We tried to get to Ait Benhaddou today, but the police turned us back by Ait-Ourir, and after some soul searching, we drove back to Marrakech, to wait out the rain and lay a new plan.

There's plenty to see in Marrakech to keep you busy and if things don't improve the road west to Essaouira is very good so I can't see it being affected by the floods to the south

Hope the weathers improves for you

There's a piste heading east from Foum Zguid along the north shore of Lac Iriki which you can use when the lake is flooded. The locals call it the "route de la Montagne" It's unpleasantly rough and I'd rather wait for the lake to dry out. Chances are if the lake is flooded, Mhamid could be cut off anyway.


Happy trails,


Peter

Not all things are going as expected: first the weather turns us back to Marrakech and now I've just spent two hours in the police station after two guys trashed the rental car (along with 4 other cars) at the car park. The attendants didn't dare to stop the guys, because both were drunk and one had a big machete. Luckily the police came by and apprehended them. Front and rear windows are smashed and this could be an expensive adventure, because I didn't get the "extra" insurance to reduce the deductible, as it cost an extra €200, so now I'm looking at maybe loosing the 36,000 MAD deductible.

It's safe to say that it's been an eventful first day in Morocco.

Does anyone have any experience with someone trashing their rental car and how this plays out with the deductible?

Good luck with sorting out the car dude! I've had similar issues in the US (third party/criminal damage) and they just swapped the car for us, had Max insurance though, no deductable At the moment I'd put plans of heading south on hold until the roads clear. I'm stuck in Ozt at the moment with a rental 4x4 that needs to go back to Marrakech. They don't have an office in Ozt :( (Medloc).

We've done a few pistes with h no probs over the past week with limited off road experience, no probs at all but it 'was' mostly dry for us. I'll dig out the numbers when I get a chance.

Hope you enjoy your trip, despite setbacks! Dave

The company might see this as an opportunity to try to stiff you, but you shouldn't need to pay more than the cost of repair and their losses whilst the vehicle is off the road. A front windscreen for a Toyoya Prado costs around 180€, but of course will be more than that in Morocco with import taxes. How long they have to wait for the parts will come into the equation, but I'd hope you could get away with less than 1,000€.

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I would have though Toyota Maroc have a decent amount of screens in stock without import taxes. Whenever I've bought new genuine parts in Maroc they have been no more expensive than the UK or Europe.

FrozenViking - you trip isn't getting off to a great start, hope thinks get better for you soon and it doesn't put you off Morocco

FrozenViking: it might be worth your while trying to find a Toyota dealer and either getting it repaired now, or at least finding out the costs and whether any delay in getting parts is anticipated.

Hello all,

Thank you very much for all your input. I had unfortunately already returned the car, before I saw your message Tim. The Moroccan police was very adamant that I should not have to pay for this, since it was a criminal attack, but I'm not holding my breath. One good thing was that the hotel manager at the hotel we stayed at in Marrakech knew the Marrakech Airport Europcar manager, and the Europcar manager said he would do what he could to make sure that we didn't have to pay, but we'll see. I think we'll end up with the bill, but hopefully it won't be too outlandish. We returned the car and didn't get a new car, to avoid having to pay losses while the car was off the road.

I figured the weather wasn't going to make a southern trip possible before Sunday (when we fly back to Norway), so the point of having a 4x4 was gone. Instead we jumped on a bus to Essaouira, checked in to a nice hotel (the girl had some coupons that gave us a 5-star hotel for next to nothing), so now we're chilling out, eating good food and enjoying a VERY different vacation from what I had planned.

The weather might have stopped me this time, but I now have a great itinerary for next time.

- Andreas

What a blow getting your rental car smashed up. Sounds like your car trip was not meant to be. Happened to me in Anchorage once - presumed it was also a local drunk once I eliminated freezing temps which are not so unusual there.

Was this in an open or underground or street side parking in Marrakech?

There is no way front and rear windows add up to 36,000 MAD. Might your credit card cover it? Hope it works out.

Ch

Shit happens and it sucks, but we're making the best of it. It can happen here, in Anchorage or in Norway for that matter ... "Surprising" that in a country where the locals aren't allowed to drink that drunk guys are trashing cars.

Open parking, but with three guys patrolling it. They couldn't do much as the drunk guy was going crazy with a big machete. The police apprehended the guy, but not before he had trashed 8 cars (I thought it was 5, but it turned out he had gone to town on 8 cars).

I'm hoping to find out in the next couple of days what the cost will be. Traveling insurance, credit cards, etc. have all come up short ... Not surprising, they're happy to take your money, but to pay out of their pockets ... Not so much.

Glad to hear you trip has got a bit better and hasn't put you off returning again.

Morocco does have an interesting approach to alcohol and how to drink it. The way the law covers drunks is also very unusual, under the Moroccan system a drunk cannot be held responsible for his actions!

The authorities are clamping down on alcohol abuse. The hypermarket chain Marjane no longer stocks it. Having seen the state of some of the poor souls who would be filling their trolleys with bottles of spirits, etc. it's not surprising.
Officially, it's forbidden to sell alcohol to Muslims and forbidden for them to buy it. However, this has cut off a major domestic outlet for the Moroccan wine & lager manufacturers.

Happy trails,

Peter

How's the girl enjoying the trip? Considered taking my girlfriend if/when I go on the bike.

Exactly how I feel about it when I look back at an evening of drinking ;)

We found the local alcohol shop in Essaouira (not part of a supermarket) and have been able to buy different Moroccan wines as well as Flag, Cassablanca and Stork there, so while the weather might be crap, we've kept our spirits high :thumbup1:

The girl is enjoying it. She wasn't a fan of Marrakech, but really likes Essaouira. Here we've sampled different restaurants, explored the souk and had a relaxing time. As long as your girlfriend doesn't walk around in hotpants and a bikintop, she won't get undue attention. The people are nice and the food is great, so I'm sure she'll have a good time.