RR = Ride Report

DAY 18 WED 21ST OCT 2015 - ASILAH

Well this mornings wake up call from the local Imam was certainly a lot more tuneful than the guy in El Jadida, almost melodic actually! Slight downer; I had to employ the ear plugs last night as it sounded like there was some kind of domestic dispute going on down the street somewhere and the only thing I had to overcome then was the thickness of my mattress, or lack of, and the fact it was resting on a solid base. I kept telling myself it would be good for my bad back and eventually I did drift off.
Knowing I had the whole day I took my time getting dressed. I drifted downstairs and ventured all of twenty yards to a tiny little cafe next door where I had a simple breakfast of bread, jam, plain omelette and a cup of coffee which set me up for a stroll around the Medina which was a much further 2 minutes away! While no where near as big or impressive as those that I visited in Tetuane and Fez it made up for in it's location by the sea and the way the houses are brightly painted in a kind of Greek style I guess, and every so often you'd come across a gaily painted mural on one of the whitewashed walls.

One vendor lured me into his linen store trying to sell me a some kind of cotton blanket or other, but when he realised I wasn't really interested we got chatting and I mentioned how much I loved Asilah and wondered how much property was going for in the area. He seemed to think a really nice spacious one bedroom apartment in the town would go for about 40 thousand euros which I think is about £30,000. I felt quite tempted but my reservations with what's going on in the region not a million miles away and even though it is a moderate muslim country with a fledgling democracy of sorts, there is a massive young population many without proper work and not much hope and unfortunately that breeds discontent. I really hope I'm wrong.
Enough of my pessimistic side, I returned to the hotel at lunchtime, slung on my kit and although the temperature was around 75 degrees F, like 'Mad dogs and Englishmen', off I went,'Into the midday sun' running for north out of the town along the beautiful wide sandy beach which apparently stretches most of the way to Tangier. I didn't reach Tangier opting to turn back after 25 minutes.
A quick turnaround at the hotel and I was back on the beach this time with trunks and towel. Unlike El Jadida where it was a brief dip in the sea this time I was able to have a good swim and then I just laid on the beach, which I had virtually to myself, for an hour or so before once again returning briefly to my bijou residence in order to grab my helmet and keys and ride to the nearest petrol station to fill up ready for an early getaway tomorrow morning. By the way fuel here is dirt cheap at under 60 pence a litre. I took a slightly circuitous route coming back to the hotel as I was in shorts and tee shirt and I just wanted to feel the lovely warm breeze blowing on my skin. Back in Blighty these opportunities are few and far between and if you do venture out attired in such a fashion you are considered a fool and frowned upon. I like being a fool sometimes!
Yet another brief stop at my room and I was out again to get some water and apples for my onward journey. I also bought the nicest tasting dates I've ever had. Mind you they are a little fresher than we can get in the UK, aren't they?! After my exhausting shopping expedition I stopped at a cafe overlooking the local market and was immedietely treated to some more free entertainment! Two young men in their early 20's obviously had a disagreement about something or other and were having a grappling match, which nearly got out of hand when they both managed to get hold of large sticks and were about to go at it, 'Hammer and tongs'! Thankfully friends on both sides stepped in to make sure no serious damage was done. This tooing and frowing went on for about 20 minutes during which time one would have thought the local Old Bill would make an appearance. No chance! All too busy doing their road blocks and standing by their police bikes trying to look important!(see yesterdays blog) Well we are in Morocco!
After my meal this evening I sadly made my way to the Bureau De Change to exchange my remaining dirhams back to pounds, as this signified my adventure in Morocco was almost at an end.
By the way this is the second time I've had to do todays blog. Went to upload it earlier and somehow lost internet connection and all was gone! If I do anything like this again I must make sure I have Word up and running which obviously saves everything as you go along. Then I would simply cut and paste on to this site when complete.

__________________

Hi Dave,

Sorry i've not commented for a few days. I've been manically busy at work and every time I went to do so, something urgent cropped up. Work can be most inconvenient like that ;-). I'm really enjoying the blog and loving the sound of the Asilah. Sounds like a fantastic little place to stay as a get-away from it all type of a holiday. Do they have any 5* All-Inclusive hotel!! Only joking; your experience is so much more real.

You must be sad to have to come home after all that adventure and that beautiful weather, not to mention the cheap food and petrol :-)

Looking forward to seeing you when you get home. Lots of love x x x

Glad you're still finding the blogs entertaining!
Looking forward to seeing you all in a few days
xx

__________________

DAY 19 - THU 22ND OCT 2015 - ASILAH (MOROCCO) TO OLALLA DEL CALA (SPAIN) - 215 MILES APPROX





Who needs a phone alarm when you get a free wake up call from the local Imam at 6am!? It was only 30 minutes before my alarm and it meant I was on the road at a record breaking 7am! I had originally intended to take the toll motorway to ensure I would arrive at Tangier Med in plenty of time and avoiding any chance of getting lost in Tangier city and possibly missing the 10am ferry. Then as I straddled my bike it suddenly occurred to me that I had no dirhams left and when I used the tolls a couple of days ago there was certainly no evidence they accepted credit cards at the booths. Oh well not the end of the world, I thought. Just take the coast road instead and negotiate Tangier city and the worst that could happen would be miss that ferry and wait a couple of hours or so for the next one. For the first 10 miles I was hampered by mist rolling in from the sea (Mull Of Kintyre - Paul McCartney in case you were wondering!).
Thankfully that cleared and I was able to push on at a decent pace reaching the outskirts of Tangier City. It was now properly light now and once more it was obvious it was going to be a lovely warm day. What was less obvious was how to get to Tangier Med! And as I pressed on into the heart of the city mild panic began to grow as I had visions of getting lost and missing the boat. Thankfully I saw a sign for 'Plage' (beach) then I knew as long as I hit the seafront and turn left I'd be on my way. My plan worked and soon I was climbing my way along the coastal hills through the 'posh' suburbs and out of the city.
What was I worried about? Just after 8.30am and there I was at the Transmediterranea ticket office picking upmy boarding pass. I stole myself in order to prepare for all the shenanigans I was about to be put through before I could finally get back to Spain. Again what was I worried about? I still had to pass through about 4 different checkpoints, but this time I just sailed through, if you'll forgive the pun ( well maybe it's not quite a pun as I wasn't actually sailing at that moment in time, but let's not split hairs, talking of which I'm loving my crewcut, what do you think? Also not sure about the beard?!!). By 9am I was quayside twiddling my thumbs wondering when the ferry was going to appear.
Appear it did and as I secured my bike in the hold of the ship I noticed a little Honda CB 125 pull up behind me. Being such a small bike I just assumed it was a relatively rich Moroccan who was having a trip over to Spain. But as the chap removed his helmet he was obviously European and he immediately commented, 'Ah Suzuki DRZ 400 nice bike, great for Morocco I should think' in a distinctive French accent. Yves came from Limoges, right in the middle of France. What I found remarkable was that he'd ridden this tiny little machine all the way from his home into Morocco and way further south and east than I'd been over a two month period. However what I found even more amazing was that he was nearly 70 years old and his only luggage was a small rucksack and a few other items strapped to his pillion seat! I found it quite inspiring and made me think that hopefully I still have a few more years in the tank to plan and experience more great adventures!

GIBRALTAR, A SMALL CORNER OF SPAIN- FOREVER ENGLAND!
Once on board Yves spread out his big map of Spain and having established that I was making my way to Santander he said that for the first two thirds of the journey we would be taking the same roads and I'd be welcome to join him. Initially I snobbishly thought 'What with that tiny thing'! (meaning his motorbike of course!) I gave it some thought as when you're alone you do what you want when you want, no worries about trying to accommodate their wants and needs or be concerned about what you want or need will impact on them. 'Come on Dave remember go with the flow'. so I agreed to tag along and see how things went. We flew through the Spanish border and were soon negotiating the busy roads of Algeceris city. Yves had no sat nav and was relying on good old fashioned maps and asking people, the trouble was he stopped a couple of times to ask different people the way and I think he was getting conflicting or certainly confusing information as he would return to me in a huff saying 'Never trust people, they don't know even where they live and how to get out of their own town'! I tried to get a word in edgeways saying that I had vectored in a random town north on the road we needed to be on and perhaps we should just follow that, but I don't think he was listening so we rode on and eventually we hit the right road, but already I was beginning to regret my decision to tag along with him. I also had reservations about the ability of his bike to keep up but to be fair once we were on the open road on the flat he would be comfortably cruising at a genuine 60mph and only struggled a little on the inclines. I had to stop for fuel, he didn't need fuel. He wanted to stop for something to eat, I wasn't hungry! You see what Imean about different wants and needs. Thankfully I was given the perfect excuse to go my own way when he announced he wanted to take some toll roads. I told him that I preferred to stay on the free roads, so we road a little further and as the Peage Toll booths approached we gave one another a friendly farewell wave and I took the slip road off to the right.
On I pressed past Seville and relentlessly northwards but still bathed in lovely warm sun I was loving every mile now that I'd regained my independence. As evening approached and my tank went onto reserve I knew it was time to look for fuel and a roof over my head. Just then the next road sign indicated a petrol station and accommodation nearby. Tankful I rode into Olalla De Cala, a lovely little spanish village. There I found the Carmello bar/hotel and even though the owners didn't speak a word of English we soon established through gestures and sign language that there was room at the inn and food would be available, sorted! I quickly changed in order to enjoy the last rays of sun together with my first cold since leaving Spain for Morocco a couple of weeks ago. Heaven!

__________________

Any luck getting that skype working?

Lots of love
Dan xx

Hi Dan
Did leave you a skype message after taking ages to get on the site! but it's all I can do to post the blog atm as I now realise the link times out!
Will try this evening
xxx

__________________

Smudge
I don't know if you saw this I put on the other day, and the Sun is out, bonus
Go steady

Wayne

__________________
The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

Liking the beard Dave; so glad to see you looking so happy and relaxed. Dad thinks you're back Monday?

Remember fireworks night at Dad's on Saturday 31st October (joint birthday for Teresa & Me) :-)

Lissie wants to skype now if you can get it working

Lots of love
Dan xx

Hi Dan
For some reason I can't get into my account to update my blog atm. \so unless resolved no more blogs I'm afraid.
Re skype, again I have some kind of skype web page in front of me but whether I'm open to video calls or not I don't know??
xx

__________________

Hi Dave,
Sounds like you've had a real adventure, not over yet, enjoy your last few days
Love Helen & Tony xx

Hi Wayne
Sorry I did get the link, thanks. Haven't looked yet but will definitely check it out on my return to UK
Dave

__________________

DAY 20 - FRI 23RD OCT 2015 - OLALLA DEL CALA TO PEDROSILLO EL RALO - 270 MILES APPROX




I didn't rush to get away this morning as I wanted to update the blog and get a few pictures uploaded from the past couple of days. Also more European weather was in evidence today with a slight nip in the air and a light covering of high cloud, so I figured by hanging around a little it would allow things to warm up a little, mind you I still had to put the fleece on under the leathers when I finally got back on the road about 10.30am.
Nothing much to report on the landscape although it was certainly more varied than the eastern route I took heading down. At times the road was so bereft of traffic I felt like I was' king of the road' (Roger Miller top ten hit circa 1966!) Things did get a little more interesting as I crossed a mountain range called the Systema Central where a lot of the time I was cruising well above 3,000 feet, but I'm afraid when you've been spoilt by the High Atlas this all seemed a bit, well, average I guess!
At one stage I was getting a little fed up with the wind blast so took shelter behind a lorry for a while, but it back-fired when I followed it off on to a slip road that wasn't my turn and ended up having to travel 5 miles to the next junction before being able to turn round and get back on the right road.
Also I made my first right side left side mistake today. I'd just filled up and had taken a break for a drink of water and to eat some of the delicious dates and figs from the Asilah market. Mind in neutral I pulled out from the service station straight onto a roundabout in a clockwise direction only to be confronted head on with a car coming from the opposite way. Thankfully neither of us were travelling at speed. We both slowed down, I gave an embarrassing apologetic wave, did an about turn and continued on my way , luckily no harm done!
I'd made up my mind to get beyond Salamanca. With that target achieved and when my poor aching back of my right thigh could stand it no longer at the next exit with a fuel and bed sign I off. I'm in a nice little place called Hostel Carolina in a hamlet called Pedrosillo El Ralo. How can I describe the lanscape here other than to say they should call the village Pedrosillo El Norfolk or Suffolk. Enough said!!
I ate in the hostal restaurant and once I'd used t'internet to interpret the menu I established that for a fixed price of 9 euros I could have a starter of salad, main course of mackeral, some kind of pudding with the word yogurt in it, bread and a drink. That'll do me I thought. I placed my order and then pointed to my glass and in my best Spanish said ,'Vino tinto por favor'. A minute later he returned with my bread and a WHOLE bottle of red wine, which he opened and simply left on the table. Some wine connoisseur would tell you it was crap I expect but I thought it wasn't half-bad! After quaffing half the contents with my meal there was no way I was leaving the rest, so it came back to the room and now sits in a plastic bottle for future consumption.
Bowel Movement Update Report: Nothing to report and that's what's starting to concern me a little now, the Marrakesh Immodium has worked too well as nothing has shifted for nearly 5 days now! I still feel fine, not bloated or anything, I even did a jog earlier. Oh well lets hope who's ever on strike down there in the lower gut department decides to go back to work and open the sluice gates very soon!
Sorry didn't take any pics today as there was nothing that warranted a snap. So here's one of the stunning sunset in Asilah which you could say signifies the end of my Moroccan adventure!

__________________

Hi K
Dad's right I won't be back in Reading until monday evening,
xx

__________________