Morocco Photos

I think I can just about manage that.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by MCN_LiamM

I think I can just about manage that.

'Twas more a case of inside leg measurement than talent...

Looks absolutely fantastic... what a trip, can`t wait to see more pics.

[the_lone_wolf]

Here we go Part 2!!!

Thursday 15th April : The storm the previous night had cleared and it was a beautiful start, we were aiming to hit Boulemane Dades by sundown, but having been punched in the gut over just how long it takes to traverse the worst trails we had an open approach to daily distances





We were quickly off the tarmac roads, they tend to fade out once you're outside the bigger towns, and onto some relatively easy trails, it was fresh and when the trail just disappeared into a river you had to ride up for 100m or so I was having a blast







Then the trail started to climb again, we went up and up, gaining 3000ft in an hour or two of leaving Imilchil, until suddenly you hit the pass at Tizi Nouano and you are greeted with the view I'll never forget:









The base of the valley where the river as flowing was 1800ft below us and we traversed the side of the mountain then hairpin after hairpin on gravel and rocks until finally we were riding alongside the river down to the gorge:









Or so we thought... No sooner had we hit the tarmac than the road began to climb again, with lots of places to stop and take photos of the beginnings of the Dades Gorge:









Then you get down to the part where the road and river pass through the gorge together:







On a bit further we stopped for a coffee at a cafe:



with a view...





We were making good time and decided to blast down the N10 to Ouazazate and get to the Bikershome, it was dark when we rode through the town centre but the view from the roof was spectacular:



Friday 16th April : An earned day off, a great opportunity to meet Pete (left) and Tim Cullis, Pete owns the Bikershome and Tim is something of a legend on the UKGSer forum, having travelled in Morocco for the last three decades if it's biking and Morocco he knows about it, and has seemingly endless supplies of photos, videos and tales of travels down into Senegal and Mauritania - both top notch blokes



We were taking it easy having a rest, washing smelly clothes and generally relaxing:





One thing I didn't get a shot of was the food, Pete's wife is some kind of voodoo magician in the kitchen and the food is unmistakably Moroccan but avoids the stereotypical tagine and fruit we'd grown accustomed to...

As the sun set we sat down and got some notes from Tim in order to do a loop the following day and leave the panniers at the home



Saturday 17th April : We visited the film set where they filmed "Kingdom of Heaven"







From a distance it looks the job but up cloase it's only a mm thick layer of fibreglass:



From there it was simply "head north" - no road but after a couple of km you hit the main piste:







From there is was several hours blatting across the desert on some great, fast pistes - 60mph was entirely attainable, the bikes seemed to enjoy a bit of a free reign



At Ait Benhaddou we headed off up on some more mountain piste and then back home on the main road via Talouette for lunch





On the way back Gareths oil pressure light came on for the last 60km, we didn't need much persuasion to spend another night at the Bikershome and sort it out the following day


Sunday 18th April : Up early and well fed at breakfast we tore into Gareth's bike:
















Sorry about the lack of pics, but as me and Gareth were the ones up to our elbows in engine oil and coolant my camera stayed upstairs.

It turned out to be the infamous water pump seal, left over sand from the engine casting process gathers at the water pump seal and wears a groove in the shaft, allowing water to enter the oil, in turn causing the paper filter to collapse and the oil pressure to nose dive.

Being prepared we had a pump seal kit with us and had the bike up and running again mid afternoon


Coming up next, into the desert, wild camping and an ovine wake up call

Awesome... just looks incredible

[Mr Speirs]

A-maz-ing!!! Jealous.

[G]

Epic, wish I had the money to do crazy stuff like this.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by G

Epic, wish I had the money to do crazy stuff like this.

Once you're there it's not horrifically expensive. There's hundreds of Auberges that charge ~250-300 Moroccan Dirhams per night and that usually includes a good dinner and breakfast

You could reduce your costs further by camping more than we did

The main costs were:

Getting the bike to Spain and back : €550
Ferry from Spain to Morocco : €120
Fuel : €200
Flights : €80

loving the pics

[maviczap]

Yep, with the Elephant rally thats 2 Epic trips so far this year

What next first KTM on the moon