January 20 :: Tiznit, Morocco

January 20 :: Tiznit, Morocco :: 2km / 432km total

Tiznit from the main road, where I was dropped off. You can see the city walls just over the little wall next to my bike.

One of the many gateways into the city.

The inside of my hotel. Very homely!

A short bus ride today down to the town of Tiznit. Tiznit is an interesting little place with an intact wall that surrounds it. An ancient trading town, today it is known for its hassle free shopping and cheap prices (as opposed to Marrakech and Fes). I'm staying in a fantastic hotel - 50 dirhams (7 CDN) for a very clean room, hot water shower, Western toilet, and lounge area. The lounge area has the first English-language newspaper I've seen all trip - a Saudi newspaper.

Throughout Morocco I've noticed (particularly when cycling) that many European tourists drive RVs here. I don't know what the percentages of tourists by travel mode is (group tour vs. backpacker vs. RV) but the RV number certainly seems high, and the backpacker number certainly seems low. Here in Tiznit is a large RV park, and I was curious, so I strolled in. Most of the licence plates were F (France), which is no surprise, and number two was I (Italy, I assume) with D (Germany) and others sprinkled throughout. Morocco is certainly a great Winter destination for Europeans, sort of like Florida for snowbird Canadians, but far cheaper and closer.

As I've been making my way South the temperature has been steadily rising. Here in Tiznit in the midday Sun the thermometer was reading 30C. Tomorrow I'm back on the bike for the short ride to Mirleft (60km-ish), on the Atlantic Ocean, and it should be warm enough for swimming. Another series of short rides will bring me to Sidi Ifni and Guelmim... Guelmim sits on the Northern edge of the Sahara. From Guelmim its about 1500km of sand through Mauritania to Senegal... hopefully by bike. We'll see how tomorrow's ride goes.