My trip report, in case you need something to read š
Before the trip, almost everyone warned me against traveling through Morocco alone, and I met many locals along the way who described it as too dangerous. I was told to avoid camping, the mountain villages, and especially the children. I didnāt have to camp, and the mountain villages were mostly deserted or uninhabited. Unfortunately, there were a few unpleasant moments with the kids here in the mountains. They throw rocks, run after you, and try to steal stuff from your bike. But thatās probably just because of their ageāwhen I ride past a group of teenagers in Cologne, I sometimes get a rude comment too. Apart from that, Iāve met nothing but nice and hospitable people; I was invited to stay the night several times and invited for tea at least 100 times. If Iād accepted all the invitations, I wouldnāt be done with the tour by next weekā¦
Weather-wise, I experienced it all. My lesson for future trips is to always pack a rain jacket, even if the forecast says 30 degreesā¦
The route was really tough, especially the āOld Colonial Roadā and the many dried-up riverbeds, through which I sometimes had to push my bike for several hours with no path in sightā¦ my bike and the rest of my gear handled everything without a hitch; unfortunately, on some days, the 8 liters of water I had with me werenāt enough. On two days, I clearly didnāt have enough water and was worried about getting dehydrated, which made me feel dizzy. The whole thing was made worse by the blazing sun, which meant that even the few trees around didnāt provide much shade.
But this is a mountain range with a desert climate, not high alpine terrainā¦ simply a completely different trip from anything Iāve done before. My SOS device gave me a great sense of security, since there were times when I really had no reception for hours on end, yet I knew that in an emergency I could reach someone and that help wasnāt too far away.
Fortunately, I didnāt have to use it, but I didnāt consider it entirely unlikely at the time. My path was often blocked by rock slides, and the trail in general was very technically demanding, so I rarely got into a real flow.
Morocco aloneāfrom the coast into the desertāwas an incredible adventure that was definitely outside my comfort zoneā¦
Ultimately, every tour has its own challenges; here, it was the trail conditions and the logistics. I managed both somehow, but Iām glad itās over š My next trip starts in just 6 weeks and will be much bigger, but completely different from Moroccoā¦ the flights to Kyrgyzstan are already booked
by chearixx
1 Comment
> Before the trip, almost everyone warned me against traveling through Morocco alone, and I met many locals along the way who described it as too dangerous.
Silly for a country that gets literally millions of tourists each year, and for decades already has been a favourite destination for overlanders in particular. Thatās why one doesnāt listen to people who donāt actually cycle the world themselves.
You would have been fine camping. Morocco was actually the first country that I ever wild-camped in, back when I was a hitchhiker and spent two months exploring the whole country from the Mediterranean to the Mauritanian border (a few years later I repeated this by bike). Rarely did anyone see me, but if they did, they always invited me to come sleep in their home or in the village cafe. Iāve even recommended to people on this sub who are nervous about wild camping in Europe or North America, āMorocco is a great country to learn how to wild camp, and then you feel more confident anywhere.ā