I need to get back in the game (the travelling game that is, not the game from The Wire). I am making some rookie mistakes, highlighted today by my failure to nip in the bud a basic guiding hustle in downtown Chefchaouen. Chefchaouen is a lovely town in the Middle Atlas in Morocco, with a famed sky blue medina and a picturesque hillside location. The only reason I actually stopped was because I saw a gaggle of travellers there and curiosity got the better of me, and despite only wanting a quick wander and a bite to eat a couple of likely lads saw easy prey. Scroll forward to an hour later and we are in the tedious situation of them asking for £20 for their guiding services (a ten minute walk to a restaurant in the medina and back, and half an hour of waiting for me to finish eating); I didn't cave but I could have done without the aggro. Next time I will act more decisively at the start. That said, the walk they took me on was pretty nice...
From Chefchaouen it was a solid four hour ride up to my friend Hicham's place just south of Fez. I fell in behind a couple of other bikers and made good time, taking the scenic route down via Ouazzane, but despite that the last hour of the ride was in the dark, and the last half hour was in the pouring rain. In a country where people think it is perfectly acceptable to ride mopeds in the middle of the road at 20mph with no lights, wander along the road two-abreast, or just plain drive the wrong way down down a dual carriageway, this is not especially pleasant. To make matters worse my roaming sim card had decided it did not like Morocco so I was unable to give any updates on my arrival time, so when I did finally get there it was as a sodden, unannounced foreigner, unable to find the doorbell and peering through the windows. Luckily, while Hicham and his wife were out, Hicham's mum was there and was expecting me so I didn't get the dogs set on me.
Hicham and his family have an amazing place in the middle of the national park just south of Fez, surrounded by mountains and forests, and on the edge of a lake. It was the perfect spot to stop for a couple of days and take stock. There were a couple of bits and pieces I needed to sort out (my headlight mounting had shorted and burnt out, I needed a water container and some more strapping, most of which I was able to source in the nearby town) and the hospitality was second to none (mainly thanks to Hicham's wife Jo and her awesome cooking! So delicious after a few days of on-the-road student type food). It was also nice just to chat to some people after being in my own little bubble for several days. It was very relaxed, but we did make a trip over to Ifrane, the "Switzerland of Morocco" - a town like no other here. Sadly, I didn't get any good photos but if you google it you'll see why. Apparently in the winter it is so packed people are literally fighting over pieces of snow to take photos with...
From Chefchaouen it was a solid four hour ride up to my friend Hicham's place just south of Fez. I fell in behind a couple of other bikers and made good time, taking the scenic route down via Ouazzane, but despite that the last hour of the ride was in the dark, and the last half hour was in the pouring rain. In a country where people think it is perfectly acceptable to ride mopeds in the middle of the road at 20mph with no lights, wander along the road two-abreast, or just plain drive the wrong way down down a dual carriageway, this is not especially pleasant. To make matters worse my roaming sim card had decided it did not like Morocco so I was unable to give any updates on my arrival time, so when I did finally get there it was as a sodden, unannounced foreigner, unable to find the doorbell and peering through the windows. Luckily, while Hicham and his wife were out, Hicham's mum was there and was expecting me so I didn't get the dogs set on me.
Hicham and his family have an amazing place in the middle of the national park just south of Fez, surrounded by mountains and forests, and on the edge of a lake. It was the perfect spot to stop for a couple of days and take stock. There were a couple of bits and pieces I needed to sort out (my headlight mounting had shorted and burnt out, I needed a water container and some more strapping, most of which I was able to source in the nearby town) and the hospitality was second to none (mainly thanks to Hicham's wife Jo and her awesome cooking! So delicious after a few days of on-the-road student type food). It was also nice just to chat to some people after being in my own little bubble for several days. It was very relaxed, but we did make a trip over to Ifrane, the "Switzerland of Morocco" - a town like no other here. Sadly, I didn't get any good photos but if you google it you'll see why. Apparently in the winter it is so packed people are literally fighting over pieces of snow to take photos with...
