Marrakech to Chefchaouen.

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Well trip went without a hitch to Marrakech travel wise. Started off nice and early, which was good because the flies were starting to become more than a nuissance the warmer it got. So with 180 plus miles to Marrakech we took the toll road to ensure we made good time. Unfortunately Dave woke with a very bad stomach, but managed to make it all the way to the campsite before being sick. Later that evening after phoning home I also felt bad all of a sudden, so went and got it out of my system, after which I was totally fine. This was luckly as I think that if I had slept on it I too would have been out for the count all the next day. So it turns out that Pesto doesn't keep very well in a truck that goes through a dessert.

The toll road felt very european, as the service station we stopped at, looked like it was in France, it even had a Bonjour café next to the fuel station. Plus the traffic on the toll road was minimal like in europe, and even though it went through some very nice mountains it was very easy to switch off and go into autopilot. The campsite is actually above Marrakech but only a couple of miles out, so I cycled in the next morning to check it out. The place reminds me of when I took a taxi from Malaga to Torremolinos, even though the place was spanish it had McDonalds, Burger kings and other shops that made it look more like England than Spain. The route in to Marrakech is the same, the first thing you see as you get close is the "M" of the McDonalds resturant followed by a Pizza hut, hopefully when we take a taxi into the city itself things will change. I also finally found the Marjane hypermarket I read about, and its like a massive Lidl's from the outside.

Cycling back out was fun as I just about remebered where I started, till I saw a sign for the campsite pointing down the road when I should have gone left which then sent me down a busy dual carriage way! Half way down the dual carriage way I spotted my campsite a mile to my left, so when I had the oppotunity I crossed the entire road and made my way across the open land. this was ok apart from the ground was either ploughed or covered in rocks, at which point i was glad to have all the suspension on the bike. Though the best bit was when I managed to turn down a one way dual carriage way, the wrong way! This was fine till my little bit of off road path dissappeared, forcing me into the road on a tight bridge. The on coming trucks were very good to me, though it cracked me up to get looks of dismay from the Moroccans, even though their driving is borderline chaos.

At about 10:30 we ordered a taxi from reception and headed in to town. The driver dropped us off in the middle of the medina, which is nothing like the medina of Checouen as it seemed almost too modern. But another taxi ride got us too the older part of the medina, though there was no market like I expected, and due to poor comunication with the taxi drivers, we never did find it. But back at the campsite we chilled by the pool till dinner time, which was a really nice steak and chips followed by a chocolate moose thing for dessert.

All packed up, we waited for when the shops we wanted in Marrakech to open, as we're determined to have a pizza from Pizzahut for lunch, plus I would like to get a few bits from the Marjane which is opposite. The pizzas were really nice, and as it was very cheap we ordered the biggest pizzas and saved half of it for something to eat in the evening. Once on the toll roads to Rabat the time flew past, and before I knew it we had arrived in Kénitra. The campsite was very basic and a bit run down but good enough for a nights kip.

Today we had to pack the tents up wet, as we woke up in a morning mist, and by 10 O'clock we decided to move on. The route to Chefchaouen seemed to fly past as well as even though it took five hours it felt like we where here pretty quick. Now we are here we can chill and decide if we should go thursday or Friday as to be honest theres not alot more to see or do now except buy a few bits for the family, which we could probably do in a morning, but we will see.

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