Wow. That was a really cold night at La Catherdrale…! A really cold night and I must be higher than I thought. I slept in my thermals instead of my usual shorts and tee shirt, but I woke up at one point and had to put on some more clothes to keep my old bones warm. As dawn broke I stayed firmly in my sleeping bag until the sun came out, but when the sun arrived it’s strange how quickly the air warms up, with the heat on your skin feeling good.
While having my breakfast, together with a local dog who was also expecting breakfast, I had a good think about which direction to go next and realised that as much as I love it in the mountains, and at La Cathedrale, with each mile I am getting further away from the coast and several places I still want to see, so I decided to head west again.
The plan now is to head west, do an overnight in Marrakesh and then carry on towards Safi and El Jadida. After that there’s Casablanca and Rabat to see before I start heading east towards Fes. Seems like a plan….
The ride from La Catherdrale to Beni-Mallal was around 65 miles but it took me nearly three hours, mainly because of the nature of the roads but also because I kept stopping to admire the stunning views. Just before Beni Mallal the altimeter on my GPS said we were a little over 1700m above sea level, and you could tell because the landscape changes dramatically as the higher you go the more barren it becomes, and surprisingly the more goats to see. The goats at these elevations are the small brown kamikaze goats – the ones that can just dart out into the road. The temperature dropped to 15 degrees and yet people still live and work within the mountains and I passed several small communities that were very active with lots of people outside doing chores.
Coming down from the mountains and into Beni Mallal was like a fairground ride really, just coasting down the sharply winding roads without using much throttle. I stopped at Mirador, which is a small castle that overlooks the city. After taking in the spectacular view I made my way down into this surprisingly modern city and then picked up the N8 highway to head west.
About half-way from Ben Mallal to Marrakesh I stopped at a roadside shop to get something to drink and a snack, the guy in the shop asked where I was from. I told him “Englataire” and he said “Hello” as he could speak English, and we had a great conversation. While I was chatting to him I noticed there was lots bees in the cabinets containing food. I have noticed this several times and besides making me wonder ‘why’ it also made me buy something in a packet than straight out of the cabinet. He told me that they put the bees into the cabinets as they don’t eat the food, but they do keep other insects away. Wow…!
After another 120 miles and around three and a half hours in the saddle I arrived at the La Ralaise Marrakesh campsite – which I had left a few evenings before. I was ready for my hot shower. I’m going to spend one night here before heading west and because I was feeling the day’s journey, because I was tired, and because I didn’t feel like putting my tent up – I took a room in their hotel complex instead… And it was great. A lovely room with a comfy bed and a wonderfully hot shower.
Tomorrow I am heading towards Safi, which is a relatively short ride of 95 miles, and after Safi I may head to El Jadida in the afternoon and stay around there. I’ll see how the day progresses but somehow I’m looking forward to seeing the blue of the Atlantic sea again.
And on a final note – the bike has been superb. Although I had my doubts about it when I was in a Senegal, mainly due to its size and weight, in the mountains of Morocco it’s just perfect. She handles like a dream but the best aspect is the engine, as with the torque of that big v-twin engine, it made going up and down the mountains so easy and almost effortless. I really do love my bike.
