steve_hoge's Guestbook

Gorges of Dades vs Gorges of Todra
we are just back from a wonderful trip to morocco and like you we went to the 2 gorges on the same day , sunday....The Dades was a marvelous discovery, the scenery, the quietness were a total satisfaction to the eyes and the soul. We arrived at todra Gorges mid-afternoon and this was a big desapointment as the place, which in itself is still impressive too, but it must be avoided totally on sunday...it was a zoo: people everywhere, traffic jams, loud music, vendors of everything and anything...Would we have known that, we would have spent the whole day at Dades.... Reading your blog was a pleasure and a great source of information...........Thank you...........A.R.

wonderful
I was in Turkey in 2006 and I thought it was a very beautiful country. The food was delicious and the people were very friendly. I have been in many parts of Turkey.

génial
en fait, c'est joli ce que vous avez rapporté sur cette région, j'ai trop adoré votre description aux lieux que aviez visité. j'aimerai bien vous mentionnez que mes origines sont de cette région, et exactement de kelaa mgouna, mais moi je suis natif de marrakech, mon grandpère possède une Kasbah dans ce village et j'aimerai bien vous y inviter, vous etes les bienvenus

Diversions, ahh, the spices of life
Hello, Reading about your Moroccan travels has kept me from finishing the task at hand, laying down the last two square meters of oak parquet at my retreat. I had the good fortune of spending two weeks in Morocco this past January. That trip, travelling light with only a 20L packpack and no set agenda, inspired me to return for another two weeks in March. The second journey was totally different then the first, as it was done primarily via bicycle. The first trip - Meknes, Fes, Essouria (also stayed at the same shoebox for ... only one night) and Marrakech was a weird but positive sensory overload. The second trip, much like your cycling trip, began first with the assembly of our bicycles, followed by the challenge of then storing the giant boxes for our return (ofcourse we paid a premium leaving the airport with our boxed bicycles - as the airport provides no storage facilities). After the storage issue was resolved with help from some graceful locals, it was a great feeling pedeling into the main square. We set out with the goal of making it to Taddert before sunset. We were not blessed with a tailwind and spent the greater part of the day fighting a very strong headwind, plus the climb. We visited the local hammam, and were fortunate to experience a very hard type of Moroccan massage. This was followed by a ... tajine ofcourse. The story goes on, but that would exceed the polite length of a comment. All in all, we ended up crossing the High Atlas range twice, crossing over the Tichka pass at 2260 and on the return, over the Tich'n Test pass. Morocco is truly a great country to cycle in. Wishing you a pleasant tailwind for the remainder of your journey. The next mornng we made the climb to the Col du Tichka (2260m). After a very rewarding freshly squeezed oj the ride to Ouzazate was very enjoyable. As we had agreed to meet some friends in Zagora we had a schedule that kept us from a more leisurely pace. The next morning, after a great dinner at Chez Dimitris, we headed out with Agdz as our goal. As you have also done this route, there is no need to describe the journey, climb and descent. We stayed at the Kasbah Itrane, after we had been told it was "the" kasbah. Later that evening we were led to the genuine kasbah. We had actually been fortunate to have made that choice, as when we were finishing our excellent tour, a group of some 40 French tourists arrived, whereas we had the Itrane almost soley to ourselves. The next day we rode along the river (highway) and cruised through Zagora and to find accomodation at the Asmaa in Amazraou. Some hours after we arrived our friends caught up with us at the hotel. As they did not have bicycles or the inclination to ride, we compromised and hired a 4x4 to take us into the dessert beyond M'Hamid the following day. This was a fortunate decision, as the next day demonstrated what an actual sandstorm is like. I will hopefully take the initiative and post some on the web (apparently it easier to do then ever before) with some of our experiences. After the trip to the dessert I was certain that the dessert thing is just not my cup of tea. Visually stunning? Yes. Overbearing, YES. The next we did not get back into Zagora until past noon and left riding into a very strong headwind. Needless to say I had no guilt flagging down a grand taxi whose driver had no problem bunjeecording my bicycle into the boot. Some ten k outside of Zagora to Ouzazate cost us only 200 MAD! We made a repeat visit to Chez Dimitris and left early the next morning by bus to Marrakech. I was fortunate to be allowed to sit in the very front seat and was thus able to get some great shots from a great perspective - and in great comfort. We arrived in Marrakech behind schedule with the bus to Essaouria being held for us and the others who had tickets for the onward journey. As it was Easter weekend, the bus and its boot were full. It was quite a stir (plus an additional 50 MAD per bike) to get our bicycles squeezed in. Upon arriving in Essaouria, we were faced with the task of finding a room. Unfortunately the Dar Afram was fully, fully booked. Good fortune prevailed (after twenty some odd payphone calls) and a room was found. The greatest thing about travelling by bicycle, is that you can drive it literally through the front doors of a hotel. Our room was very interesting, as it was height was greater then its length or width! Not wishing to totally forego the Dar Afram experience, we decided to dine there. During the course of the evening we met some South Africans who had decided to quit there jobs an take 6 mos to travel up the African coast finding good spots to surf at. When we me up with them, they were merely 6 mos behind schedule! They also have an excellent web site that accounts for there journey, africansurfer.com . Getting in at 4am (actually not - as the hotel door was locked) and having to stand outside the large wooden door hoping hat

what's in those paniers?!?
Lovely as the photos are (REALLY, QUITE LOVELY!!), we want to see inside those paniers. How do you manage to travel so lightly? We filled our Volvo heading to Snowmass for the weekend. Ok, I did take a few extras, in case I didn't like my choices from the comfort of home after we got there. And we had to take plenty of supplies in case we got stuck on I-70 again. Two pairs of skis and boots, too, to be flexy about the ski choices. On and on, it's wonderful to hear from you again, Thanks!

Villa Nora
Did you get to meet the owner Mohammed Bouhia?

I have now been there, done that!
Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get a message off to you, but acclimating back into Californiaocity took longer than I thought it would. Dan and I talked of you all and how much we enjoyed our all too brief talks. We were glad to finally get home and into other people's company, if only because we had begun to say the same thing at the same time in a given situation, and it was just a little too spooky, especially for me to relaise I was beginning to think like Dan! Now he may say the same about beginning to think like me, but as I'm sure you are aware after having met him, I would be at the biggest disadvantage in that situation. Actually, we are still chums, mates, buds, and all that after three weeks' travel together, the last of which was in a car with no one else around, so I think our friendship did rather well. I noticed you didn't write anything about Chefchouen itself and understand. Frankly, while the drive there was really cool-how about that orange suspension bridge; we were hesitant to drive the car over it, but did so without mishap, obviously-the village itself underwhelmed us. Having read the LPG, we were anticipating something very beautiful and cool to behold, and that was not what we saw. We stopped at one point to take a phot of some goats climbing into a tree to get access to some particularly tender leaves, and suddenly, the goatherd came running at us yelling and waving his arms. I knew there was an etiquette in not taking a human's photo without first getting their permission, but id not realise it pertained to goats as well! We got stopped by the gendarmes three times in one day with Dan at the helm, as it were, and thankfully I am able to be obsequious in French as well as English, as was able to schmooze our way out of a ticket. Dan passed on a solid line twice and failed to stop properly at a check point. Of course, everyone else was passing on the solid line as well but they knew when the checkpoint was coming and restrained themselves as they drew near to the place, and we also failed to stop fully at the one place because there was so much over-writing on the bloody sign it was rendered illegible to my eye, at least. We also got yelled at by a soldier at a dam when we stopped downstream to take a phot of the river, which I explained enough for his satisfaction, but we had taken a photo of the thing upstream unbeknownst to him, and plan to sell it to someone who is interested blowing the thing up, as soon as we figure out who the hell that might be. Our favourite town ended up being Asilah, south of Tanger, where we spent a couple of days just relaxing and walking along the breakwater and eating paella. It was a good prelude to the flight home. Dan promises that he will soon send the photos he took of you all and of us together and I will forward them on to you. Did you end up heading across the pass through the Atlas to Zagora? Did you get enough deisel fumes on the trip? Drop a line when you get a chance! David

THANKS!!
Your stories and photos are great. Thank you so much for taking the time (and I know it is hard!) to record and share your adventures. You two are amazing - I want to drop in and be there also. Even repairing the bracket for the paniers in the middle of the roadway. simply amazing! Best Wishes for tomorrow and the day after - Susan