Morocco (Easter 2001)
by Guy Exley, Gary Hill & Peter Brown
CONTENTS
Motorcyclists
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Tools and Spares
Equipment
Conclusions
Motorcyclists
Pete Brown aged ? from Reading
Guy Exley aged ? from High Wycombe
Gary Hill aged 38 from Northampton
Day 1 - Reading to Portsmouth (Saturday 31 March 2001)
After many meetings and very little off road practice the three desperados slung legs over their trusty steeds and headed for the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry.
A quick stop off at Craig's on route for tea and cakes and some last minute banter soon resulting in the relisation that Pete had left his reg doc at home. With quick calculations of distances verses time the consensus was made to DHL out the doc to Motormainia in Spain where we intended to have new rear tyres fitted. With the panic subsiding we headed off in good time for the ferry now feeling that a relaxed approach could well japordise the mission which was just as well due to the lack of sign post off the M road for the Port and therefore we ended up finding a very convoluted way through back streets.
Finally ensconced on the ferry the first night drifted by in a drunken haze rendering my two companions rather 'sea' sick the following day.
Day 3 - Bilbao to (Monday 2 April 2001)
A quick exit early Monday morning saw us battling through a Bilbao rush hour in a haze of pollution. Once in the hills and on the plains a battle commenced between XR600's and the 50 mph head wind with the pilots hanging on for dear life. Fuel consumption was at it's worst that with a hoax Spanish petrol sign nearly ended up with my steed running out of fuel on the first day! Once fueled up and the plateaus left behind easier progress was made until a map check stop was made at which point Petes bike decided to dump its rear brake pads! Luckily we were just coming into a town where a great boge was performed by the local Rover dealer. After 700ks we finally found a campsite in the dark however, a long walk to find food and beer was to no avail but we had eaten well during the ferry trip and during the day so being hairy arsed bikers we slumped down for a cold night.
Day 4 - to Gibraltar (Tuesday 3 April 2001)
Good progress was made to the outskirts of Gibraltar where the bike shop was located mid afternoon. however, tyres could not be put on until the next morning so off to find a campsite as directed by the helpful staff. Bikes locked up and tents erected the desperate trio walk off to the nearby nose bag joint for a well earned supper that was especially longed for after the previous nights fiasco. After about a 5 mile walk past a smiling security guard at the top of the hill and the obligatory question 'is this the way to the restaurant' and the answer being 'yes' with a big cheesy smile we finally reach our destination... a closed restaurant on the beach. Delirious with disapointment we sandal slapped our way back up the hill whilst thumbing for a lift. If you can imagine three blokes in sandals and leather trousers the chances for a lift was rather remote(; However, we did get a lift about a third of the way where tins of cold beans, sardines and mangy old sack peach slices where consumed washed down with a litre of beer... better than nothing!Day 5 - Gibraltar to Cueta (Wednesday 4 April 2001)
Bikes dropped off for re-booting at the shop and the desperate trio walk into town for a spot of shopping in full mad max outfits.... a seemingly perfect disguise for not drawing attention to yourselves... not! My ankles now blistered from the new boots we retrived the newly shod bikes and headed to the port to purchase tickets to Cueta (Petes doc had finally turned up thank goodness). Got our first taste hassling Moroccans at the port whom we ignored naturally.Swiftly deposited in Cueta by the hydrofoil found us navigating around a town in complete chaos with the feeling that Cueta was nothing but a buffer zone between mainland Spain and Maroc. After realizing that the campsite was no longer and no places to secure the bikes in town for the night a decision to run for the border was made. The border was heaving with people and a nervous exchange of money was made in a very dubious Gambio run by a Moroccan albeit we got the best rate of exchange here. With money safely exchanged without being mugged and Gary managing to fend off the locals from stripping the bikes we head for the border post 50 metres away. Passports, registration back on the bikes, start them up, move 10 ft, stop bikes, take forms to next window.... hour later and not succumbing to paying local touts to do it for us we enter Maroc just before sunset. Nearest decent Hotel found with full luxuries to ease our initiation into the chaos of Maroc.
Day 6 - Ceuta to Fes (Thursday 5 April 2001)
Heading off to the Riff Mountains up endless shiny greasy switch backs being chased by the local police squad whom were escorting, between stages, what can only be described as the tour de Maroc cycling teams. We were eventually caught and pulled over by the police and resigned to watching the entourage snake its way up the pass leaving a thick trail of diesel smoke. We soon turned off to enter the mountains up even poorer roads that degenerated to dirt tracks and the definite sense that we were heading into the drug growing area of Maroc. Every town had a Souk going on that filled the streets with the dogey looking characters making progress difficult and any kind of stopping not advisable which was aptly demonstrated by Gary whom sped through even if it meant taking a few of them out... luckily they all got out of his way(; Through thirst and hunger we finally stopped at a quiet looking road side watering hole where we ordered scrambled eggs in a half-inch of oil and loaf of flat bread... tasted better than it looked and the hassle factor was low so we all started feeling a little bit less intimidated.Great twisty roads followed until Fes loomed up out of the smoke (it looked like it was on fire when I first saw it!) and the campsite international was located for a expensive night and food that was great but the quantities could have fed 6 of us!
Day 7 - Fes to Midelt (Friday 6 April 2001)
Off to Midelt and our first attempt at off road piste which resulted in first a navigational error, trying to ride the dirt with high tyre pressures and then me getting a puncture almost straight away which didn't bode well considering how much off road we were intending to do!! Tyre fixed with much enthusiastic help from the locals and relaxing with conclusion that it was the bike shop whom had pinched the inner tube in the wheel clamp and therefore ripped under low tyre pressures. Trying to get back on course on a route my brother (Craig) had taken off road to Midelt without any success we ended up taking the road with only a small 20k loop achieved before heading back on the road to Midelt where a nice cheap, clean campsite was found.Day 8 - Midelt to Inchmil (Saturday 7 April 2001)
The next day was going to be full-on off-road starting with Circuit de Jaffer and then picking various tracks to Inchmil and then down to Todra Gorge. The circuit went well with a few challenging rock slides and wash outs to ride through giving good riding and happy faces all round. However, this was soon to change when we took the wrong track and headed into the valley of death at the hottest part of the day. A fight up 45 degree river/scree beds ensued with Pete and myself dropping our bikes due being upwardly challenged for these bikes and hence can easily topple over on uneven ground! Gary reaching the high point and with the consensus that any further progress was ridiculous a retreat was made. Other foolhardy 4wds merchants were also attempting this route whom had stooped on the first hard bit and we told them that they had no chance and then proceeded to try an get around the vehicles blocking river bed with great difficulty. Pete feeling the worst for ware at this point suggested that we high tailed it back to Midelt and try again the next day on a different route. However, when leaving the valley of certain death we picked up the correct track that was a lovely 3rd gear jaunt which eased things off so we all decided to carry on. After many miles, remote villages, high 2800m passes and so many river crossings I can't remember we finally end up desperately looking for accommodation high in the Atlas as night and temperatures fell. We stayed in a small Berber village at 2000m where accommodation was a room and a doss on the floor covered in rugs (and resident fleas!) in the local cafe (no electricity). Very kind and friendly people whom made us omelet for dinner and also secured our bikes by clearing out the room and wheeling our bikes in for the night.... excellent. Farewells after breakfast and paid the bill for £14 for three people for everything!Day 9 - Inchmil to Todra (Sunday 8 April 2001)
Heading off expecting to get fuel in the next town but on arrival were told that they had no gas so we were unsure whether we had enough to complete the route, especially Pete and myself as we had lost fuel when dropping the bikes the previous days exploits. However, careful throttle control got us over the high pass and the spectacular drop down into the Todra Gorge where we checked out the climbing with many on-sights solos in full motorcycle gear achieved to much annoyance of the local hot shots. The crag cleaned up and few new routes put up we headed further down the gorge where we were subjected to the 'circus' of bumbling tourists that all seemed rather alien compared to the last few days. Fueled up in Tinerhir (none of us had gone onto reserve so we were getting much higher mpgs off road) and went back up towards Todra where we camped at a delightful Palm oasis.Day 10 - Inchmil to Todra (Monday 9 April 2001)
Luggage left in the campsite we headed off back up the Todra Gorge to pick up a 2800m pass over to Dades Gorge and then back to the campsite along the main road. The bike regaining its nimbleness I went for good burn up the gorge where I waited for the others to catch up and then carry onto the a village where we pick up the track over the top. There are signs for Dades all over the place and we spent at least an hour riding in and out of the village trying all these 'red herrings' signs (not helped by the locals) until finally an old man, whom had no interest in getting money to guide us, told us the way. A very steep rough accent to the first high point where a enterprising fellow had set up his tent as a cafe stop. Fanta's and some rock solid bread with cheese spread was (purchased at a rather inflated price but hats off to the chap for lugging the stuff up there in the first place) consumed looking out at tremendous views all round. On leaving, his dog chased me down the track which I soon put stop to by wheel spinning a whole load of rubble in its face that got it nicely wound up when the others set off where it was further assaulted by Gary's boot(: The high point was eventually gained with bikes puffing black smoke and the decent into Dades Gorge made back onto tarmac road. Dades was much more spectacular than Todra and it was a delight to ride twisting tarmac all the way down to the bottom where it opened up into the vast deserted plateau where we picked up the main drag back to the campsite.Day 11 - Todra to M'hammid (Tuesday 10 April 2001)
Luggage back on the bikes we headed into town to fill up before heading off road to Nekob. We met a load of guided bikers on a Motoadventures holiday in the station whom where heading for Nekob as well but they seemed to go the opposite way to us? Anyway, we were doing a route recommended by Chris Scott so for the first time had directions that helped speed things up considerably from trying to navigate from a 1:800000 map only. A good route with steep switch backs covered in marble like stones making front wheel wash outs common occurrence and then trying to put the power down without wheel spinning coming out of them. I spotted the Motoadventures lot further up the track so I couldn't resist having a chase but only managed to maintain the gap which is not surprising on laden bike! A mint tea stop under a tent to cool down in the afternoon sun before heading into Nekob where we met the riders just leaving the petrol station for their off road to Zagora. Fuel for bikes and lunch for us we head off on the road to Zagora where again we met the riders whom must off decided to go on a shorter route as they were already there. We took our pictures in front of the Timbuktu sign as requested by Craig and watched as a local pinched one of the riders bikes left outside the hotel! They left them unlocked but there was a policeman guiding traffic but as soon as he left it was a free for all and the guy was back again for another just before we set off down the road in the dwindling daylight to get to M'hammid the southern most town near the Algerian border. Almost didn't make it as in complete darkness I came face to face with two lorries around a corner racing each other out of town... I took to the dirt not wanting emulate a squashed fly on the front bumper whilst the lorries went swerving off into dirt the other side fighting their steering wheels... I now no why the others were quite happy for me to go in front to navigate... I think they called it 'point' duty in Vietnam! The Sahara Hotel located in M'hammid we dossed the night on the roof under the stars for 65p each.Day 12 - M'hammid to Tata (Wednesday 11 April 2001)
The usual 'wailing' morning wake up call of the religious kind, not Pete trying get back on the bike for another hard days riding, we headed into the dunes to off road to Faum Zuguid. Christ what a wake up call within few seconds of negotiating the first dunes just outside town muscles were pumping and sweat pouring... Gary managed to drop the bike going too fast and needed assistance to pick it up which sounds easy until you suddenly realize your in some demented sand pit that eats side stands and hence I couldn't help him unless I dropped my bike! I managed to find a ripped off mud flap from 4wd and used that to prop the bike and went to Gary's aid.After couple miles of this we began wondering how long it was going to take us to complete 100+ miles! Luckily the worst was over and we were thinking how glad we were that we tackled it in the cool of the morning rather than doing the route the other way round. Eventually pleasant open desert was reached and fast progress made until the boulder fields started. Basically about a two thirds of the route was boulder/corrugations that were murder at any speed and felt like the bike had turned into a jack hammer! However, there were some great areas where you could ride anywhere with only small stretches of soft sand and a few border checks to go through, most strange being funneled between two small walls and told to stop and show passports in such an expansive place!? The desert was well hot so we all decided that it would be better to push on before things got really hot and we managed to get to Faum in good time to relax under a large tree supping cola and eating greasy chips. We all felt beaten up and heat exhausted so we sat there for a good hour or two to recover before deciding to head for Tata that evening on the road to exchange money as we were getting low. A black market exchange rate was thrashed out in local shop and we headed for the campsite and a hotel for nose bag.
Day 13 - Tata to Tahouline (Thursday 12 April 2001)
In the morning we headed out of Tata to pick up the off road trial to Tahouline we pin pointed 30kms on the way in the night before. What a trail.... really fast and relatively smooth with loads of sweeping bends making top gear achievable on the straight bits. Fast progress meant we knocked the 120+ miles in super quick time. Making good time we managed to locate a lovely green and grassy campsite at an Auberge with an excellent restaurant where there was right party going on in the kitchen.... we wondered whether all the drumming and singing was normal practice when cooking in morocco... it probably was(:Day 14 - Tahouline to Marrakesh (Friday 13 April 2001)
The next morning we headed off up the Tiz-n-Tes pass on our way to attempt to get up to the refuge below Jebel Toucal the highest Peak (4000+m). Unfortunately, we couldn't get there as the track petered out to a steep donkey trail so we had to abandon the idea and go to Marrakech a day early instead. All hotels were full in Marrakech and it was madness trying to ride the bikes around the souk areas so we headed out towards Casablanca to hopefully find a campsite we had been told about or a hotel. Almost resigning to a night dossing at the side of the road we suddenly found the campsite we great relief. A taxi was booked to take to us Marrakech in the morning so we could walk around without the hassle of the bikes.Day 15 - Marrakech to Kinatra (Saturday 14 April 2001)
A very interesting place with amazing souks to walk around and loads of great wood and earthenware which we would liked to have bought if we had room on the bikes. Taxi back to the campsite we loaded up and hit the road again to Casablanca and then to Kinatra where we found the campsite just before it went dark. The campsite was a front to its more lucrative trade in beer to the locals so we walked into town for food where being shod in leather jeans made us stick out like dogs boll*cks as usual... we had a few giggling girls follow us whom obviously found our attire highly amusing(:Day 16 - Kinatra to Quezzane (Sunday 15 April 2001)
Early morning maintenance chores included fitting a new air filter to Gary'sXR and a new chain to Pete's XR. Having fitted a new chain (from M&P) before we set off, he needed to fit another new chain! A short day to Quezzane and back into the drug Rif area where we camped the night. We were hassled by 'scar face' the drug dealer whom Gary thought was going to pull a knife and attack us because we didn't want any of his wares.Day 17 - Quezzane to Spain (Monday 16 April 2001)
After being treated to breakfast by a nice Aussie couple (who seemed lost - they were on there way to Eatern Europe from London!) before heading back through the border and Spain and our fateful journey to find our friends (the Fulchers). Such was the hospitality of our friends and our perfect organisation we spent the night slept by the side of the road with our bikes!Day 18 - Spain to Spain (Tuesday 17 April 2001)
Spain was freezing compared to Morocco and became increasingly wet as we headed north so we stayed in hotels due to the lack of campsites on route. The first one having eurosport which showed the highlights of the Tunisian rally that was held when we were in Morocco and for the first time we could actually relate to the terrain they race on... great stuff. We spent the evening in the Motel bar, before returning to eurosport and bed.Day 19 - Spain to Bilbao (Wednesday 18 April 2001)
Day 20 - Bilbao to Portsmouth (Thursday 19 April 2001)
Day 21 - Bilbao to Portsmouth (Friday 18 April 2001)
Tools and Spares
Tools
tools 8, 10, 12, 14 spanners (ring/open end)sockets (rear wheel 24mm -
adjustable spanner
spark plug spanner *2
allen keys (metric set
screw drivers Philips & flat
hacksaw blade
mole grips
leatherman
jubilee clips / cable ties
Spares
1/2 clutch cable1 throttle cable (or solderless nipples or cable repair kit
1/2 clutch levers
1/2 brake levers (brush guards)
tyre levers
washing liquid, talc
2 puncture repair kits
bike pumps
1/2 tubes rear 18"
1/2 tubes front 21"
duck tape
1 & 5 litres ?- water containers (2* emergency 1 gallon petrol can)
oil (2 litres Silkolene comp 4 (5.75 litre))
bungees/straps/cargo netting
electrical wire & insulation tape
fuel pipe
spark plugs *3 & caps *1
cdi unit (should be reliable) & coil? - breakers yard?
light bulbs 3 - front (35W) & 3 - rear (3.8W).
finnilec (1/2)
2 cables Gary & Pete) and 3 padlock locks (+ spare keys
pressure gauge
petrol patch (3.25)
instant gasket
lock & seal 2.25
metal set (liquid metal (8.5)
dry chain lube (6.95 - 1 big can)
heavy duty chain splitter
2/3 *spare split link
1 spare chain
1 gear lever (?)
air filter *3
fuel filter *2
Misc.
First Aid KitNormal
GPS
Maps
Rough Guide
Compass
Lighter/matches
Equipment
We all rode XR600R's:Gary's Bike: XR600RV 1997 (R)
Pete's Bike: XR600RW 1998 (R)
Guy's Bike: XR600RW 1998 (R)
Conclusions
Contacts & Links
Morocco Contact Listwww.motoadventures.com
motoadventures@andorra.ad
00376 325099 Morocco and Andorra specialists
www.saharabiketours.com
info@saharabiketours.com
07787 952705 or 0097150636 8982
www.wildernesswheels.com
0191 4960869 (24hrs) A guide resident in Morocco. Use XR250 & 400
www.hctravel.com
david@hctravel.com
01256 770775 Fax 01256 771773 Run trips in a number of places, including morocco.
Useful Web Sites
www.sahara-overland.com
Chris Scotts Web Site
Spares
www.gadgetracingproducts.com
www.ridemx.co.uk
www.leisuretrail.co.uk
www.racespec.co.uk
www.bikestop.co.uk
Riky Cross http://www.salgadosmoto.pt/rcrossfr.htm
Pirelli for tyre help jordi.cubells@pirelli.com