- Date: Nov 03, 2024
- Starting Location: Alageres, Spain
- Ending Location: Chefchouen, Morocco
- Mileage: 147Km
- Mileage Total So Far: 331 Km (205.7 Miles)
Breakfast
Breakfast at the Reina Cristina was ????
The weather Map
The map showed that the crossing would be clear, but that there may be some weather out over the straights of Gibraltar. So, once again, we headed out into the day, hoping that the weather would stay calm.
The ride
The ferry crossing
After staging the bikes for a short period, we were asked to board the ferry. We locked the bikes down, headed to 2nd level, laid down our gear, and headed outside for a video. You’ll see this video in today’s Report from the Road, but it was pretty windy outside on the deck of the ferry. First video, I almost killed myself, and almost lost my phone. Lots of wind as I looked over at Gibraltar.
Our first miles in Morocco
Entering a new country, after passing through Immigration and customs is always a special time. You’ve gotten your passport stamp, and you’re entering a wholly different culture. Our first day’s ride would be short, but it’s get’s us into Morocco, and that’s really the most important part of today’s ride.
Chefchaouen
As we left the port, we began to really take in Morocco. The architecture was no longer that of southern Spain, but the more dramatic architecture of years of old. Almost all of the buildings in this part of Morocco look very similar, and are made using the same construction method.
The buildings are made of mud, clay and straw, which is plentiful, but has the negative aspect of always being vulnerable to the weather. With each rain comes a dose of destruction for every building. So, in any city, you’ll see buildings where the mud siding is falling off, or has been repaired. In almost no places that we passed were all of the buildings in pristine form.
The car park
Chefchaoen is a busy city, and it does not have ample parking. In addition, we would be staying in a Riad(INTERNET URL), located within the walls of the Medina (INTERNET URL). The car park was located about 200 yards from our hotel, so we had to remove all of the gear from the bikes, load it onto a small transport vehicle, and then walk to the hotel with all of our remaining gear. It seemed like it uphill the entire way, but I’m just complaining.
PICTURES OF CAR PARK
Shopping in the Medina
This being our first Medina, we were overcome with the sights and sounds.
The Medina had many narrow streets, and it seemed that they sold just about everything imaginable. I really wanted to get some Moroccan spices, so after arriving at the hotel, and checking in, we set out on the streets of the Medina to see what was on offer.
Before we headed into the Medina, we needed to be absolutely sure that we could return to the square, located near the Kasbah, and from there, make our way back to the hotel.
Now, I don’t want to sound like a little wounded animal, but if you’ve never been confronted with a Medina, with thousands of streets that look the same, you can’t know the fear of getting lost. Add to that that we didn’t know any words from the Moroccan language, and were still getting used to being on a trip like this. So, we tried to get our cell phones working, so that we could drop a pin at the hotel, thus giving us a better way to find our way back.
After trying for many minutes, were finally able to get a good enough cellular data connection to get information to appear on Elizabeth’s phone, but my phone was still worthless.
We walked carefully away from the square, and began our quest. We were immediately assaulted by many vendors, selling goods, and offering “amazing food for dinner”. We already had dinner reservations, so we ignored all of the dinner barkers, and wandered around for about 90 minutes before we made our way back to the hotel, and got a nice cup of Moroccan tea.
The Hotel
We stayed in a Riad, which is a building that was once someone’s home, and has been converted into a hotel-like place. This Riad is spectacular.
A report from the road
Dinner
A fantastic Riad, tucked away down a small street, located only 200 feet from the hotel. We ate like the kings of Morocco. For tonight’s dinner, we were all allowed to choose one of several dishes on the menu, which we enjoyed.
What will tomorrow bring
Tomorrow we’ll leave Chefchauen, and head out into the more mountainous region of Morocco. We expect to begin to work our way into the Atlas Mountains, where we will approach altitudes of over 7000 in the coming days.
