direction, if it worked it would cut the corner off the road, saving around 60k and the chance to enjoy a little bit of off road. I took the lead at first, but as you do, swooping and cutting corners, we started to have fun. It was quite fast, flat, slightly stony, with the odd deep rain-gully across the track. The track would split, offering many routs but always seemed to rejoin somewhere further on, so at some point we would all be on different tracks, 3 abreast on one such section, ian just ahead on my right and lubo slightly behind on my left . I’m always very aware of what’s happening around me and glanced right to check on ian, then quickly left, to lubo, trying to keep an eye on the track at all times. What I saw was lubo trying to be superman, the bike was slightly offline and lubo was heading over the left side of his bars towards the floor, a split second is all it took. I hit the brakes and dropped the bike on the stand, running back down the track as ian came riding over. First check on lubo, he lay still, face in the dirt, for what seemed an age. We both knelt over him “you ok bro” ahhh!! was his reply. (shit man) He sat up slowly, his NEW helmet was a mess, full face in the dirt, he stood up shakily and we took his helmet off. He was dazed and sat back down, I think he just needed to get his breath. While me and ian went to sort his bike out, we stood it up and inspected the damage, more to see if she was ride-able. Well nothing bent or broke, just the sat nav power lead and mirrors bent, smashed indicator and scratched.

The same could not be said for the pannier

 

[punisher_uk]

Nice bit of needle work there boys
By this time lubo was smiling, I noticed the time and we decided to have lunch. lubo made sardine sandwiches, whilst me and ian fixed the bags, erm, sand and sardines sandwiches I hear you say! Well it was windy!!
[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ID_iSKxG38I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ID_iSKxG38I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]
Lubo repacked his bags with all the heavy things on the back and light in panniers, then we were off. One more small crash later, (my fault ) or lubo too close but to avoid hitting me, lubo dumped the bike, I had braked hard at a large rut, bump, pot hole, call it what you will, 2 mins later and we were off again, still heading west into the setting sun.
In all the confusion and fun, time had passed and we decided we should text or phone home, as it was new years eve and we might not make camp that night. No phone signal, poo!! oh well, will try later.
We rode into the dusk, sun setting in front and we had only covered around 50k, not good, only another 200k to go, no chance! We stopped again near a river bed, the wind was wild and cold, the sun nearly gone, lubo ran to the top of a hill to try get phone signal, we had all given him a message to send if he succeeded, but no joy!! I knew from the sat nav the road was only 10k max to our left, we had been following it for the last hr, if we turned left we could get on the road, or do we stop now and sleep? Looking around there was no cover (lubos tent pole smashed the night b4 with the wind).
Ian and I suggested a river bed, there was a bend in the river and it offered great cover from the wind but common sense prevailed, it could easily rain in the mountains and flood the river. I think it was tiredness that we had even considered it, we rode on in the dark, ian in front, great headlights! (I will be converting mine soon) twin h4 osram night breakers, dump the h1 and cut the headlamp bowl out to take another h4, thus twin driving lamps and twin full beam. We must have rode like this for another hr, if not more, still heading west until we hit a road, not on the map, quick smoke and discussion, something to do with north east south west & stars. Let’s go right, I disagreed, but we went right. Within 5 mins I knew we had gone wrong and spun round, heading south. Soon after we came across the N10, the road we had been following most of the day on our left. The night seemed to get even darker and colder, ian and lubo stopped to don their cold weather gear, I already had mine on and was frozen. I suggested we stopped a.s.a.p anywhere will do! We all agreed, riding flat out we headed west 5k, 10k, 15k, brake. We spotted what hopefully was a disused building, offering shelter. The doors were all bricked up. Spinning round we noticed two more on the other side of the road, ian checked one out I checked the other. Mine seemed to meet all the requirements, out of the wind, a wall hiding us from the road and enough space to pitch 2 tents. lubo would have to kip with me. We pitched camp and ian made a great veg curry (still no phone signal) new years eve and no alcohol!!

We had pitched the tents inside 4 walls with a door about 3x3. The bikes stayed outside blocking the door, the curry was beautiful, a few coffees later, we had thought about coffee vodka but sleep was more important than vodka!! A quick tidy up and we all turned in for the night, it was around 11pm ish. I slept on a rock but it wasn’t too bad, still cold, still in my normal bed attire. I was used to this by now but to watch ian strip down to his boxers and climb into his sleeping bag made me real jealous!! lubo had two sleeping bags, one inside another, me and lubo had one last coffee and smoke b4 switching the lights out and falling asleep, dreaming of the day we had just survived and wondering what the night might bring. NN hope the Moroccans don’t bite!! LOL

 

[punisher_uk]

Day 5 NEW YEARS DAY
01/01/2010

Am sure I was awake around 5, 5.30am and needed the loo, but as Lubo was sleeping in my tent, I didn’t want to wake him, I laid there, crossing my legs, for what seemed an age, but had to go in the end so I had to wake him, I REALLY didn’t want him to wake up as I was climbing over him (he was between me and the door), he would have wondered what the hell I was upto!! So he decided, seeing as I had woke him up, to go too. At about 6am, although it was cold, the moon was still out, it was huge, it was a beautiful sight.

We were up and about by about 7.30am, we decided to go and investigate our surroundings in the daylight, david bailey got his tripod out, doing his thing. I snapped a few pics

Ian, having a bad hair day as usual

Me and Ian, all packed, ready to rock, waiting for lubo as usual. By day 5 we had realized that we had to give lubo a good half an hour head start with the packing, time for a smoke!!

The route for the day was aprox 170km to get to the campsite, still no mobile phone signal! We had not been able to contact our families that really bothered me. So we headed west. Mainly tarmac, my main aim was to try to get a mobile signal, soon as I could. 2 hours later, after passing numerous villages, we spotted what looked like a mobile phone mast in the distance. We sped up to see if our phones would work, success!! By now it was about 12pm, finally got through.
This is all we saw for most of the morning, a road to nowhere.

The highlight of our morning, life!! No matter where you are, nothing to see for miles around and either a man, kid or animal appears, as if by magic!!!

At the next available town we filled up with fuel, as we pulled into the station, 10 Moroccan’s surrounded us, men and kids. 1 bloke came to me asking for fuel, not understanding the word NO! Then the drugs came out, hashish?? A place to stay?? You had to have eyes in the back of your head,

 

[punisher_uk]

they were everywhere, into everything, didn’t like it at all, decided to leave as soon as, not even stopping for a coffee, we had planned to stop for lunch, but nope!

So we stopped here, at the side of the road, tuna sandwiches and coffee (for a change). The guy in the garage had fueled our tanks to the max, to get more money. Mine and lubo’s petrol cans were leaking, so I siphoned half a liter out of each. I noticed a smiley face on my screen, ian and lubo were laughing, still don’t know who did it!!

Time for a smoke, I gave lubo my camera, I got 15 pics of me, stood like that, lubo’s idea of great photo’s, take loads and delete the one’s you don’t want.
Cool time for some off-road again
We spotted a track again, heading in the right direction and headed off along it, at a much faster pace. I think myself and lubo were getting to grips with the extra weight, only stopping to check if we were heading in the right direction. Up a small ridge and into a bad rocky section, which just kept getting worse. 1k in we had to turn back which ended up being harder than riding up into the stones. In the end we walked the track, looking for a way out. Ian had to steady me over a small section, just the weight of the bike made it unstable crossing the rocks, then down a steep drop. I parked the bike and ran back up to help lubo down, but ian had managed it without help. It really did seem the way he loaded his bike worked, keeping all his weight low. We carried on and started to ride up a valley, within a few minutes we realized it was heading the wrong way and didnot look like tuning, so another U turn. I took the lead and headed back towards the road, the track was flat and open and it was great stood up on the pegs, reaching 80+. I just kept the throttle on, not looking back, they would catch me up in the end.
Back on the road and enough fun for one day, still a long way to go.

This next section was actually the R601. It started life as tarmac but within a few kilometers it turned into a dirt track. Ian was in his element, I had said, no more off-road today, as we would lose too much time, but now we had no choice, all we could do was ride and enjoy. The dust was bad and we ended up riding really far apart, just to be able to see the track ahead. We didn’t see ian for dust, he was gone, this gave him time to stop and get the video cam out, catching a few good shots of myself and lubo in action.

Or first sighting of camels, there were at least 7 or 8 and even a baby one. We stayed well back, not wanting to scare them.

The 3 amigo’s on top of the world! At this point we felt great, we had just ridden up a rocky climb and were stood at the top of one of the mountain ridge, (small one), looking down into the next valley and the way ahead. 4pm ish, plenty of time to get to the camp site, still 2 hrs to sunset, we would be off the track and back on the road in plenty of time.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y4Mt-PLX8fU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y4Mt-PLX8fU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Mr K]

Do I detect a NE accent there?

 

[punisher_uk]

Hmmm I spoke too soon, what goes up must come down and lubo did, crunch! Nothing broken luckily, these pegs are bloody heavy fully loaded down hill on a very stony track (nearly there, not far to the bottom) I keep telling myself, oh look ian stopped “what’s up “ “I think my carbs have fallen off “ lol!! your having a laugh but nope he wasn’t, he had been suffering from carb back fire for the last few hrs and it had managed to blow the carbs off the inlet manifolds “lubo get the kettle on we may be a while”

Oh look the sun is setting
Meanwhile a chap on a bike rode up the hill, stopped and watched and watched. Smoke? I said , coffee? lubo asked, so there we are on the side of a mountain, coffee, cigs and a broken peg, sun setting and a local watching, not saying a word! (living the dream!!) I don’t think he liked our coffee as he never drank it all and as quick as he appeared, he was gone, back off down the road the way he came. Very strange! I think we made his week, the most excitement he had for a while.
Ian’s bike wouldn’t run properly, all he could do was turn up the revs to keep it running, so off we went, in the dark again, with around 70k to go, of which 20ks or so was off-road. We were looking at another 3 hrs or more to get to a proper camp site.

Finally we arrived at Source Blue. Nice place and cheep, it worked out at 3 euro each, per night, €1 for the tent, €1 for the bike and €1 for a person, cool! We were met by a shop owner who said the man had gone home for the night, but it was ok to pitch your tent. He showed us about and we chose a spot, he asked us to join him in his shop for mint tea.

He sold carpets and trinkets, nice man, very good English. After the tea we headed to the tents for food, lubo, the appointed chef, made food and more coffee then bed, more tomorrow nn.

Day 6
2/01/2010
Not a lot happened today after breakfast, the first shower of the trip felt great to be clean again.
Made more friends

Ian was up early, we had planned to have half a day here and try and fix ian’s bike and so it started……..
Off with the carb’s

After stripping them, we replaced a few O rings (lubo had spares)
Everything was good, (the carbs are like new, ian replaced the inside before we left)

Rebuilt bike and brummmmm pop, pop, pop!
No different, ahhhh!! and so the day went.
Carb’s off, clean
Carb’s on pop, pop.
Carb’s off, clean, new plug.
Carb’s back on, pop, pop.
Still no better!!
Symptom’s: bike runs but seems to backfire through the carb’s at low rev’s, if left, would blow the carb’s off the rubber mounts.
And so carb’s off, carb’s on, carb’s off, carb’s on.

 

[punisher_uk]

Diner time

Then carb’s off, carb’s on, OMG!!!
Somewhere in this day I got chatting to a Italians couple who let us charge the cameras.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jLlWJ_ke2BI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jLlWJ_ke2BI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Nice break from the bike, then back to it.
LET’S TRY FUEL
So pinched lubo’s fuel tank and
Pop, pop.
That’s a no then.
Ian has two computers under his seat.
So change computer.
No better!
I spent a good few hrs adjusting the carb’s and running the bike leaner, richer, nothing worked.
Carb’s off again, adjust float heights ect, clean filters, we did it all. By around 10 pm I gave up. ian kept on late into the night.
We got bored.
And look a new friend arrived,
Ally Barbar.

Who was this masked man??

Did you guess right?
Its lubo AKA Ally Barbar lol.
Anyway, fixing the bike went on late into the night, we left ian to it.
I think the saga was going to run over into tomorrow……………….