thanks hendrick here comes some more



When I arrived at Anne’s place she already recieved the seals for the engine that I bought online.
The weather was good so I build them in right away.



Servus Reiner, I already said goodbye to Anne because she had to leave early to go to work. So only Reiner and Alex where left, and Reiner did this in his own special way.
This was the last bit of München and from now I went south to Austria.
Reiner and Daniel both told me I should go and see the Walchensee south of München so that was the next goal.



On the way to the Walchensee there was a nice road that curved its way into the mountains, ofcourse this road is well known by motorcyclists.



It is truly beautifull at the Walchensee, only it should have been a bit warmer. I wanted to swim but it was just to cold that day.



I wanted to avoid toll ways but did not succeed at all in it, the first one I hit was when trying to cross the German to Austria border. And the second one when I was about 4 km in Austria luckely this one came with a spectacular waterfall view.



Ariving at Zell am see I looked for a place to stay at the lake, but that was to hard to find a spot at the lake for wildcamping.
So I turned towards the mountains and found myself this nice little spot next to a small waterfall.
I slept very well but not very deep because of the waterfall, so no more waterfalls in the future.



At Zell am see I prepared this nice meal for myself from some pasta, cheese, tomatos and salami that I took with me from Anne’s place. Very tasty! Yes all of you that recognize the cuttingbord it used to be Eva’s at the Rossstrasse WG.



The next morning I woke up early, mostly because of the sound that the waterfall was making all night. I kept thinking when does somebody turn that thing off.
Washed myself in the cold but refreshing mountainstream packed my stuff back on the bike, and again different from how I did this in the past. I think I have something good now because I can now also open the panniers when the tyres and packs are still on the back.



When I saw the bench I hit the brakes and parked the bike to enjoy this spectacular view and have a lunchbrake. I hope you are able to see it too, there is a beautiful castle in the back.



Riding trough Wildalpen national park I spotted this beautiful spot next to the river Salza. It was only 16.00 so I could still ride on but I desided to stay. Pitched the tent next to the bike and went for a 5 second swim in the freezing water.



After enjoying my swim I started early with preparing dinner same as yesterday except this time I added wurstl (saussage). Without the view I was enjoying this would taste different.



All night it had rained and it still did the following morning. The rain changed my toughts from leaving to staying here. I had a good and dry spot so why give it up, and I also needed a extra day to meet up with Andreas in Zemendorf.
When I walked around my campsite I found this enormous snail, the biggest I have ever come across. The picture does not show this quite well but the snails house is about 5cm diameter and the wooden post it is placed on is a stool that stood next to my tent. Big ass snail.



Rain rain rain, not what I wished for. Just when I was feeling good with the fact of staying where I was, a car suddenly stopped on the roadside 5m away from my tent. The passengerdoor swings open and a young girl is puking half in and half out of the car. The whole famely got out of the car and started to clean the cars carpet and the girls clothes in the river. They shortly greeted me and got back in the car and drove off leaving me with a large puddle of badly smelling puke next to my tent. This is when the plan changed and I packed the bike and drove off.



On my way again I stopt to hide for the rain I met Reinhard and his wife who where on holiday on there bikes, He on the Goldwing and she just having her driverslicense on a smaller Honda CB I believe.



And their photo.

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At the moment I am staying in Andreas his Gypsy Castle, he is working hard to get his farm ready so travellers will have a place to stay + add and share experiences among each other.



Saterday evening I arrived at Andreas his place, I was earlyer than expected. It was more of a get lucky and see who is there thing, because I knew that Andreas would be gone until Monday.
But I was warmly welcomed by his parents and they showed me Andreas place after a nice dinner. At that moment Andreas was not there yet but his parents gave me the key, turned on the hot water and left to go their own holiday.



The following day I went to do some sightseeing in Rust a little village at the Neusiedlersee, Every house there has a Storks nest on the chimney.



Some locals enjoying the shade as much as I did. Just behind the tree there was a old Hungarian man playing on his accordeon, and after a while of playing a few older Italian tourists came and just started singing out of the blue. I just sat there and enjoyed.



Andreas his trustworthy Triumph bonneville and my ride ready to change the front tire.



Operation front tire, the old off-road tire was completly wasted because of the twisty road in the Alps.





The difference!



Tomorrow I will leave Andreas again. He travelled India for months with his friend the 350 Royal Enfield. I had a great time at his place. Riding the Enfield trough the fields and having dinner at a traditional farmers restaurant.

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This is how I left my old tire in Zemendorf. Maybe the birds will like it and build a home in it.



Austian – Hungarian border.



I had just bought a map of Slovenia and parked on a small quiet road to draw a route on my map when the bike topled over. Nothing real bad happend exept for that I was not able to get it upright anymore and had to ask a passing farmer to help me.



When I stoped for a moment to enjoy the view and make my first picture in Slovenia some local farmers that where collecting the hay came to me and shared a glass of whine with me. We talked a bit about how life is. And they told me they did not like it that all the old Slovenian people where left alone by there children that often live and work abroad.



On my way I saw a mountain with a big antenna on top of it. I thought well when the big antenna is there, there must be a road up the mountain. Already heading in that direction I asked an old woman the way she explained me that there where two roads and that I had to go left at the church. Not much of a description so further towards the bottom of the mountain I asked again, this time some younger people they said that there is a road and told me how to get there. They also mentioned “ No there is military ” I replied “well I have a tent so I can sleep there so no problem”. I had not really understood what they where talking about until I saw the first sign that is was forbidden to go up to the top. Ignorant as I am after 10km of riding up a mountain in hope for a nice place to sleep I kept on going. They will tell me in person If I am doing anything wrong here. Pitched the tent and slept like a log.



It’s hard to see but from the top of the mountain Boč the view was amazing.
The bike also needed a oil change, I wanted to do this the day before but it started to rain so I did it in the morning on top of the mountain.



On my way down I met the military that where on there way up. One of their jeeps almost drove me of the side of the road.



The Slovenian roads are terrible if you don’t have a enduro bike, because they have a very special way to repair asphalt roads. They just put gravel in the holes and that’s it. Sometimes the asphalt just stops and the B roads just turn to tracks. Good to give my off-road skills a bit of practice.



Nasvidenje Ljubljana. Far in the back just before the mountains is Ljublejana.



I forgot to make a picture of the small deer antler that I got from Andreas for good luck.



Nothing.



Crossing the border to Italy.



I actually wanted to stay another night in Slovenia on the beach near Portoros. But I did not follow my own instinct and let myself go 40km in the wrong direction. So Italy it would be. I imagined that I would drink a and eat a pizza in a small restaurant on the beach of the Mediterranean sea.
This is impossible, the whole coast is build shut with hotels and beach clubs each claiming there part of beach including water. So after wasting a lot of time still hoping to find some quiet place to eat and sleep on the beach I made the decision to go more in land. It was already getting dark and I still had no place. Tired as I was I drove into a gravel dead end road in hope to find the best place at the end. And I did.



I put up the tent and heard the sound of a kitchen and people talking. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn’t. There was a nice restaurant just on the other side of the fence next to my tent. So some nice food after all.



A plate of Fruti di mare fished locally form the lagoons. And a glass of strong white wine.
I was in heaven.



The dessert was the best icecream I have ever tasted. Home made raspberry ice with fresh homegrown raspberries on top. It’s a shame I only have a photo of the empty bowl. But it shows how good it was.



On my way back to the tent I saw a man in a boat doing something that looked like he was scraping something of the walls of the locks.



Lago di Garda. This is where I met Wilhelm and Nordi.



Grazie Mile, This old man did not want to sell me his vegtables. He gave them for free. And the way they tasted was amazing!!



These two girls and Aristoteles the dog helped me translate everything from German to Italian. So I could communicate with the old man.



Wilhelm and Nordi, I met them at the Garda lake. They where here with a 4×4 MAN truck which they left on the campground. If they explore the surrounding or go to a restaurant they take Wilhelm’s KTM enduro which sits on the back of the truck normally.
Recently Wilhelm was in Morocco riding his KTM trough the Atlas mountains.
They are a very nice and interesting couple. I took some good advice from Wilhelm and we had a wonderfull evening together at the only restaurant in Terlago. Terlago is a small village north of the Garda lake and west of Trento. My campingspot was also a recommendation from them.

Thanks Wilhelm and Nordi!! I had a very very good spot directly in front of the last lake.



My perfect camping spot at Lago della Mar.



When I was doing my morning swim in the lake a lot of fish came and swam with me, later I fed them some old bread I still had with me. I hope you will be able to see them.



View from the tent that Sunday morning.



Yesterday I decided that I would ride south along the other side of the Garda lake. Today I was going to ride close to 400km in order to get to Claudio in Savona.



3 police speedchecks and one bad accident later I arrived safely at Claudio’s work where I was offered a cold and a place to sit on the roof. Luckely I had nothing to do with the accident and the man in it was still alive, but it looked very bad. His motorcycle was completly ruined, and he was taken care of by the medics arriving at the scene.
Not wearing any protective clothes besides a helmet is asking for trouble on a fast bike and a road loaded with nice fast curves. The Ride from Brescia to Genoa was beatiful, the road curved allong the mountainside and trough the steep valley. Lots of nice curves!!



When Claudio finished his work we went to eat pizza!! And we had an assistant to make a picture of us, a shame he did not understand that there was a centerfocus
I am having a great time staying with Claudio for me it feels like the last time I saw him was yesterday.



The small appartment where he lives with his parents has a beautiful view of the Mediteranean sea.
It could not have been better!

Ok I’m off to the beach now!

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Here we go after a while!! at the moment I am helping out a friend to renovate her house so I will stay here a little longer. but no worries I will be on the move asap.



This is what a very serious Claudio looks like when he is making some very dellisious Carbonara.



Siteseeing in Savona.



During the tour we took in the fortress of Savona that has been build by the Genoans long ago Claudio spots a pidgeon.



Savona seen from the fortress.



Phylicia here is a picture of some real Italian icecream, I had to be quick because it was so hot the icecream was melting before you even got it in your mouth.



After icecream we did some more siteseeing, this is a very old entrance. One of the entrances we looked at we even got a small tour trough the house by one of the owners. A lot of these entrances are decorated with a soft black stone of which I do not remember the name, Claudio told me but I forgot.



The Last evening we wanted to eat at this shop. I was really looking forward to it but when we went there it was closed. We tried the next good one Claudio knew but when we entered the owner told us he was sold out. So Fruti di mare it was.



[IMG]http://www.passingalong.nl/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/funny-face2.jpg[/IMG

While waiting for our enormous fruti di mare dish we made some real nice portraits. This was the last evening with my dear friend Claudio. I miss you man!!



When I entered Sesto I saw fellow overlander Derek , he was looking for a hotelroom because he wanted a good night sleep and a shower to freshen up a bit.
I offered him to go with me and look for a small beach directly on the lake and set up camp there. He had already made up his mind Hotel it will be. We shared some good stories and each set out in another direction.



When I left Derek in Sesto it was already getting dark so I had to find a good campingspot soon. And I did, I found a small deserted road alongside lake Maggiore which led to the gardens of some enormous villas. One of the villas was not finished yet but it had a pier with video survailence, or at least that was what the sign said. I did not see any. Pitched the tent and made myself dinner and ate it on the pier with this amazing view.



Sleeping creature like mountains seen from the pier.



In the morning I was able to make a photo of where I was at.



This is what you have missed Derek. I hope you had a great shower in the Hotel, I had a very good bath in the lake.



I wanted to make a picture at the border but the officers where not really pleased with it, so this is what we have from entering Switserland. This is the Italian speaking part of it still. When crossing the border I did not see a significant change in petrol price. The last time I went to the petrolstation was in Italy and I paid € 1,96/L they are insane with these high prices. But I was talking about the price in Switserland, it was 1,88 still very expencive I thought. But I forgot it was CHF 1,88/L which calculates to € 1,53/L so I was happy again and filled up the bike.



When I got closer to the Gottard pass the weather stared to turn form sunny to cold and rainy. On top of the Gottard the clouds where so thick I could not really enjoy the view, It looked more like a valley on a bad day. But actually I was at 2000+m.



I don’t really know why the bike should be on so many photo’s but it just happens, maybe I will try to make some photo’s with me on it next time.



The Swiss Alps.



I did not realize that Switserland was so small until I bumped against the lower side of the Bodensee.
Altnau to be precise is where I camped that night. The next day I took off for Hagnau which lays exactly opposite from Altnau. Hagnau will be the endstation for a while. I am helping out a friend there.



At night there was a storm with lots of rain and wind. Luckely I had a well sheltered campground under a tree and behind some bushes. The morning sun was nice and warm. My kit was dry in minutes and I packed all my stuff on the bike and took off for Konstanz. Later that evening I arrived at Sybille in Hagnau.



The view for about 4 weeks, not bad. To be continued!

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Hello from Australia,I am enjoying your post,will follow with interest,as ive never been to europe i find it all interesting.Noel

@ Noel, Hey Noel nice to hear you are enjoying my ride report, Europe is almost over next time I will post I hope to be in Morocco Have fun!! Emile

In Hagnau I helped Sybille to renovate one of her appartments. I liked the work but I have to admit it did grow a bit out of proportion for me.
It went from a small “do up the place a little” to a full renovation. Luckely Gut and the guys came to pick up the pace and finish the place.
Herr Gut, Adam and Mateusz learned me a lot of things about renovating. This gave me the feeling that I am on the right track with my trip. I set out to learn and experience new things and here in Hagnau I did exactly that.



Me at my best



Jean Pierre the Swiss workforce.



The saviors Gut and the guys.



Good times with Mateusz and Adam putting putz on the wals.



In Hagnau I got to know Sybille’s friend Isabel and we went on a small motorcycle tour to enjoy the countryside.



We stoped to see some waterfalls somewhere in the Allgäu. The southern part of Germany is beautiful!



Up here trough there and you will get there.



Standing at the side of a resent landslide near the waterfalls.



The waterfall. In the photo it looks a lot smaller as it was in reality.



When I took of from Holland I took with me a salt and pepper mix made by Max Havelaar called “African mix”.
I really liked it and looked for something that came close to the same taste in the shops where I passed.
But no success so I gave it a go myself.
Delicately cut some skin off an orange, citrus and lemon. And added af few sliced bits of garlic to dry in the frying pan.
After an hour or so of careful stirring and heating (no burning) all was dried, left it to cool down and mixed it with salt and pepper.



The result a very strong sunny tasteful mix for any meal



Isabel making us some delicious Dinkel käse spätzle.



As in almost every post I have to fix my bike in some way or do some maintenance.
This week I did the lot, the traveling is taking its toll on the old bike.
But nothing serious.
Maintenance done:
-valve adjustment
-new rear tire
-oil change
-chain adjustment
-carburetors cleaned

Repairs done:
-broken muffler welded
-new and better heat shield in the side cover

Changes done:
-12v socket placed on the rear of the bike



Jürgen aka Willi, helped me with the TIG welding of my muffler and fixed me up with a mount for the 12v socket I put on the rear of the bike.
He had some cool bikes there a Yamaha 250 DT , a faster then normal Schwalbe and a very cool Beta 498

The bike is ready to hit the next continent! Tomorrow I will set of towards the south of Spain and Morocco.

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Thanks for sharing Emile, looked at your site too, nice!!

Enjoy your trip and safe travels!

Ruud

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The road is my home, it's where I am happiest

Hey all,

At the moment I am in Fes Morocco, chilling in Riad Versus. A lot has changed lately. All of you know I wanted to make a round the world trip really badly, but that has changed. I found out that travelling alone is not really my cup of tea. Those of you that know me probably saw this coming. I always knew this would be my weak spot but never thought it would bring me to the thought of coming back sooner this quick. Of course this is not the only reason for me to change the plan. I also noticed that I really miss the work I did and then especially my own creative work, making the lamps, jewellery, furniture and all the rest. When travelling I felt more like a onlooker then a participator, sometimes you can do a little bit but the real feeling of participation was not there and I miss that. Last but not least I miss my family and friends. All of this adds up to an early return to Holland. Not that I will stop travelling NO, I will go on but in smaller steps and not alone. The smaller steps will be good when I need to empty my creative thoughts because I already have the feeling my head is getting overfilled and I need to make stuff.

so that’s that said!



Probably the worst picture ever made of the Rheinfalls, This was actually a very amazing sight.
I never even knew there was a big waterfall in the Rhein.





After my first night sleep at a very boring spot somewhere in a field with forest surrounding it. I woke up early to make some distance and came down a hill seeing this. The two cities Montreux and Vevey the entrance to the alps.





Swiss wine just before crossing the border to France.





I have to admit it is hard to see but in the background you see a part of the Mont Blanc. I thought maybe I will get a better view of it later but that did not happen. Although I drove around it and saw the other side of it.




Hey thats me and the Le mouton all the way up our first high pass in the Alps, when I remember well it was at 1400m.




This is what it looked like upthere, it was empty and higher up bits are covered with snow.




They even put a lake upthere, Lac de Roselend.




After a few passes I looked for a nice campground and found this one near Bessan.




And this was the background of my new campingspot




This is also where I made my first campfire of the trip! nice and warm because it was already getting cold in europe. The next morning I discovered that I was sleeping at about 1600m because of a sign just around the first bend in the road. No wonder it was pretty cold that night.




Bikers. we had seen each other a few times on the way and waved at each other. Now we all reached the same goal. Col de L’Iseran.



The Highest I have riden the bike! I was doing fine, Le Mouton just 500 rpm This pass is supposed to be one of the highest you can get in Europe. There is one that is higher but only 30m or so, at least that is what the french bikers told me. It was high.




And when you are that high something will always top it to be even higher.




On my way down I stopped at this small hut completely covered by the forest.




Came across another lake high up.




Hey Madleen if you need some parts for your car Fontan (France) is where you need to go.




Near Sospel just 30 km above Monaco I found the best campingground ever. It was located on a small ridge about 6 m higher then the road with a beautiful view. Here I also made a small campfire and tried out a different setup. I build a small half domed arch out of stones to radiate the heat from the fire towards me, and that the fire would not lose so much heat and therefor used less wood,
And it worked perfect.




Down below just on the side of the street there was a small flat area to park the bike and like you can see there is the tent pitched on the ledge.




I imagined the coast a bit different, more open space and nature not just one ongoing line of buildings. what a shame.




After many km’s down the coast I came across this sight, so there is still a bit of nature left.




This looked like a nice camping ground but at dusk some wild boars came to keep me from getting some sleep.




Marseille what a city.




On my way to Rivesaltes I met Vandré and Anouck who where doing a trip trouch france on a motorcycle like I was doing and we stopped for a drink and some photo’s we had a great time.
Drinks where finished and we headed each in our own directions.
Godspeed to both of you!




These guys were making funny jokes when Vandré, Anouck and I made some pictures. They shouted “cheese” but they did not expect me to shout “fromage” and thats when this picture was made.




When looking at this boat it felt like having a dream of going towards something unknown and beautiful.




I was looking for a place to camp again but then it happened that I fell down with the bike and like the time before I could not get the bike upright on my own. Luckily there where some people coming towards me to help. The other downside was that it started raining that same moment.
My hand hurt and me having a down feeling I decided to go for the first hotel I can find to chill out.




The hotel was situated in Rivesaltes and to expencive for what they had to offer, but the woman at the desk said the price was not negotiable. Good thing was I did not have to unpack the bike because they had a garage.




Heading for the Pyrenees nothing there yet in the photo.




And there they are the Pyrenees.




After many hours and liters of rain I managed to get to Eric’s place. He lives in the middle of a dessert like place in the north of Spain. All year round he lives of his own garden and sometimes have a nice Kebab in the city. Amazing place, thanks Crip!!




The view from Monte Eric.




Good morning sunshine, I asked Eric if it was possible for me to stay 2 nights. He said no problem so now I was able to do some exploring. And the weather was nice as was the surrounding area.




On my tour I found this beautiful tool in a small shed.




The tree of live.




When I left Eric it was only 5 degrees celcius so I had to stop a few times to get warm again. And the old village people always know the best out of the wind in the sun spots. So I stuck with them for a while.




The landscape on the way to Valencia.




Us arriving in Valencia.




Meet my dorm mates in Valencia, Raj, Sunil and Cherie. First thing to do is get food and go for a dance.




The brothers.




Sunil bought a pair of glasses for me from Goliath.




The next day I took a city tour with a Scottish guide Duncan. I learned a lot about Spanish history and traditions of Valencia.




Even found something myself although I did not found out ther real story behind the child’s heads on the drainpipes it did remind me of Claudio’s work.




Valencia.

The next day I left a bit late in the direction of Ronda. But I got lost in a thunderstorm. Yes that can happen on a motorcycle. I was completely soaked and just wanted to go to a hotel and sleep and be warm. By the time I found a hotel I had already driven about 130km in the dark with heavy rain. It sucked!




The day after being lost I went to Ronda to stay there for a night and get a warmer t-shirt because the mountains where freaking cold!
It is a shame that I forgot to take out my camera in Ronda so no pictures but I really felt good there. I had a nice small hotel for a good price in the center of the city.




Africa here I come.

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The crossing from Tarifa to Tanger was smooth, but the customs where a bit annoying. All the people there wanted money for doing nothing. And me being stupid I only carried a E 20,- note and no coins so there went my money.
And the whole process took about 2 hours!
On my way to look for a place to sleep in Tanger I got a bit annoyed by all the people and went to a bit overpriced Ibis for the night, it was already getting dark and I did not want to look for a better place anymore. I was tired!
The next morning I got up early to go to Fes.



Tanger…….



On the way to Fes I took some small roads until I had to turn around because the road was washed away. I had to take a small road back north towards the highway in order to get to Fes. The views where amazing. I only had one problem my camera battery charger is broken so I could only make one picture .



My camera battery was still empty so only a few pics made in the first day of Fes. Went to have a look at one of the tanneries hidden in the center of the Medina.
The next day I managed to find a universal charger in the new town of Fes so more photo’s could be taken



Alessandro taking a picture of some new old looking building in Meknes.



Jesus, Alessandro and I on our way to the Medina of Meknes.



This is a door in the Medina of Meknes. If you are in Fes and sick of being stressed by all the hustlers take a daytrip to Meknes by train. it will take about an hour but really worth it.



While we where drinking our tea some skilled woodworkers worked in the background.



We were walking around Meknes when I spotted this mean off-road hybrid scooter.



The quiet streets of Meknes. NO Hustlers!



Woman cleaning the streets of Meknes.



It was already late when we came back from Meknes this photo is taken from the roof terras of the Hostel.



same view by day.



A few days later I went to Meknes again because I had seen a very nice vase I really liked to buy.
This time I went with Matt and Alex, and a special adventure was awaiting us there.



We were starving after finding my vase so we looked for a place to eat but no luck. Until we ran into a man I had met on my previous trip to Meknes. He invited us to his house to eat there, and not to forget it is not for free we had to pay for the food. Well no worries man we are hungry so we are in for it.
Arriving at the house we gave the man 40Dh to get some ingredients so his wife could start cooking.
While the man was away we were left alone in his house.
So Matt started to make a small documentary of the place.



Ok the photo is a bit blurry I have to admit but it is because there was no electricity at that moment. It took about an hour to get the lights working in the house. The man also claimed the sheepsmeat he had in the fridge was fresh we wondered how fresh when the electricity is not working ??



And there was light! It took forever for the food to be ready so we were starving!! and when the food was finally there, it was just enough the three of us.

When we finished we paid the man more then needed and started looking for a small shop to get some more food for our poorly filled stomachs.



It was time to leave Fes so I said goodbye to Yussef and the maid of Riad Versus. There I met Alex who will come with me on the back of the bike. Together we will head to the dessert.



Packing the bike, I think we reached the maximum capacity of the old XL 600 LM.



Two madmen on one bike heading for the dessert looking for camels (dromedaries).



The road behind us to Midelt trough the High Atlas.



And the same road in front of us a lot of km’s still to go.



Arriving at Midelt we checked in to our five star an-suite bedroom it’s always nice to sleep with your head in the bidet.



The hotel manager told me to use the bar downstairs as a garage for the bike, the owner said no problem just park there!



On our way to Midelt we lost Alex his sleepingbag that was tied to the back of the bike. This really sucked because we planned to camp in the dessert. The man in the picture tried to help us find a new second hand one but with no luck. The only thing he managed to do was let his friend sell Alex a silk cloth. Later when Alex and I where looking for some unions to open Alex his blocked nose, another guy wanted to sell us something. We were to tired to ignore or go away so we followed him for a while until we reached the same shop where we had bought the silk. And the owner now suddenly had a sleeping bag!!
What a lucky bastards we are!



On we went, still in the high Atlas Alex showing us you can also jump there.



And finally after a lot of km’s we rode out of the High Atlas towards the dessert.



The Gorges du Ziz a beautiful oases all along the river.



We arrived early in Hassi Labied at our hostel Auberge la Source.
There we heard that there is a music festival in Merzouga.
So we got on the bike and headed to Merzouga to catch some dessert tunes.



The following morning we enjoyed our breakfast with a view of the Erg Chebbi sand dunes.



Our goal was to climb that dune.



After one hour we where on the top of the big dune. In the distance lies Hassi Labied.



We made it!!!



It was windy and in the dessert that means a lot of dust and sand going everywhere.



Windy



Alex and I wanted to go camping in the dessert at least one night.
The day we decided to go we set off a bit to late and it was already dark when we arrived on a good spot to set the tent.
On the way there we went down 2 times luckily nobody got hurt.
Just when we had the tent up a sand storm came. This really sucked because the tent was not fixed to the ground yet. While Alex was holding the tent down I rolled the bike to the wind side and fixed the tent to it with all the ropes we had.
Together we worked hard to build a sort of dyke of sand and rocks so the wind could not go under the tent.
After an hour of hard work we secured the tent and we went to bed.



Alex we survived it!!
The rest of the day and evening we took time off to just chill, the sandstorm was a wild adventure.



Went up the big dune again to see the sunset behind Hassi Labied.
But this time I came prepared.



I think I don’t need to say anything here.



Alex looking at the stars.



The day we had planned a camel tour on dromedaries we had some time to wonder around so we walked a bit in the black dessert just outside of town.



Nothing just one lonely tree.



There we go into the dessert with each our own dromedaries.



And are you comfortable Alex?



Classic



Maybe you have all seen enough of the dessert.
Well I am still amazed by it.



Our camp after 1,5 hours of riding.



Looking at the constilation Orion.



My ride in the dessert Berta 48.



That morning there was a dromedaries on the handbrake on top of a dune near to our camp.



On the way back to the Hostel.
The next day we wanted to leave Hassi Labied to move towards the coast.



We were fully packed and ready to go, only the bike felt different, it did not have the power it used to have. This tells me two things the oil needs to be changed and the air filter is probably blocked because of the dessert dust.
When I tried to turn the heavy bike around I drove off the road to make the turn but when I tried to get back on the road the front wheel diged in some loose sand and I lost control of the bike. We crashed hard on the road luckily with low speed but still it sucked.
The deer antler and my lucky camel tooth where crushed the cockpit was bend back and a lot of oil spilled. The oil spilled made me worry about the engine. when I tried to start it a lot of smoke came out of the exhaust but it still worked! And both Alex and I had no real injuries.
We were about 15 km from Hassi Labied and we decided to split up and meet back at the hostel.
This meant leaving Alex in the dessert to hitch a ride back to town. As i drove away from him I realized that he had no water with him, which is bad in a dessert so I dropped a bottle for him by the roadside.

I drove to the gasstation first to get some oil and waited for Alex, he got another ride and a bit later we met at the Hostel.



Changing the oil and oil filter, clean the airfilter, bend the headlights straight and check the valves.
It took me all day at a slow pace to get the bike ready again. Meanwhile we also decided that it may be better if we would split up because it is just a lot safer. So the next morning Alex took the bus to Marakech and I drove the bike to Taliouine.



The night before we left we went to look at the stars one more time to find out that it was cloudy, so we did our own interpretation on stars.



Getting some shadow time on the way to Taliouine.
When I arrived there the hostel I stayed at was shit! the people were not nice at all and the price was way to high. for a crappy bed no breakfast and no hot water.
The next day I made the stretch to Tamraght where Fatimazahra, Erlend and Hafsa are living.
Here I will stay for a while.



Surf!



Tamraght.

See you all soon!

__________________
www.passingalong.nl to follow my round the world motorcycle ride.

Very nice ride report mate ! Italy is fantastic , Africa aswell !
What motorbike was Isabel riding ?
Thank you ,
-zie egret.

Isabel was on the back, have another 600 LM ready for her if she likes it

Before I really went back to Holland I stayed a while in Tamraght. Here I surfed with my friends made a short trip with Isabel to Marrakesh. Celebrated Christmas and New Year and surfed even more.
At the moment I am in the south of Germany visiting Isabel just before we will travel to Saba . This small transition feels great it gives me the time to think about what I have seen on the way the past 6 months. And I have the time to do a update so all of you can see what I have been up to lately.
Some have already seen me in Holland others have not, no worries I will be there for a while and only go on shorter trips .


When I arrived in Tamraght it sometimes rained but always with a rainbow!



First thing I did there was buy a surfboard. I bought this 5.8″ fish and made a poser pic for fun.



Every day I walked to the beach I went past this little red shack.



When I was staying in Tamraght, I stayed with Erlend aka Omar his wife Fatimzahra and thier wonderful daughter Hafsa who I met three years before. I helped them out a bit with the decorations of the rooftop terrace bar here is the result



The terrace.



Just before Isabel arrived I met up again with Alex who was flying to Europe from Agadir.



Isabel arrived and what better to do than eat at Banana Beach.



We spot a donkey on the way back from Marrakesh.



And surfed until we were tired. I was sad that Isabel already had to leave after only one week.



The rear wheel had some hard times and some bad maintenance, both my fault. Now it was time to do the repairs.



Isabel brought a spoke set with her so I was able to replace the broken spokes. It turned out that out of the original 36 spokes only 19 spokes where holding it together.



On the way to work.



Erlend filling the R4′s gastank.



Putting the window frames in.



Erlend finishing exterior walls with white cement.



Welded the metal grill back in place.



Happy new year!!



Surfs up!



Riding back to the north of Morocco the bike felt like being in its natural habitat!
And I was feeling great because I was moving again.



Bye Bye Morocco.



First breakfast on the mainland.



After 2 days in Tarifa I drove to Sevilla to arrive there just in time to see the sun set.



I was determent use couchsurfing to get back to Holland.
And the first place where I stayed was at Quini’s
A butcher who has a small history museum on the top floor of his house.



Quini took me to a friend telling me his friend had a motorcycle museum it turned out to be a rather large collection of cool old bikes in a dark shed. In the collection: a load of Montessa’s, 3 Lambretta’s, Vespa with sidecare, a few Ducati’s, Moto guzzi’s and more others.



In Coimbra I was invited to stay at the Real Republika Prä Kys Tao.
A very very nice experience thanks guys!!



Coimbra is a beatiful city with amazing buildings.



In Porto the next city on my route I visited my friend Thomas who was living in the red house.
The red house has been rebuild by the owner Fernando. And I have to say it’s a beautiful house.



Thomas and Fernando in the kitchen.



view from the bathroom.



In the evening Thomas took me to see the city from the old bridge designed by Eifel.



And the bridge.



Thomas and I having the best ham sandwich ever with a sparkling white wine. Porto!!



After 3 days I had to leave Thomas. Porto is the new best EU city!



After a long ride on the bike I arrived in Santiago de Compostella where I stayed with Carlos.
He took me to a small bar in the city center, with good wine and delicious cheese and Iberico ham.
From Santiago I drove to Oviedo and from there to Bilbao. The journey from Santiago to Oviedo was the most unpleasant ride I ever had on a bike. 400 km with heavy rain and halfway a mountain pass with 5 cm snow on the road and snowing al the way. I was freezing and there was more to come.
I phoned with my mother the day after and told her about the conditions and a few minutes later she called back telling me my father is going to pick me up. I was not really in tune with this decision. But my father was right it would be stupid to drive back to Holland trough heavy rain and snow.
And 2 days after Bilbao I was back in Holland.
The very sad part is that I lost the pictures that I took from Oviedo until my arrival in Holland .

Back in Holland I bought a car for the things I want to do when I get back from Saba. Yes Saba, the small island next to St. Maarten in the Caribbean. My grandparents live there for a while and I will visit them for the next 6 weeks.



My new old Land Rover 110 build in 1983 with refitted 200 TDi



I still have to fix some parts but it’s in good overall condition.

thats it for now

Emile

__________________
www.passingalong.nl to follow my round the world motorcycle ride.

What a nice journey!!!
If you need accomodation or mecanics in Lyon, France, just send PM.
We will be glad to provide with help.
Have a save ride
Polo

__________________
YAMAHA rules

Very nice journey and I really enjoyed reading your story!
I'm very happy for you, that all went well, after the trip started with such a "pain in the butt" ..
I saw on one of your pictures, that your left pannier had "HELP" in big red letters underneath. Fantastic idea! I think I'll "borrow" that one..

Keep up the good life!
Take care and regards,
Ben