9 JAN – After a breakfast fit for a king, in fact so fit I couldn’t finish it, I got back on the road and left Dakhla about 9.30 this morning, heading north. It’s been another of those gruelling days, with nothing but sand on either side of the road, so it’s just a case of getting your head down and eating the miles. Today I passed lots and lots of camels. I stopped to watch one herd and there must have been 40 to 50 camels. An amazing sight and something I won’t forget..!
My intercom module ‘disappeared’ a while ago so I’ve removed some of the padding inside my helmet and now I can use my Bluetooth earbuds to listen to music while I’m riding. About lunchtime I stopped for a snack and a drink and before I got back on the bike I had a call of nature. While I was stood having a wee and admiring the view one of my earbuds fell out, and looking down I saw that it had fallen slap bang in my puddle of pee…! Well, once you’ve started you can’t stop so I did a quick change of direction – to no avail. It was soaked. When I finished I gingerly picked up the earbud and wiped it down with a tissue and getting back on the bike I paired the buds, but to no avail – the left one is dead. I knew I should have got the waterproof ones… but I never foresaw this particular scenario… So, back on the road again, and with one working earbud I made my way north.
I got to Laayoune after 4pm and was contemplating whether to get a hotel or to keep on going – so I kept on riding. After a while I realised that I wasn’t going to make TanTan until well after 7 when it was dark, and as it had already been a long day I decided to camp for the night. A camping location was listed in iOverlander about 28 miles north of Laayoune, so that’s where I headed.
Taking a turn off the main road at Dora, I let some of the air out of my tyres as I didn’t know how ‘dirty’ the track was going to be and then followed the dirt track for around 2.5 miles until I arrived at an abandoned camping complex – which is in the middle of nowhere. The buildings are all abandoned but the view is wonderful. It must of been a great place to stay when it was still working. I d know that Covid killed the tourist industry in Morocco so I assume that this resort fell derelict due to Covid.
I’ve hidden my bike between two huts to minimise any attention from any passing camels or nomads – or army patrols – and I’ve pitched my tent in one of the huts as it’s a good shelter from the brisk breeze that’s out and about today. Hopefully, I’ll get a sound sleep tonight.
My mileage today was 577 miles from Dakhla to where I’m camping. And it’s been such a looooong day and I’m fair-tuckered-out. It’s a superb place to camp, with a stunning view and it’s so quiet. Except for the gentle sound of the breeze, there’s no other sounds. No birds or anything else. Even the passing camels make no noise and the silence is almost deafening as I’m so used to the roar of the bike.
Tomorrow I’m going to do the short 160 mile ride north to TanTan, where I’m going to stay for a few days for some R&R before I start moving north again.
10 JAN – With a heavy heart I left last night’s camp site. On reflection, I wish I’d stayed another night, but it’s too late now… It was so peaceful and quiet. I loved being there.
Last night the breeze dissipated about 8pm, leaving only silence – and the occasional wookie noises from some nearby camels, and despite them, I had a great night’s sleep. Waking around 7am I stayed snug in my sleeping bag until the sun started to show itself at 8 and then motivated myself for breakfast plus several daydreams while looking at the landscape as I drink my tea – and then the routine of packing.
Before I loaded the bike I got the spanners out and tightened my chain and filled the oil reservoir for the chain oiler. I also got the bike on the main stand to check the engine oil – and it was fine. So far the engine has used about 250ml of oil, whereas the chain oiler has used a little over 500ml, which isn’t bad for nearly 12 thousand miles. One thing I have found with the V-Strom is that it uses very little oil. When I toured around Europe the year before, again, I used very little oil.
As the track leading away from the camp site was quite firm I pumped up my tyres and made my way back to the highway around 10am hit the tarmac and headed north. Initially I was hoping for a change of scenery but I was wrong as the landscape from Laayoune to TanTan is still the Western Sahara – sand, sand and more sand…! I now remember that it’s from TanTan that the landscape starts to change.
Instead of TanTan I went to El Ouatia – which is the port of TanTan, the city being about 15 miles east. I arrived at Camping Atlantique around 2.30, and as soon as I got the tent up I went for a long hot shower and did some laundry. It’s quite a large campsite and almost full with campervans, mostly French. I am the only tent here, and the only Brit but I don’t mind because there’s water and hot showers, and it only costs £3 a night – which is superb. It’s next to a small town and there are lots of shops, so it’s a really convenient site.
It was only 160 miles today but it was a pretty boring slog, made worse by the strong north easterly wind and the many HGV’s going south – giving you a blast of air as you pass each other. Because of the wind there was also a lot of sand blowing over the roads most of the way plus a lot of dust in the atmosphere. Visibility was about 2 miles or less at times, and sometimes it seemed as though the road was moving because of the sand blowing across the road. By the time I got to El Ouatia I could hardly see out of my visor and my riding gear and bike was covered in a fine layer of sand.
Tomorrow I’m going into TanTan to buy some oil for my bike’s oil change, but if I can’t get oil, then I’ll have to wait until Agadir or maybe Marrakesh. We’ll see. I’m here for a few days, but one thing I have noticed – is that it’s a bit colder here. A definite difference in temperature, which doesn’t make me any more eager to ride north…
