Morocco 2023

Tarifa to Chefchaouen – 2 May 2023 (201kms)

Its a cold blustery morning in Tarifa. The place is deserted. We left our hotel at 8 and headed across to the port for a ferry transfer to Tangier, Morocco. The process is a long one – one step to the next with different bits of paper. AI is a real threat to this lot.

We stand our bikes on the ferry floor and head upstairs for the hour trip across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Passports required to be stamped on ferry. Chaos. That was just the start. The progress thru security & immigration is slow. David is held up with the truck and ain’t getting thru. Paperwork. Awkward. We buy our Dirum (MAD), the local currency & set off with Hanna after an hour of dicking around. David has to deal with the authorities. He’s got our luggage so here’s hoping.

The drive is East along the coast. The road is good condition but watch out for the cars who veer all over it. We pass goats, men riding donkeys and goatherders. The country is green and hilly. Buildings are scattered and dilapidated. Hang on! The wind is blowing a gale off the Med and almost rips your head off. Makes for a very challenging ride. Hanna, Gibster & Singo up front. Russ struggling with the GoPro but thinks he’s cracked it.

After an hour we stop for coffee to regroup. We are changing direction and heading inland to avoid the wind.

The language, non exclusively, is French. Finally all those years of introductory French for Russ & Singo will come in hand. Unfortunately, Hanna speaks every language so our expertise is not required!

The country is not awesome but the roads provide some great riding which is really the game.

Lunch is overlooking a glacial lake up in the mountains. Meat skewers is the specialty.

A short ride into Chefchouen on roads under repair. Its a slow & careful ride. Its hot & dusty.

Arriving at our hotel, we park our bikes on the footpath near a construction site, to be watched over by a bunch of 15 year olds. Feeling real safe. But the hotel is an oasis. High up in the hills overlooking a brightly coloured village. We head to the pool for a dip whilst the call to prayer rings out at 5pm through the whole village. You couldn’t say you missed prayers cos you didn’t hear it.

It was around 6pm the “incident” occurred. Our self proclaimed Fox Fashionista, Neil Lagerfield Singleton had spent 3 days in Malaga curating his outfits for Morocco. He proudly wore his newly purchased shirt to drinks and our waiter Ismail proceeded to drop discolored water from the chair on said new shirt. Singo produced something between a blue steel and a death stare. He got a thousand apologies and a promise to wash and dry by the time dinner was ready. Singo handed the shirt over with specific instructions as to soaping and water temperature.

A walking tour of the Medina (old town) has been arranged. At 6.30pm Isham arrives & off we go. Two hours later we are back exhausted. This place is a mangle of small lanes, up and down with shops everywhere. Also a bit stinky.

Dinner back at the hotel overlooking the Medina. Our waiter is particularly attentive (likes to please) given the incident above, and dinner is wonderful on a mild night. Singo was presented with his beautifully cleaned shirt with expectations of high praise from Ishmael, but all he got was “Yeah thanks mate”

It’s been a big day!

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