Well, that was fun….
It was about 6.30pm and had just eaten and was feeling at one with the world – when a 4×4 with several armed soldiers arrived. The boss asked for my passport, made a call and then told me I could not camp here. As much as I tried to placate him, he said “Non” and I had to leave. It gets dark here at 7pm so I had to do the quickest de-camp and bike-load in history, and by 6.50pm I was on the road heading south.
between the border to Algeria and the Morocco is a large military area with minefields. It seems I’ve strayed into a military area, which was surprising as I was only about 100m off the main road. But, its not my country so I can’t complain. My biggest concern now was getting to Dakhla as it was now almost dark and it meant a ride of about 150 miles. The worst part of riding in the dark in this part of Morocco is that there is no light pollution so is is completely dark. This in itself isn’t too bad but its the drivers coming in the opposite direction; the trucks and cars and vans – as NO ONE dips their headlights.
After a while I found that if I turned on my running lights about 200 to 150 before the other driver passed me it would give hen a hint and most of them would dip their lights. Quite a few times I had to brake and come to a stop as I just couldn’t see because some of the trucks have more lights on their cab’s than a football stadium. Well, that’s how it felt.
About an hour before I got to Dakhla I stopped at a petrol station and brought up Booking.com as I needed somewhere to stay the night. One of the GREAT things about Morocco is that even in the Sahara you can still get a 4G phone signal. BRILLIANT…! I looked for the cheapest hotel and found a ‘room’ for 24eu, so with a bit of a smile I got back on the bike and headed back into the dark night. About 11pm I got to Dakhla, and after the obligatory police checkpoint I soon found the hotel, parking the bike on the pavement almost outside the entrance to the hotel.
The only bag I took of the bike was my tank-bag and tote bag and after confirming the booking the guy led me upstairs. First floor, second, third and then finally the fifth floor – the roof. On the roof was a large Bedouin tent and the guy opened the door and pointed to an empty bed i the corner. The other three beds were occupied and all I could see was their shoulders and heads. I was so hot, tired and sweaty that i just smiled, and when he left I dumped my kit next to the bed, stripped off, got into bed and was out like a light.
I woke at 6 so quietly took all my stuff outside and got dressed. Surprisingly, the dark morning air was still warm. Going downstairs I packed the bike, said goodbye and then rode my bike along the pavement around the hotel. The kerbs are about 14inches high so thinking I may find a lower bit of pavement rode around the block. Seeing some dirt and a driveway I hit the dirt and ang just before the concrete – my bike sank in the soft sand and dirt. So, here I was, at 6.15 in the dark with a bike that had the rear-wheel buried up to the hub.
Plan B…. I stripped all the luggage, panniers and top-box off then pushed the bike onto its side and dragged it over to one side. Then I spent a while scouring the area for stones, which I used to back-fill the hole my rear wheel had made and once I thought it looked okay, I dragged the bike over again and then lifted her up. Once she was upright, I stood besides her, started the engine, popped her into first gear and then walked her off the dirt and onto the concrete. Phew….!
I soon had the bike packed and just as it was getting light, about 7.30 I headed out of the city, got onto the southern road and started heading south.
Its about 430km (268 miles) from Dakhla to Nouhadibou in Mauritania. Yes, I could of done it in one day but I didn’t want to get to the border between Morocco and Mauritania late in the day as I believe that the border is very busy with big queues of people and vehicles. Also, because of all the early morning shenanigans with the bike, I was incredibly tired so I decided I was going to stop and camp for the night about 50 to 80km before the border.
There are no campsites in this part of the world, so I was going to have to wild-camp again…. This should be fun. 😉 As I was getting closer to the border I started looking for places to camp, but everywhere I found seemed to be too close to the main road and I wanted to be on the coastal side of the road instead of the inland side – and the possibility of military patrols. I was starting to loose all hope when just before Bir Gandouz I saw a sign for a somewhere called De Peche De Lamhirz – so I branched off the main road and followed the sign. The village itself was spookily abandoned and nearby there was a large industrial complex. I thought about camping somewhere in the abandoned village but the bike is obvious and I didn’t want to risk it so I turned around – but as I was heading away I saw an expanse of sand, camels and lots of heaps of stones so I went to investigate. I found a place about a half-mile off the road and it was firm sand and most of all, with the large heaps of stone, I could camp and be hidden. So that’s that I did.
With some food, a huge mug of tea, and the sight of nearby wandering camels, I felt at one again with the world again. Phew…! What a 24 hours that was. Tomorrow its going to be an early start and then a 80kms run down to the border with Mauritania – refreshed and ready for the fun which will be crossing the border.
