January 22 :: Sidi Ifni, Morocco
January 22 :: Sidi Ifni, Morocco :: 33km / 511km total
The coastal road to Mirleft
The coastal road to Mirleft
The coastal road to Mirleft - Atlantic Ocean to the right
Mirleft from the kasbah
The ruined kasbah above Mirleft
The kasbah above Mirleft
Sidi Ifni from my hotel rooftop, looking North (the direction I rode into town)
hotel rooftop looking SW
Sidi Ifni is an old crumbling Spanish town that seems to be barely kept afloat economically by small-scale fishing and RV tourists. There are many boarded up old Spanish buildings; but the town is much more pleasant than that suggests, and my hotel overlooks the beach (see pics). It'll be another quiet day for me (tanning, eating, reading, stretching) and an earlier start tomorrow, riding through the coastal hills to the Saharan border town of Guelmim.
Mirleft from the kasbah
The ruined kasbah above Mirleft
The kasbah above Mirleft
Sidi Ifni from my hotel rooftop, looking North (the direction I rode into town)
hotel rooftop looking SW
hotel rooftop looking West over Atlantic
A late start, but with only 33km to go today I had more than enough time. My left ankle has been silent, but I'm still quite nervous about it. The road down the coast to Sidi Ifni was very hilly, but no worries as my right leg pushed me over them.
Sidi Ifni is an old crumbling Spanish town that seems to be barely kept afloat economically by small-scale fishing and RV tourists. There are many boarded up old Spanish buildings; but the town is much more pleasant than that suggests, and my hotel overlooks the beach (see pics). It'll be another quiet day for me (tanning, eating, reading, stretching) and an earlier start tomorrow, riding through the coastal hills to the Saharan border town of Guelmim.
When it comes to TV and sports, there is only one thing that matters to Moroccans, and that is soccer. Nothing else even comes close - Al Jazeera, the only non-soccer program I've seen on tv here, places a distance second in terms of viewers. Every time I walk into a cafe that has a tv, soccer is on. Sometimes they change the channel, from one soccer game to another. When theres a big game on (UEFA Champions league, English Premiership, Spanish league) the cafe is jampacked.
posted by Graham Durrant at 5:56 AM
4 Comments:
Ahem - if I may - fromaj is not universally Arabic for cheese. In Egypt we say 'gebnah'. Great blog and great photos. You should be in them more. Otherwise how do we know they're not just postcards? lol According to Toronto radio news, today is supposedly the gloomiest of the year and the weather is very fitting. Enjoy every last drop of sun and sea! Rabenah ye sahel (God speed)
Yes, silly one - and I know who you are ;-) - Arabic is different in different countries. Even "yes" is different here than in Egypt... "wakha" vs "aiwa". Pics of me? You all know what I look like. ok ok I'll get on it.
The maps attached to you blog site are a great idea.
The road south from Sidi Ifni appears to be of lesser quality. what is it like?
I was surprised by your comment about the popularity of soccer. It did not seem to be that way in the middle east. Does it have to do with the closeness to Europe? Do they have a local league or is it all European on TV?
You were expecting to see other cyclists - have you?
The road from Sidi Ifni to Guelmim was of good quality (paved, no potholes or bad patch-jobs) but far, far hillier than the map suggests.
Regarding soccer, Moroccans seem to be very sporty in general, as opposed to the people in most other countries I've been to. I often see them playing soccer, running, even cycling in full lycra and highend bikes, etc, and as a whole seem to have a lot of vigor; the average Moroccan man seems to be healthy and robust. The proximity of Europe and the lingering close attachment to France and Spain certainly is an influence on their love of soccer as well. There is a local league, but European games and national-level games - even those between other countries - seem to be far more important. Morocco has qualified for the World Cup before, btw.
Regarding other cyclists I have been surprised not to come across any other foreign touring cyclists. As I said I've seen well-equipped and serious Moroccan riders. On the ride out of Fez I was passed by 3 guys with a team car/coach trailing them... they greeted me in Spanish as they blew by, and they BLEW by me, I had the impression they were Tour level Spanish cyclists training in Morocco for the good weather, good roads, and cheap prices.
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