Morocco, April 2012, pt 2

The ride from Lac Isli towards the Todra Gorge took us over the highest tarmac road we'd encounter. I think the Tizi-Tirherhouzine is the highest in Morocco at 2700m or 8775ft. There are probably some pistes higher than that though. Nevertheless, it was pretty damn spectacular.

Here, we're dropping into the gorge, one of the prime tourist destinations in the country:

Leaving the tour buses behind, we left for Tinerhir and found a cheap hotel. It was clean but basic and cost us around £8 each for bed & breakfast.



We wandered through the souk, absorbing the atmosphere.

The view from our table at breakfast was great.

Then from here we set off across country to Erfoud and the desert. After a hot, dusty ride it was a relief to be checking in here for a couple of nights:

Having enjoyed beers by the pool and a delightful buffet dinner and wine, we were totally refreshed next morning and ready for a ride out into the Sahara and the Erg Chebbi dunes. As we rode out across the wilderness we were followed by a threatening storm:

 



We relaxed in the Auberge du Sud while thunder and lightning bellowed outside and hailstones coated the dunes. When we emerged into the open an hour later, there was water everywhere ... in the desert!



We actually had a pleasant, dry ride back across the sands then visited Rissani and Erfoud before returning to the luxury of our 4 star accommodation. Oh dear, not more beer, wine and glorious Moroccan vittles; the utter tedium of it all!

Next up, the Draa Valley and Zagora.





Morocco, April 2012, pt 1

I travelled to Morocco on my motorbike in 2009 with an organised tour. 'Enjoyed Morocco but the format of an organised trip really didn't suit me. First time in my life I've done it, and probably the last. The deadlines and pre-booked hotels lent an air of urgency to the trip which meant I didn't see and experience as much as I wanted. But, it was an excellent intro and led me to suggest a trip to my pal Bernie for 2012.

One key thing to get your head round when travelling with your own vehicle in Morocco is, there's no breakdown insurance available. This was covered on the organised tour; we were shadowed by a 4x4 with trailer and mechanic, but Bernie and I would be independent, so if something went wrong with the bikes it'd be up to us to sort it.

We spent many hours discussing routes, what to take and prepping the bikes but, finally, on a very cold morning, 1st April, we left for the ferry from Plymouth to Santander in Spain. Following a 20 hour crossing, we'd take 3 days to traverse Spain from north to south before catching a ferry across the Med to Morocco.

A highlight was Salamanca's Plaza Mayor:

We'd booked two hotels in Spain and one in Tanger to get the trip off to a smooth start but after that we had no firm plans. Taking three and a half weeks in total we'd have 18 days in Morocco, enough for a relaxed tour.

Leaving Tanger on a grey, overcast morning, we travelled south to Fes where we spent the evening exploring the medina and souk, despite warnings from the hotel reception not go into the medina at night! We had great fun.

After a rainy Fes, we left for Ifrane in the Middle Atlas mountains. Being relatively cool, it's the location for the King's summer residence. As snow fell (yes, really) we booked into a hotel for two nights and on a sunny morning set off on the pistes (unsurfaced roads) criss-crossing the cedar forests. We found lots of mud, got the bikes well and truly stuck, but, with excellent teamwork, extracated them successfully. An interesting day.

We left Ifrane and headed towards the small, High Atlas town of Imilchil. On the way, we camped by the River Ziz for the night.

I had a long-held wish to camp at Lac Isli, some 7 kilometres down a rough earth piste near Imilchil. Unlike our previous foray, the bikes were fully loaded, so it was an exciting ride across to the lake at around 7500 feet above sea level.

There was no-one else up here save for the Berber shepherds and we enjoyed meeting Zahid and Mohammed who shared tea with us:

Next morning a heavy mist had descended as we rode back out to tarmac and our next destination; the Todra Gorge.

More soon.

An update

It's six months since I posted on here, which is shameful.

'Truth is, I've been busy enjoying myself, travelling and dealing with the consequences of Chrissie's broken leg (see her blog for the full, gory details).

I feel like I've got a little time on my hands for the first time in six months. Not long though; we're off on another motorhome trip in less than two weeks. Sometimes, life's too short to fit in all this fun.

We're just back from a 10 day, rehab trip in the van for Chrissie before she gets back to work ( pause, to listen for sounds of whip cracking) and that came only a few days after I returned from a mega-trip to Morocco on my beloved motorcycle (MBM). And it was that trip that inspired me to make a significant change on here.

Here's Chrissie, getting back into walking:

So, note the change of title for the blog. I've left the web address as it was, so as not to confuse returning visitors, but, so keen was I to document my Moroccan odyssey, that I felt the need to expand the scope of my blog. So, from here on, it'll cover all my travels, be they on foot, motorbike, motorhome or indeed, anything else wot takes my fancy.

The new title, "Far not Fast", was inspired by that great, inspirational, adventure motorcyclist, Ted Simon, who, in his book, Jupiter's Travels said he preferred to, "travel far, not fast". I need to check that quote later for accuracy, but the gist of it is correct. As I mature in years I find more and more that I need to travel at a steady pace, the better to absorb the sights, smells and spirit of the places I pass through. I could never be a fell runner, nor is there much danger of me exploring the limits of MBM's handling and speed capabilities. And in the motorhome, well fuel's so damned expensive isn't it?

Your feedback is always welcome, but be assured, all those motorhome enthusiasts out there, there should still be plenty to interest you and you can always ignore the biking bits. I hope though, that you might find them interesting anyway. Equally, any bikers visiting, feel free to gloss over the boring motorhome bits; or maybe you'll give 'em a glance. Perhaps I might even inspire some from each camp to explore the delights of motorbikes/motorhomes?

Soon to come on here; two or three motorhome trips not posted so far and ... Motorbiking in Morocco. Here's a pic of me and MBM in the Sahara Desert:

So, it's "Far not Fast".

Let the adventures continue. Smile!

Bring on the snow

Today I refitted the adapters for our Spike Spider snow chains to the front wheels and put the chains in the backbox. It's the hottest October day on record but we keep hearing that snow might come before the end of the month, and it IS autumn. Feels daft though, thinking about snow chains in this heat, but I had nothing better to do.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to etc.

It was the van's first birthday on Thurs 29th September. She was in Spinneys at the time, but, when she came home the next day, she got a pressie of a super new awning (see separate post) and, to celebrate, we had French Fancies and tea. We always have French Fancies when celebrating in the van cos Auto-Sleepers have 'em in the brochure pics for the Warwick Duo. Sad or what?

So, it's the end of our first twelve months of motorhome fun.

We 've had countless trips including two abroad and have covered 11,500 miles.

We've learnt loads and we're looking forward to lots more fun and enjoyment with our van. We love it so much!

In a week or so I'm off with my mate Bernie to Normandy for about 9 days. We're gonna be visiting WWII sites associated with D Day and the battle for Normandy. I'm presently reading Max Hasting's excellent book, "Overlord, D Day and the battle for Normandy 1944".

Habitation service and warranty stuff

This week the van's been to Spinneys for its habitation service and a few warranty issues to be sorted. They've adjusted the ignitor on the fridge, which should hopefully stop it going out.
We had the wire between the heating control and the heating replaced. Evidently the cover had come off the spare blown air outlet on the heater and this had resulted in the wire starting to melt! No wonder the control was going haywire.
In an effort to find out why the waste water tank warning (which should come on when it's full) wasn't working, Spinneys discovered ... it doesn't have a warning, even though it's mentioned in the handbook. Doh! Thanks Auto-Sleepers.

The habitation service cost £183.

Phew, it's hot!

One thing our trip to the Pyrenees taught us was, we need an awning. If not for us, then for our dogs, who from next January, will be accompanying us on trips abroad. A couple of very hot days saw us quite unconfortable with no shade.

So, we spent lots of cash and, this week, I had an awning delivered and I, Chrissie and Bernie fitted it on 30th September, the hottest September day on record.

It wasn't particulary difficult, once we'd thought it through, but it's a big thing to handle.

'Looks great now it's done. It's a Fiamma F65S in titanium silver, so it matches the van.

One thing about doing this on a hot day was, once wound out you can really, "feel the benefit", as Mum used to say about taking your coat off indoors.

You wouldn't want your coat off indoors or out today, mind (Sat 1st Oct). Our weather station's showing 25.4 C in the shade!

The tale of the heated rear window switch

Once upon a time, in a far away land over the mountains, there was a man with a van.
Not long after he took the van home he noticed that, when you switched on the heated rear window and door mirror heaters the little light, on the switch, didn't come on! The heaters worked though!
Now, the man was a little compulsive obsessive and, having paid lots of pennies for the van, he thought that this little light ought to come on. So ...
He took the van to the nice man at the big Peugeot garage in the big city, (it was called Manchester).
He smiled and told the nice man his problem.
"Ok," said the nice man, "let's have a look then."
So the nice man got one of his friends to have a look and said, " Needs a new switch panel. We'll get one for you."
"Does it need all the switches replacing then?", asked the man with the van.
"Yes, you can't replace them individually," said the nice man.
So the man, sat on a rock and waited patiently.

Presently, the nice man phoned to say he'd got a new switch panel. So the man took the van to the big city and had a cup of coffee while the nice man had his friend fit the new switches.
"There's a problem," said the nice man.
"Oh?" said the man.
"Yes," said the nice man. "My friend's fitted the switches but the light still doesn't come on. He's having another look."
So the man had another cup of coffee. It was very nice.
"There's a problem," said the nice man.
"Oh," said the man.
"Yes," said the nice man. "My friend's taken some bits off the dashboard, but he can't find out what's wrong. Could you bring you van back another day and maybe leave it with us for a couple of days. We can lend you a nice little car to drive around while we have your van. Also, I need to tell you that the problem might have been caused by the men who made your van into a lovely motorhome."
"Oh," said the man.
"Yes," said the nice man, "and, if that's so, someone would have to give us the pennies for fixing it."
"Oh," said the man, a little worried, and he left the big city behind and went home.
The man phoned the nice people who'd sold him the van to tell them he was worried.
"Don't worry," said the nice lady. "The men who made your van into a lovely motorhome would give the nice man, at the big garage, in the big city some pennies if it was their fault."
"Ok," said the man, "thank you."
A while later, the man took the van and went back to the big city and, just as he'd promised, the nice man lent him a nice little car to drive around while they mended his van.
The man drove around. He went home, he went shopping, he went to visit his friend, Big Ears, then he went home again.
Days passed.
The nice man phoned and said, "My friend's found the problem. It's the BIS unit; it's broken!"
"What's a BIS unit?" asked the man.
"It's a box full of magic. It lives behind the dashboard. We've ordered a new one. It'll be here in a couple of days. You can keep the nice little car to drive around though."
"Ok," said the man. "Thank you."
Days passed. The man phoned the big garage in the big city.
"Please can I have my van back?" he asked nicely.
"Sorry," said the nice man, "we haven't got the BIS unit yet. It'll be here in a couple of days."
"Ok," said the man.
Days passed. The man phoned the big garage in the big city again.
"Please can I have my van back?" he asked nicely.
"Sorry," said the nice man, "we haven't got the BIS unit yet. It'll be here in a couple of days."
"Ok," said the man.
Days passed. The man phoned the big garage in the big city again.
"Please can I have my van back?" he asked nicely.
"Sorry," said the nice man, "we haven't got the BIS unit yet. It'll be here in a couple of days."
"Oh dear," said the man. " The thing is, we're off on a holiday in the van next week and we need to make it ready; put nice things to eat, and to drink in it. You know?"
"Oh," said the nice man... "But my friend's got your van's dashboard in bits."
"Oh," said the man. "Perhaps you could put it back together again, so we can go on holiday, eat and drink nice things and have fun. Then, when you've got the BIS unit I could bring the van back again and you could mend it for me. And maybe you could lend me the nice little car again?"
"Ok," said the nice man, a bit grumpily.
So the man took the nice little car back to the big city and drove his lovely van home.
Then he went on holiday, ate and drank nice things and had fun.
Then he went home ... and waited ... and waited.
Days passed.
Weeks passed.
Months passed.
Then, one nice, sunny day the nice man phoned to say he'd got the BIS unit.
"Super!" said the man.
"Can you bring your van in so we can mend it?" said the nice man.
"Well," said the man, "we're off on holiday again, to eat and drink nice things and have fun. Can I bring it in after we've come home?"
"Ok," said the nice man, "just phone and let us know when."
"Ok," said the man. "Can I have a nice little car again?"
"Yes," said the nice man.
So the man went on holiday, ate and drank nice things and had fun.
One nice day, after he'd come home again, he drove the van into the big city. It was only six months after he'd first gone there. He was very good at finding his way to the big garage now.
He had a lovely cup of coffee in the big garage, then the nice man lent him a nice little car to drive around.
And, by and by, after a couple of days the nice man phoned to say the man's van was mended.
"Does the switch light up now?" asked the man.
"Yes," said the nice man.
"That's lovely," said the man.
And he went and took the nice little car back to the big garage in the big city, thanked the nice man for being so nice and helpful and then, drove his lovely van home, with the switch for the heated rear window and the door mirror heaters switched on ... so he could look at the little light.
And he smiled ... and he laughed ... and he was very, very happy.
And the man ... and the van ... and all his friends and relations, including Big Ears, lived happily ever after.

Hello Followers!

Hi there
Just a note to say hi to those lovely folk who've signed up to follow this blog. I still feel pretty new to this and am flattered that anyone could take the trouble to follow my ramblings.
I've occasionally thought of discontinuing this drivel, but seeing you folks joining has given me the incentive to carry on.
I have tried to contact you individually to say thanks but for some reason, can't sign in successfuly to this facility; probably doin' something wrong!
Anyoldhow, thank you to all of you and do feel free to add a comment; I've not had any yet!
Happy travelling to you all and I will get around to looking at your blogs if I haven't done so already.
Smile!
Geoff

PS Special thanks too from Tilly & Dixie.

The Pyrenees, summer 2011

Been back a couple of weeks but it's bin quite busy around here. Time I updated the blog.

What the heck's a tank doing in a tale of our journey to the Pyrenees? Well ... I'll tell you.

We set off a day earlier than planned; Chrissie had no work, the pups had gone to kennels so the place felt empty. We headed for this wild camp spot near Melton Mowbray. Had a pleasant meal and were just watching the news, when Chrissie said,

"What's that noise?"

"It'll be a tractor, probably working in that field."

"No, it's a  tank"

"Don't be daft ... bloody hell!"

Whereupon the beast in the pic rumbled past, carrying a driver and grinning kids. I got out, waved and took this pic. Evidently it's a privately owned Chieftain. Must be a lot of bovver in these parts if you need privately owned tanks!

Anyoldhow, after a night here and one at the Folkestone CC site it was off for our second trip this year to la belle France.

We'd had little success with aires at Easter but were determined to try again, maybe even wild camp. So, here's the first aire of the trip at Mesnieres en Bray, NE of Rouen. A beautiful stopover, even if the local shop was shut for the hols.

We enjoyed wandering around this delightful little place. This tiled artwork adorned a well outside the church,

whilst this old mill was beside the river.

Moving on next day, we stopped at another super aire, this time with proper hedged emplacements. Can't remember where this was! But, as with the previous one, it was free.

And another one. in a lovely walled town. Again, free. I know I'm probably preaching to the converted but, aren't French aires a brilliant insitution? So wonderful to be welcomed. No "No Overnight Camping" signs here, eh?

And then we rolled into Lourdes. An interesting place and an important destination, especially for Roman Catholics. As Chrissie said, everyone seems to have a story here. Lots and lots of folks in wheelchairs or with other physical problems. It does make you wonder and contemplate how lucky you are ... or should I say WE are.

After our brief visit to Lourdes we wound our way up to Cauterets; a delightful little tourist town in the mountains. Not too commercialised though. On arrival we pitched up here; one of two aires in the town.

But we planned to stay in the area for a few days and, since this aire cost 10€ per night, we chose to move to a campsite costing only 16€. It was just a ten minute walk north of the town centre. Basic but a really tranquil place.

This photo, taken on the site, is entitled, "Blue Butterfly on Blue Croc".

Here's the old wooden station building in Cauterets. The railway closed some time ago but this place is now used as a community hall.

Cauterets is a ski resort in the winter, but in summer it's a popular base for walking in the mountains. We enjoyed several meanders amongst the peaks.

Here's Chrissie by Lac de Gaube.

And me, fillin' my face in the same location.

A revelation of this trip was the discovery of how quickly you can cool the van by opening the rear doors. This is another benefit, not only of a panel van conversion, but also of the rear lounge layout. Opening the side door and the big Remis roof vent makes it feel like you're sitting in the shade under a big, tin gazebo. Chrissie's busy checking emails via my smartphone and Vodafone's excellent data traveller service; £10 for a months web access, 25MB a day limit, plenty for keeping up with emails and looking at the odd web page.

Here's a pic from our trek up the Valee de Marcadau, from Pont d'Espagne.

And this is one of the views we were rewarded with at the head of the valley.

Near the Refuge Wallon, Chrissie filters some water using our superb First Need water filter. We've used this for many years and it never lets us down. It's one of the very best available and turns the muckiest puddle into clean, safe drinking water.

Another beautiful scene up at the head of the valley.





On the way down we met a guy bringing supplies up to the refuge with two donkeys. Albert, the lead donkey, was a touch disobedient. Despite Chrissie stepping to one side, he still tried to push her down the steep valley side with his pannier.

These beautiful Charolais cows inhabit the highest alps.

more to come :)