London to Morocco and back in 2 weeks (advice sought)

[IanC]

PaulJ - Yes, I'll probably ride through France and Spain. I have taken the ferry down to Santander before, but I was riding an Electraglide then, which was OK but nowhere near as good as the Pan for eating up the tarmac. I'll be disappointed if I can't get through France in a day - I'll let you know how far I do get.

[PaulJ]

Nobby, can you get all the way to the South of Spain from Frince on a train without having to load/off load your bike more than once? How much is it approx?

Good Luck Ian!

[IanC]

PaulJ - Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I've posted a reply addressed to JCB at

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000599.html

(as this thread was the one I actually started) which is mainly to yourself and JCB, who were both extremely helpful and encouraging to me before my trip.

Thanks very much for all your help - I hope I'll be able to give someone the same inspiration you gave me!

Regarding your dare, I _did_ make it through France OK in a day - from Cherbourg to Soria in Spain (halfway between Biaritz and Madrid). Although strangely, coming back, I didn't have the inclination to get from Algeciras to Santander - maybe I'd had too many long hauls by then, or perhaps it seemed "uphill"!

Anyway, where are you off to next?

[PaulJ]

Hi Ian,
Sorry I've not been on the site for some time. I think it's because it makes me a bit miserable sometimes when I am reading about all the exciting places people are riding around and I don't have anything planned for the near future :-( (lack of time and money!)
Anyway, I am really pleased you enjoyed Morocco and that anything I said was helpful/encouraging.
I also had a much slower return ride back across Spain and France. The funny thing was, after all that (sometimes dodgy) food I ate in Morocco, the only time I got stomach problems was when I stopped in Torremelinos for a full english breakfast!!
I haven't got anything major planned yet, my girlfiend is going to learn to ride and get a bike so I am kinda waiting for that to happen - but maybe something will come up before then - who knows, any ideas?!?!
Have you got plans for another trip? I would love to take her to Morocco to show her what I saw, the atlas, the desert, the gorges, the pistes etc. But I also have so many other place I'd like to go, scandinavia being one of them. any recommendations?

[IanC]

PaulJ - Sorry I've been a while replying again! I actually "replied" within a day or so of your post, but pressed the "back" button before I had submitted it and lost the lot! I was so p....d off that I haven't got back to it till now.

Not sure where I'm off to next, but I do know I will be going back to the Sahara again, probably more right into it next time rather than just down one edge. Depeneding on time available, which is my usual problem, I would like to do a proper crossing, maybe right down to Dakhla, then accross and up through Tamanrasset or thereabouts (I keep looking at my Michelin 953!) and up to Tunis. Obviously on a more suitable bike than a Pan though! More likely next though I might have a go at doing a similar route to the one Chris Scott is planning at http://www.adventure-motorcycling.co...s/roadride.htm, riding from Tunis down to Djanet and back, which apparently is all good tarmac now. Then again, next spring I might just go to Switzerland and Austria, but these places to be honest seem a bit tame now after Africa. I also always fancied doing America, but that doesn't seem quite so appealing now either!

Funny, your comments about stomach problems. I actually didn't have any problem in Morocco (thank goodness with their toilets!) until I was on the Ceuta-Algeciras ferry, although this might have been due to the sudden intake of after 10 days in an alcohol-free country!

Scandinavia was excellent, in particular Norway (Swedish landscapes I thought pretty monotonous generally). Norway is totally different, big mountains and fjords, whereas Sweden is all trees. The real highlight for me was the remote areas of Lapland (including into Finalnd), and getting up above the Arctic Circle - very beautiful. I've discovered since that I was actually quite lucky with the weather - when I went in August 2001 it was blue skies, bright, really crisp sunshine (mainly), and not even that cold, except within about 100 miles of Nordkapp. If I was going again though, I would time it to catch the Northern Lights or Midnight Sun though. There are similarities with the Sahara - big distances, remoteness, and a bit of a sense of adventure! It's just a bit colder, and not so many carpet salesmen. The people are really nice as well, speaking excellent English, and for a change are surprised at how cheap things (bikes/cars/) are in England. I'd thoroughly recommend it!

[This message has been edited by IanC (edited 26 November 2002).]

[PaulJ]

Ian, sounds like you’ve got the Africa bug mate, being from South Africa (but living in UK) I’m obviously biased, but to me Africa is magical and north Africa is nothing like the southern Africa that I know so it was a totally new experience (recommend it all though!)
I am going to plan a trip for next summer, still got to decide where, in between now and then the girlfriend needs to get her licence and buy the bike (so not cheap). I would love to take her to Morocco to show her what I saw, but I would also like to go to Norway. So I’m going to do my research and find out which one will be cheaper – as I think that will be one of the main deciding factors!
So some more questions for you…1. from London, what’s the best way to get to Norway would you say? 2. How long would it take to get there. 3. Would you say 2 weeks is enough to see some of the best bits of Norway and get home again without spending the most part of every day in the saddle? 4. Is it fairly easy to camp there to cut down on the expenses?

[IanC]

PaulJ

Sorry for the delay! I think I may be acquiring an Africa bug! In answer to your questions on Scandinavia:

Firstly, Norway will definitely not be cheaper!! I went from Harwich to Esjberg (West Coast of Denmark), then accross the big bridges via Copenhagen to Sweden. Followed round south and east coast all the way (with a few diversions) to Finnish border, then straight up to Nordkapp (northern point of Europe), and basically down west of Norway to Kristiansaand, ferry back to Newcastle.

I did 5000 miles over a fortnight - the distances are big especially down west Norway on account of the Fjords, you can go 100+ miles just to get "accross the water" sometimes! If you want to be a little less hectic, you could maybe just do Norway (Sweden doesn't vary much), but I would definitely recommend the far North (Lapland & Troms). Trouble is, there isn't much choice of main route so you might end up going and coming back a similar way. There's loads of places to camp, a lot of sites have nice little log huts you can stay in, but a lot need you to take your own sleeping bag or similar. I didn't have one, and got a bit cold some nights! I stayed in a few town/city-centre hotels (Trondeheim, Stockholm, Tromso), but you can't beat a cabin with your bike only five yards away for the night, it's so much easier, no lugging luggage, praking/security etc.

Norway's _definitely_ well worth a visit, especially the top, especially if you've not been there previously. Alta, Tromso & Hammerfest were really nice (it might just have been the weather when I was there).

Let me know where you decide! Norway and Morocco are my two best trips to date.

[fireboomer]

Hi Ian,

We've finally decided on our thing for next year. Instead of a Southern loop through Russia is is going to be a Northen loop around the Baltic Sea in one month.

Since you've been to Scandinavia:
* Do you have any info on places to go / not to go?
* where to sleep? How do we find those little cabins?
* What are the roads like and is it possible to take back roads, we would like to take as much dirt roads as possible.
* Can you easely find fuel around?
* Will it be too cold in September? I have checked the avarage temperatures and they seem doable.

Thanks for any info!

Pieter Maes
'Fireboomer'

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

[PaulJ]

Fireboomer and Ian,
I started another topic stream in the 'Route Planning' section and it's entitled 'UK to Norway (advice needed)'.
There is some good info for you there Fireboomer regarding your scandinavia questions and is also a more appropriate topic to be discussing this subject under.
Liked the pictures on your website by the way! They were very similar to some of my Morocco pics!
Thanks for the extra info Ian, I'll be posting more questions under the topic I mentioned above at some point.
Ian, send me some pics of your Norway trip if you like...after all a picture speaks a thousand words!!

[This message has been edited by PaulJ (edited 20 December 2002).]

[fireboomer]

Thanks Paul,
Does make more sense to talk about the polar circle in that topic instead of the Sahara-one... Ooooops.

Will come up with more questions soon.

Fireboomer.

[IanC]

Yes, I did think we were going a little off subject myself, actually!

I'll have a look there.

[Billy H]

Hi PaulJ
I am planning a 2 week trip to Morocco this year on a Tenere. Could you detail your route and the time of year you went.
Thanks mate!

[PaulJ]

hey Billy,
Tenere...nice bike.
Visit my website on the link below to see a map which shows roughly the route I took and some pics. The website host is crap and slow and annoying so you may need to hit refresh a couple of times to see everything. I went in July...bad idea. It was way too hot. Through France and pain I rode some 'A' roads but mostly motorways. Boring but got me there quite quickly. Entered in Cueta which was reasonably straight forward. I stuck to the east of the country...didn't really visit any of the main spots e.g. casa blanca, Marrakech etc. I used Chris Scotts book to choose my pistes. I haven't got the map or book with me now so I can't give you exact details but if you want more details let me know, and I'll tell you exactly where I went and what it was like.
Oh yes...and I challenge you to not come back with a carpet (unless you wanted one anyway!)

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My website

[IanC]

Hello Billy

I stuck to the tarmac, but had a great time - distance rather than terrain being my thing.

Have a look at my website (address below) which'll give you an idea of my route and some photos if you need any inspiration. Also there's a thread here which might be interesting:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000599.html

If you've not been to Maroc before, you've really got to do a bit in the Atlas, the two gorges (Todra and Dades), and visit the dunes at Erfoud/Merzouga (Erg Chebbi). There's some good pistes also I think west of there (see Sahara Overland), although I didn't have the right bike. I think there's a nice (rough?) loop linking north of the two gorges, which again I was unable to do.

Have a good time anyway (you'd have a job not doing so!). I agree with PaulJ - July would be hot. September was quite pleasant, although pretty hot further down south.

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ichapp.users.btopenworld.com

[This message has been edited by IanC (edited 23 April 2003).]

[Pedro Rocha]

I have a bit of experience travelling by car through Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy and this year i´m going to the North Kap still driving my car. I´ve never traveled by motorcycle but have made up my mind to buy a XTE next year and then I´m going to hit Africa, Moroco a couple of times and then a big journey through Africa (my dream).
I´ve read people talk about 6000 km trips in two weeks leaving from the UK including african pistes, my question is, what is your average speed crossing France and Spain? Do you think a Yamaha XTE can cope with that? And what about your average speed on african roads? What is the percentage of tarmac you are used to once in Africa in these trips?

[This message has been edited by Pedro Rocha (edited 29 April 2003).]