Looking for some advice. Are there any recommended pistes/routes worth staying over for en route between Nador to Missour .Travelling September/October 2011 on 690R in order to pick up ME routes in Beni-Tajite then heading West via Mahmid for about ten days. Or is it beter or possible to just hit the N15 all the way (about 360km) in one day and spend the time better elsewhere? Many thanks.

hi there
if you get of the N2 and take the bypass N16 to the N6 and take a right you arrive in Taourirt.
There is a nice piste taking you thru a gorge and the Debdou Valley and further over the Plateau du Rekkam.
there are several pites running parallel (20 to 40km) of the paved road and bringing you in Missour from the backside.

It has been 5yrs since I have been doing that route but from Nador to Missour that is a nice day trip and a good break in to the rest of Morocco.

Enjoy yr trip

DG

Hi
Until Debdou et few km after it is paved road,

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Eric
http://two400xrinmorocco.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJbEWCb_wk

I did a few pistes in that area in late October. It's a useful place to go for riding if you don't have the time to go further south, but it's fairly bleak and empty (I saw just two people in one 140-km piste).

If you are intending to ride further south anyway, I'd be inclined to ride tarmac and go for more interesting places.

Debdou is supposed to have a petrol station (according to the Rough Guide map) but I couldn't find one.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Hi Stubbie,

Spent some time around the Rekkam plateau. Very windy, not much of anything really. It's interesting in the spring when the floods have washed out some of the oued crossings but that's about it.

You'd be better taking the tarmac and then heading into the Atlas or blasting south to the desert proper.

Worst mint tea ever here... Me & my mate Roger sitting in a concrete shed near Figuig with a policeman who wanted to fill in a vast form with all my details including my mother and father's occupation, DOB etc.
We were given filthy glases brimming with rancid tea to drink with nowhere to dispose of it surreptitiously. No plant pots, open windows or anything. Last resort, no-one looking? "Hey Roger, cheers!" Chink, chink, and deftly poured my glass into his. Put down my empty glass, stood up and toddled outside.
I'm a bad person...

Happy trails,

Jojo

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Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

Many thanks for your views, (an illustrious group having read previous posts from many of your travels) it seems there is an option to do a combination of each hopefully avoiding the tea and police both which seem to leave a bad taste. By the time I am done planning you will no doubt be hearing from me again. At least day one of 10 is nearly done. Once again Many thanks and safe travels.

There is no petrol station, but around 2 km before the town on the left you can find smuggling petrol in can comming from algeria. We was afraid because the super was red like diesel, but it was super, the Xr run well in the rekam

Picasa Web Albums - Eric - Maroc 2008 J2

Eric

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Eric
http://two400xrinmorocco.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJbEWCb_wk

I did not find the gas station either, but you can fill your tank some 50 km before Debdou at Taourirt, which is about 240 km from Missour, you can also skip missour and ride further south via Talsint, where there is a gas station too. (I guess it depends on the KTM mileage, but we had no problems with the f650 or the AfricaTwin).
I agree the Rekkam is so to speak, empty, but I just loved it, empty pistes that get out of sight into a far horizon (sorry for my english I hope you get what I mean), anyway if you are interested I posted some pics of our trip through the Rekkam at the advrider forum here

Good Luck

Navel

Many thanks for the information. Just read your report which was great and pretty much matches my proposed route except I have a few extra days, so from Merzouga heading South West to Mhamid then back north through Jbel Sarho, Tinehir, Gorge to George then the Cirque to Midelt.

From Nador Thinking of picking up the N19 to Taourirt (fill up on fuel many thanks!!) then to Debdou. Is this now the dreaded tarmac? From your report I see you drifted East, was this bit piste? I was planning to keep more West parallel to N15 , for fuel at Missour although if there is fuel at Talsinnt could keep heading south. The 690r has not got a great fuel range (but going with 2 660 Tenere's who may be my fuel buddies!)

Prior to Morocco riding from France, (Moissac) over pyrenees through Spain to Almeria,(2 days) dont want to use motor ways, any views on good route through spain quick but scenic?

Many thanks

Taourirt to Debdou and then further south via the N19 and R606 to near Outat-Oulad ElHaj is all asfalt, it's a nice route, but 2 weeks ago there was snow on the plateau (not on the road) and it was very cold.

A nice piste SE from Nador is from Berkane over the Beni Snassen to Ahfir or go North at the end of the piste to Naima(Gorges du Zegzel)

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That´s right, we drifted west to Tendrara where the tarmac finally vanished into a piste which we followed until it merged into a road near Anoual, this piste we didn´t plan to ride so we sort of navigated just with our compass, not difficult though, and if you keep going south you will eventually find the road. So we rode this road down to Talsinnt and, the next day to Beni Tajite, from there we took a fantastic piste south to Boudnib, as you can see in the report you can refuel there at some locals who bring gasoline from Algeria, quality was good i presume as we got quite good mileage and no issues.
From Boudnib you can take a piste down to Erfoud, near Erfoud the piste crosses a broad dry riverbed, i don´t know how rideable is it when it rains.

About the route through Spain, there are of course hundreths of backroads, but if you have to cross the pyrinees and the rest of Spain in two days, I would take the fastest route to Almeria and then, if you have time left, ride the nice roads between Carboneras and Cabo the gata.


I hope you post some report or give us some feedback, I am very interested in seeing the 690 performance, as i am considering selling my dakar and buying one, I know they are quite different bikes but the only thing that puts me off is that i love the bmw´s reliability while i read there were some issues with the ktm´s subframe bolts...

Wish you a nice ride.

@Titbird: Mooie videos op jouw blog, welke helmet-cam heb je gebruikt op de reis door Afrika?