January 13 :: Fes, Morocco
January 13 :: Fes, Morocco :: 141km / 335km total
Setting out from Chefchaouen
Setting out from Chefchaouen
through the closed market
View from my hotel in Ouezzane
Only a km or 2 out of town there was a wierd incident. Some guy ran across a field about 300 metres in front of me to get to the road, and started running down the road towards me, on my side, on the pavement. Directly at me. The wierder thing was, he was running with one arm behind his back, as if he was hiding something... like a weapon. Adrenalin surged through my veins, although I was thinking "are you kidding, on a busy road at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon in a country where no cyclist has ever been mugged/attacked?". I wasn't taking any chances, so took evasive action. I accelerated towards him, checked the traffic (none, damn - I could've used traffic to my advantage), and when he got to about 15 metres away I slammed hard to the other side of the road, zooming by him with a few metres to spare between us. Looking back, he just kept on running, for at least a few minutes... odd.
The landscape got drier, semi-desert now, and the hills got worse. I expected hills in Morocco, but not like this, and soon enough I was really suffering. With less than 50km to go I could drop the intensity, but there's only so low you can drop it when you have to get yourself and the bike over the hills. Drink stops became frequent, and finally I hit the 12km mark for my last drink stop. But no, as I rolled past the "Fes 12km" sign the next sign said "Fes 22km". It would not be appropriate for me to type here exactly what I thought about this. Fes 22km. So be it. Yep, the last 22km was not what I would consider to be among the top, say, 2000 bike rides I've done. Either way, I coasted in, on fumes, exhausted.
Fes is known primarly for its souq - its medieval bazaar, and the walls. Well, ya, I spent maybe 10 minutes doing the walking tour in my guidebook but the problem was that it looks virtually the same to the medieval bazaars in Damascus, Cairo, 2 or 3 cities in India, Istanbul... and I'm not a shopper to begin with (even if I was, I sure as hell am not adding ANY weight to my bike!). So most of what Fes is known for is completely lost on me - and I've been hearing that Marrakech is much more interesting. The food is great, though, almost anything you want - in my case 2 kebab sandwiches that completely stuffed me, and a 500ml Coke... for 26 dirhams.
There are lots of tourists here, and I'll check out some of the nightlife, but odds are I'll be on the road at 7a.m. bound for Ifrane and Azrou, on the Marrakech road (480km from here to Marrakech, 5 days likely). Joy of joys, I was checking out the stats... Fes sits at about 475m above sea level, Ifrane at 1600m. Over 3000 feet of climbing in 98km... more climbing if there are descents along the way. Fun fun fun.
The bike all ready to go
View from my hotel in Ouezzane
On the road to Fes
On the road to Fes
Getting drier now, on the road to Fes
My first really brutal day in the saddle (on this trip). The day started off promising, as I got off to another pre-sunrise start on pleasant flats and joyous descents. The first 20km flew by, a whirlwind of foggy grassy fields among rolling hills. This is the "legit" agricultural heartland of Morocco. I was all smiles, cocky, I'll be in Fes by 1pm, yadda yadda. But then the choppiness began, long uphills and downhills with very few flats - sort of like the Rocky Mountain foothills in Alberta.
At the 90km mark I was totally wiped out, and so I stopped for a lengthy huge meal in a small town 50km from Fes. The meal itself was fantastic - kebabs, eggplant, bread, potatoes, and I thoroughly needed and enjoyed it - until I got the bill. I haven't been asking prices in advance because I know what the prices should be... well, when you let your guard down, thats when they pounce. 150 dirhams was the initial "offer" - $20 CDN. Completely ridiculous. I knew the price should be about 1/3 that. I argued as best I could (all of a sudden the waiter couldn't understand French), but when the food's already in your belly there aren't a lot of bargaining chips. I got him down to 90 dirhams, paid, and left. By the way, this is the only time so far that someone has attempted to cheat me - the Moroccans have been fantastic.
Only a km or 2 out of town there was a wierd incident. Some guy ran across a field about 300 metres in front of me to get to the road, and started running down the road towards me, on my side, on the pavement. Directly at me. The wierder thing was, he was running with one arm behind his back, as if he was hiding something... like a weapon. Adrenalin surged through my veins, although I was thinking "are you kidding, on a busy road at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon in a country where no cyclist has ever been mugged/attacked?". I wasn't taking any chances, so took evasive action. I accelerated towards him, checked the traffic (none, damn - I could've used traffic to my advantage), and when he got to about 15 metres away I slammed hard to the other side of the road, zooming by him with a few metres to spare between us. Looking back, he just kept on running, for at least a few minutes... odd.
The landscape got drier, semi-desert now, and the hills got worse. I expected hills in Morocco, but not like this, and soon enough I was really suffering. With less than 50km to go I could drop the intensity, but there's only so low you can drop it when you have to get yourself and the bike over the hills. Drink stops became frequent, and finally I hit the 12km mark for my last drink stop. But no, as I rolled past the "Fes 12km" sign the next sign said "Fes 22km". It would not be appropriate for me to type here exactly what I thought about this. Fes 22km. So be it. Yep, the last 22km was not what I would consider to be among the top, say, 2000 bike rides I've done. Either way, I coasted in, on fumes, exhausted.
Fes is known primarly for its souq - its medieval bazaar, and the walls. Well, ya, I spent maybe 10 minutes doing the walking tour in my guidebook but the problem was that it looks virtually the same to the medieval bazaars in Damascus, Cairo, 2 or 3 cities in India, Istanbul... and I'm not a shopper to begin with (even if I was, I sure as hell am not adding ANY weight to my bike!). So most of what Fes is known for is completely lost on me - and I've been hearing that Marrakech is much more interesting. The food is great, though, almost anything you want - in my case 2 kebab sandwiches that completely stuffed me, and a 500ml Coke... for 26 dirhams.
There are lots of tourists here, and I'll check out some of the nightlife, but odds are I'll be on the road at 7a.m. bound for Ifrane and Azrou, on the Marrakech road (480km from here to Marrakech, 5 days likely). Joy of joys, I was checking out the stats... Fes sits at about 475m above sea level, Ifrane at 1600m. Over 3000 feet of climbing in 98km... more climbing if there are descents along the way. Fun fun fun.
posted by Graham Durrant at 11:11 AM
2 Comments:
Did I mention how fantastic the pictures are?
It was interesting to see so many satellite dishes in one of the photos.
Is this typical in Morocco? The Middle East? Asia?
satellite dishes and cellphones are typical of these countries.
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