We said goodbye to our new found Bikers Home friends and Peter advised us about a gravel road over to Tazenacht that looked more interesting than the tarmac.
A few miles in, we saw some camels by the side of the road and stopping for pictures, it didn’t take long for the camel driver to come running over. Photos, laughs, smiles and a few dirhams changed hands.
Further on we saw a little village down in a small valley below us and Sue suggested we ride down to see it. We got to the end of the road in front of the school, just when the kids were storming out. 2 young men came over and we started talking, Elyoubi and Samat were cousins and they invited us to their house. We spent more than 3 hours in this little village Taguanzalte that isn’t even on the map. We had tea with the father in the house, the women and walked around the village with an entourage of kids. We learned that when filming “Babel”, Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett stayed in their house and donated some money towards the electricification of the village.
Many times when you have been invited somewhere, we have had the experience that you are expected to pay for the “hospitality”. But this time I tried to explain that and that we don’t want to be rude and offend them in any way, Both cousins were adamant that they did not want anything! The school has 60 children and the parents have to pay for all school material including books. A book can cost between 5 to 25 dirhams, so Sue and I offered to donate some money to the school. How can you resist that when you have 2 lovely girls in tow all the time like Sue new best friends?!
We also went to see the cooperative where carpets where handmade. The yellow carpet in making was to be 3.4 metres by 4 metres, it would take 6 months to make and cost 6000 dirhams if bought from the cooperative. I don’t think £600 would buy you a carpet like that in UK? If you wanted you could have any pattern or your name or initials in the carpet. Sue and I decided on the spot to come back sometime in the future with a car and bring one back!
We had to move on, even if they offered us to stay and we set off in the rain that had started about an hour before. The piste became very slippery from the rain so I rode very slow, I don’t think I went faster than 30 mph at any time.The scenery was stunning! After around 40 miles we came to Tazenacht and just outside the village the bike went wobbly, flat front tyre! Found a tyre place and it was fixed in 30 minutes, 20 dirhams! The repairman found an inch long thorn from one of the tough hostile bushes. Sue didn’t like the state of the tyre....
Getting much later now and still a good 50 miles to go. The cold wind and rain relentlessly bashed against us as we motored on to Taliouine. Sue was frozen to the core by the time we arrived - not the best part of the trip for her! Made even worse when it first seemed that the small hotel “Askaoun” we had found did not provide the hot water they had promised and worse again when I disappeared for over an hour to get a pannier repaired on the bike, leaving her shivering in bed.
Lars: Well I had to desert her... at least for a while, the means of transportation has priority doesn’t it? At the petrol station I asked around and a few minutes later a guy had taken the other bolt/bracket and took off on his moped. There I stood waiting, hoping he would return, going to the shop buying nuts and looking around in this one (dead) horse town but after 45 minutes he came back with a new bolt bracket welded and grinded, better than original. I came back to a very cold and lonely Sue, but after a good dinner she was as new again!
Sue: With hot water restored, a number of rum and cokes and wrapped in a blanket, I had recovered enough for us to enjoy a lovely private meal in the upstairs restaurant. Lesson number one - make sure you put your woman first and definitely before your bike!!!
Mileage: 104 miles
The family in Taguenzalte
Sue and the girls
Flat tyre!
Warming up dinner
Mike and Mark – Road from Kesh to Safi.
Safi is very Islamic, we were looked up and down as infidels, not a warm Berber welcome here. Found the campsite and pitched our bivies made ourselves comfortable. We should have taken more notice of the animals walking in pairs to higher ground; alas we didn’t see what was to come. After a hearty meal, we crawled into our sleeping bags. At this point the pitter, patter of the rain was light, within minutes it was a torrent of biblical proportions. Gazing out through my triangular hole, I ‘hunkered’ down for the night. During a pause in ‘hunkering’ I noticed a large puddle/ small lake forming to the right of my head. Fearing I may drown at some point, I arranged my bags to prevent accidental rolling into the pond. The rain continued all night.
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