PottsyGS
Registered user
In October my pal Geoff (XT660) and I (F800GS) decided that another Northern Irish winter should be avoided at all costs so we headed for sunny Spain with the aim of leaving our bikes in Malaga for the winter. Having found excellent indoor parking ([email protected] and tell Irene we sent you) we got 2 ferries and rode south, taking in the final round of WSB in Portugal on the way.
We flew out to the bikes again on the 22nd of November and the next day took the ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta, this was the view en-route from Tarifa that morning.
After customs (easy thanks to Tim's excellent info and advice) we rode to Tetouan for insurance (border and Fnediq offices closed) and then on to Chefchaoen for lunch before making it to Meknes for the night. We found an excellent hotel with a locked yard to park the bikes, good food and great prices (Akouas Hotel, 27 Rue Amir Abdelkader +212 35515967). Next day we took the train to Fez and explored by foot...
...and taxi.
After 2 nights in Meknes we headed south again stopping in Marrakesh for a couple of nights in the Ibis by the train station. Parking was good with attendants all night and we had fun in the pool but the breakfast made me ill. This is surprising as I am hard to poison and we had been eating in all kinds of roadside places all week with no problems.
Everywhere we went everyone had a sheep and we met a local guy who explained that we had arrived in a holiday week which would culminate with the head of every household killing a sheep. Every town and village had a sheep market that week and a whole industry to support it from guys selling sheep food through to knife sharpeners pedaling stones to sharpen the tools of the slaughter.
We stopped on the way north in Cassablance for Geoff to get a new tyre at the only place anyone could suggest anywhere in Morocco! I don't know if we just asked the wrong people but we are both well travelled and pretty good at finding stuff usually. The guys were great and even stayed late to fit the tyre. Cassablanca is a dirty hell hole and I would avoid it unless a tyre is needed. There is a power station on the north which covered us in oil film so thick we could not see through our visors. People breathing this will surely not live long.
Our final night was in a lovely B&B (Villanora +212 37432071) in Moulay Bousselham, a picturesque Atlantic fishing village with a lagoon. They cooked fish on a fire and all was great with lovely sea views and safe on street parking. The next day we left town to the unforgettable sight of the local kids burning their sheeps heads outside their houses as the streets ran in rivers of blood from the carcasses being cleaned on the footpaths. It didn't bother us at all but if it would upset you then pick a different week.
Anyway I will close with a few bits of wisdom we learned which may be of interest to anyone new to Moroccan road travel:
1.) Moroccans overtake anywhere, often towards you around corners. Be ready for this and adjust your corner speed / commitment accordingly.
2.) Night driving is fun if you like a challenge. Vehicles doing under 20 KPH are not obliged to have lights and packs of stray dogs go to the roads at night to eat the day's roadkill. We had so many moments that we ended up laughing down the intercom at eachother as we swerved to safety around a donkey cart or a big dog.
3.) Moroccans drive in the middle of the road, even in the middle of 2 lanes on motorways. This comes from the fact that rural roads often have large items of debris littering the sides, so staying out helps avoid this. Moving out will not usually be accompanied by mirror or signal so be ready if you are overtaking.
4.) City driving in traffic is diabolical. We came into Marrakesh in the evening rush hour and found 7 lanes of traffic across 5 marked lanes with scooters screaming everywhere. 2 kids knocked 2 older guys off right in front of me and the car behind became aggressive because I waited for them to get up instead of riding over them!
5.) Most roads are pretty good, some are not and even the better ones can have a surprise pot hole big enough to loose a lorry every once in a while.
6.) In Europe my accuracy for ETAs is usually about +or- 20 mins per day, in Morocco I was 2.5 hrs wrong the first day. The pace is slower and there is a lot to stop and see, so leave a bit of space if you do not fancy night riding.
All this said we had a ball and if you stay on top of your game, keep alert and drive defensively then its a great laugh. Can't wait to go back.
We flew out to the bikes again on the 22nd of November and the next day took the ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta, this was the view en-route from Tarifa that morning.
After customs (easy thanks to Tim's excellent info and advice) we rode to Tetouan for insurance (border and Fnediq offices closed) and then on to Chefchaoen for lunch before making it to Meknes for the night. We found an excellent hotel with a locked yard to park the bikes, good food and great prices (Akouas Hotel, 27 Rue Amir Abdelkader +212 35515967). Next day we took the train to Fez and explored by foot...
...and taxi.
After 2 nights in Meknes we headed south again stopping in Marrakesh for a couple of nights in the Ibis by the train station. Parking was good with attendants all night and we had fun in the pool but the breakfast made me ill. This is surprising as I am hard to poison and we had been eating in all kinds of roadside places all week with no problems.
Everywhere we went everyone had a sheep and we met a local guy who explained that we had arrived in a holiday week which would culminate with the head of every household killing a sheep. Every town and village had a sheep market that week and a whole industry to support it from guys selling sheep food through to knife sharpeners pedaling stones to sharpen the tools of the slaughter.
We stopped on the way north in Cassablance for Geoff to get a new tyre at the only place anyone could suggest anywhere in Morocco! I don't know if we just asked the wrong people but we are both well travelled and pretty good at finding stuff usually. The guys were great and even stayed late to fit the tyre. Cassablanca is a dirty hell hole and I would avoid it unless a tyre is needed. There is a power station on the north which covered us in oil film so thick we could not see through our visors. People breathing this will surely not live long.
Our final night was in a lovely B&B (Villanora +212 37432071) in Moulay Bousselham, a picturesque Atlantic fishing village with a lagoon. They cooked fish on a fire and all was great with lovely sea views and safe on street parking. The next day we left town to the unforgettable sight of the local kids burning their sheeps heads outside their houses as the streets ran in rivers of blood from the carcasses being cleaned on the footpaths. It didn't bother us at all but if it would upset you then pick a different week.
Anyway I will close with a few bits of wisdom we learned which may be of interest to anyone new to Moroccan road travel:
1.) Moroccans overtake anywhere, often towards you around corners. Be ready for this and adjust your corner speed / commitment accordingly.
2.) Night driving is fun if you like a challenge. Vehicles doing under 20 KPH are not obliged to have lights and packs of stray dogs go to the roads at night to eat the day's roadkill. We had so many moments that we ended up laughing down the intercom at eachother as we swerved to safety around a donkey cart or a big dog.
3.) Moroccans drive in the middle of the road, even in the middle of 2 lanes on motorways. This comes from the fact that rural roads often have large items of debris littering the sides, so staying out helps avoid this. Moving out will not usually be accompanied by mirror or signal so be ready if you are overtaking.
4.) City driving in traffic is diabolical. We came into Marrakesh in the evening rush hour and found 7 lanes of traffic across 5 marked lanes with scooters screaming everywhere. 2 kids knocked 2 older guys off right in front of me and the car behind became aggressive because I waited for them to get up instead of riding over them!
5.) Most roads are pretty good, some are not and even the better ones can have a surprise pot hole big enough to loose a lorry every once in a while.
6.) In Europe my accuracy for ETAs is usually about +or- 20 mins per day, in Morocco I was 2.5 hrs wrong the first day. The pace is slower and there is a lot to stop and see, so leave a bit of space if you do not fancy night riding.
All this said we had a ball and if you stay on top of your game, keep alert and drive defensively then its a great laugh. Can't wait to go back.
