Now that did make me smile.


Road out to Hungary a good few year's back. 21 day's out rained 17 of them. Next time going through the south of France in to Spain. Took three day's. Worse rain fall in living memory. Algarve. Now that's all sun most of the year round. Two week's away, must have been 9 day's of rain. Corfu, June two week's, Rain. Never been known to happen before. I sware to God. Put me down in any place on a bike. And on at least one of them day's you will get rain. Should sell my service's to some drought infected area. Could make a lot of money.
John933

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To buy petrol in Europe. Pull up at station. Wait. Get out a 20 Euro note, then ask someone to fill up the bike. Give person money. Ride away. Simple.

Hi Gene and Neda, thanks a lot for sharing. You help me and Paola (my wife) to dream during the grayness working days.
Our last trip was in Morocco during last Christmas holidays. The road from Ifrane to Midelt was cold and windy but without snow like now. Incredible!
I recognize the same your riad in Midelt https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSC_4447.JPG
In addition to the main nice touristic places (Merzouga, Todra, Dades, etc...) we have found an amazing road throughout the Anti Atlas Mountains: Taroudant, Tafraoute, Tiznit by this road https://goo.gl/maps/mDCUJ https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSC_2642.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSC_2679.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSC_2605.JPG
Take care,
Ciao!
Andrea & Paola

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Andrea - duecuorisudueruote.weebly.com

Thanks for the comments and sharing all your experiences, guys. Morocco is truly jam packed with a ton of culture and scenery. We can't get enough of it!

Hi John, we haven't really been keeping track of our overnight stays - we have been on the road for over 1,000 days...!

However, if you're interested in a specific area, let me know and I can try to dig up the addresses for you.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

No that OK. I have this year sorted out. Some time's I leave early and take the long way round. One of the thing in my head as I travel is where to stay at the end of the day. So far I've had no problem in finding some where. What I ask I don't do my self. Will have to re think that point.


Any way keep up the good work.
John933

__________________
To buy petrol in Europe. Pull up at station. Wait. Get out a 20 Euro note, then ask someone to fill up the bike. Give person money. Ride away. Simple.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/212.html



We are continuing our trek southwards. Now that we've reached the other side of the Middle Atlas Mountains, we are seeing a much different kind of geography than Northern Morocco. The satellite map above illustrates this point quite well.


Heading out of Midelt

These older Mercedes were quite common on the roads in Morocco. If they were cream-coloured, they were almost always taxis.

It's a brilliant day for riding, the clouds have all but disappeared by the late morning. However the temperatures are still quite cold and we keep all our layers on for the ride.


We had to stop to check out these storks which had built a nest at the top of this building


Two of Morocco's biggest T-Swizzle fans in one place?

As we were stopped, this little guy came running towards us and started talking to me in Arabic or Berber (not sure which). We couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was definitely asking for something. I thought it was money, but it turned out he wanted a pen.

Of course, we could give him a pen! I radioed Neda and she happily dove into her tankbag to find one. Neda's tankbag is like the TARDIS, it's much bigger on the inside than anyone can imagine. She keeps everything in there from seashells, coins, leaves, pens, small dogs...


Back to the storks

Did you know that the White Stork is the national bird of Morocco? You can find their nests on any tall chimney, building, tree or pole. Unlike in the western world, these nests are very welcome because the birds are a symbol of good luck and fortune. They say that the stork at rest is reminiscent of a man in prayer, and there's a Berber belief that storks are transformed human beings. We're told that disturbing a stork will get you three-months in prison. Don't mess with these jailbirds!

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Another roadside stop


Morocco makes my bike look pretty


Not real Moroccans. Damn hippies.

We overheard these guys, they were a bunch of granolas from Spain dressed in designer djellabas and striking meditational yoga poses on the wall overlooking the gorge. Then after about 15 minutes of Faux-Ga, they all hopped into their hippy van with Spanish plates and drove away to the next beatnik spot.

*SMH* Nice robes, though...


Hiking to get a spot away from the granolas


It was a very nice view, there were small villages at the bottom of the gorge

As we were riding down from Northern Morocco, Neda told me that one of her favorite books when she was a little girl was "In Desert and Wilderness" by Polish author, Henryk Sienkiewicz. It's about a pair of children who are taken hostage and are forced to travel through the Sahara Desert. Ever since then, she's always dreamed of visiting Africa, and our first steps in Morocco didn't jive with the imagery she got from the book.

However, south of the Atlas Mountains, everything here is the colour of the desert sand. Even the buildings seem to rise seamlessly up from the same stuff that the ground is made from. *THIS* is totally the Africa that we had in our heads when we crossed over from Europe!

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

My toes tingle when I look down from tall heights


Moroccan ruins gives the whole place a ton of atmosphere


Ready to hit the road again


Everywhere we go, small towns look like they rose up organically from the ground


Our path takes us through more mountains again


Some beautiful scenery as the road hugs the Ziz River (Oued Ziz) through the mountains

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com