Only just picked up on these - interesting to read and thanks for sharing, Jim.

FWIW Instagram biker Nata has been down this way the last week or two and had some frusrtrations with escorts from In Salah onwards, and even already with a guide across from Idles to BEH. My understanding is that she was blocked by gendarmes at BEH from completing her anti-clockwise loop from Tamanrasset via BEH back north to Hassi Massaoud and Tunesia.

See here - https://www.instagram.com/nata_onthe...NlZDc0MzIxNw==

I think your comments on solo bikers finding it easier to slip through, and the arbitery nature of it all hit the nail on the head.

I'm due to hear back next week on a visa for myself, for a two week trip in February - but will be focussing on the northern Sahara sections for that.

Ed

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

I can understand that In Salah was an issue for Nata. The gendarmes might have been sensitised by what happened to me.

If you have nobbly/sand tyres avoiding the police road block leaving In Salah is reasonably easy - just look at the map and you will see where you can cut through the town dump and rejoin the TSH further south. The checkpoint on arrival at In Salah from the North is trickier to avoid and I didn't have time while heading north myself to find a way around it - but there must be.

I would like to reiterate that my issues in In Salah stemmed from a guide sticking his oar in. I never had another issue with the Gendarmes anywhere in Algeria.

There are more and more bikers trundling around the South. Coming back from Djanet I bumped into two Dutch bikers (Martijn and Max) at the (empty that day) filling station at Bordj El Haouas who said that they had encountered a group of 5 bikers in Djanet. So there are heaps more folk doing the south but not writing it up.

Spare 21in Front Tyre

In In Salah, if this can help someone in the future, due to changes of plans, I left a practically new 21inch Motoz Tractionator Desert with Nordine at his workshop which on Google maps is Mechelen Lat/Long 27.19363254287799, 2.484235799624933 (I did have workshop logged but my DMD spat the dummy on arrival back in Spain and I lost the Lat/Long) - you'll see my Live Unlimited Warthog/Ngiri sticker on his door if he isn't there. He's a great bloke and has the only tyre machine that does bike tyres in In Salah. He will also store your tyres for the return if you need to do that. Give him my salaams. Furthermore if you do want to use his services you might consider a gift of rubber solution and patches which are both hard to get and expensive in In Salah.

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