Be careful following Gene & Neda................you WILL get wet :rain::freezing::stormy: :rofl:

Great dialogue
 

Have been following your trip every since you've stated. If you make it back to Canada would like to try and meet you in person. I live in mid Michigan. Take care and keep the pictures and commentary coming.

Now that did make me smile.


Road out to Hungary a good few year's back. 21 day's out rained 17 of them. Next time going through the south of France in to Spain. Took three day's. Worse rain fall in living memory. Algarve. Now that's all sun most of the year round. Two week's away, must have been 9 day's of rain. Corfu, June two week's, Rain. Never been known to happen before. I sware to God. Put me down in any place on a bike. And on at least one of them day's you will get rain. Should sell my service's to some drought infected area. Could make a lot of money.
John933

Hi Gene and Neda, thanks a lot for sharing. You help me and Paola (my wife) to dream during the grayness working days.
Our last trip was in Morocco during last Christmas holidays. The road from Ifrane to Midelt was cold and windy but without snow like now. Incredible!
I recognize the same your riad in Midelt https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...2/DSC_4447.JPG
In addition to the main nice touristic places (Merzouga, Todra, Dades, etc...) we have found an amazing road throughout the Anti Atlas Mountains: Taroudant, Tafraoute, Tiznit by this road https://goo.gl/maps/mDCUJ https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...2/DSC_2642.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...2/DSC_2679.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...2/DSC_2605.JPG
Take care,
Ciao!
Andrea & Paola

Thanks for the comments and sharing all your experiences, guys. Morocco is truly jam packed with a ton of culture and scenery. We can't get enough of it!

Hi John, we haven't really been keeping track of our overnight stays - we have been on the road for over 1,000 days...!

However, if you're interested in a specific area, let me know and I can try to dig up the addresses for you.

No that OK. I have this year sorted out. Some time's I leave early and take the long way round. One of the thing in my head as I travel is where to stay at the end of the day. So far I've had no problem in finding some where. What I ask I don't do my self. Will have to re think that point.


Any way keep up the good work.
John933

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/212.html

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...L/map212-L.jpg

We are continuing our trek southwards. Now that we've reached the other side of the Middle Atlas Mountains, we are seeing a much different kind of geography than Northern Morocco. The satellite map above illustrates this point quite well.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3602-L.jpg
Heading out of Midelt

These older Mercedes were quite common on the roads in Morocco. If they were cream-coloured, they were almost always taxis.

It's a brilliant day for riding, the clouds have all but disappeared by the late morning. However the temperatures are still quite cold and we keep all our layers on for the ride.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0855-L.jpg
We had to stop to check out these storks which had built a nest at the top of this building

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0854-L.jpg
Two of Morocco's biggest T-Swizzle fans in one place?

As we were stopped, this little guy came running towards us and started talking to me in Arabic or Berber (not sure which). We couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was definitely asking for something. I thought it was money, but it turned out he wanted a pen.

Of course, we could give him a pen! I radioed Neda and she happily dove into her tankbag to find one. Neda's tankbag is like the TARDIS, it's much bigger on the inside than anyone can imagine. She keeps everything in there from seashells, coins, leaves, pens, small dogs...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0859-L.jpg
Back to the storks

Did you know that the White Stork is the national bird of Morocco? You can find their nests on any tall chimney, building, tree or pole. Unlike in the western world, these nests are very welcome because the birds are a symbol of good luck and fortune. They say that the stork at rest is reminiscent of a man in prayer, and there's a Berber belief that storks are transformed human beings. We're told that disturbing a stork will get you three-months in prison. Don't mess with these jailbirds!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0880-L.jpg
Another roadside stop

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0865-L.jpg
Morocco makes my bike look pretty

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0885-L.jpg
Not real Moroccans. Damn hippies.

We overheard these guys, they were a bunch of granolas from Spain dressed in designer djellabas and striking meditational yoga poses on the wall overlooking the gorge. Then after about 15 minutes of Faux-Ga, they all hopped into their hippy van with Spanish plates and drove away to the next beatnik spot.

*SMH* Nice robes, though...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0886-L.jpg
Hiking to get a spot away from the granolas

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0926-L.jpg
It was a very nice view, there were small villages at the bottom of the gorge

As we were riding down from Northern Morocco, Neda told me that one of her favorite books when she was a little girl was "In Desert and Wilderness" by Polish author, Henryk Sienkiewicz. It's about a pair of children who are taken hostage and are forced to travel through the Sahara Desert. Ever since then, she's always dreamed of visiting Africa, and our first steps in Morocco didn't jive with the imagery she got from the book.

However, south of the Atlas Mountains, everything here is the colour of the desert sand. Even the buildings seem to rise seamlessly up from the same stuff that the ground is made from. *THIS* is totally the Africa that we had in our heads when we crossed over from Europe!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0939-L.jpg
My toes tingle when I look down from tall heights

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0943-L.jpg
Moroccan ruins gives the whole place a ton of atmosphere

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0949-L.jpg
Ready to hit the road again

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3618-L.jpg
Everywhere we go, small towns look like they rose up organically from the ground

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3629-L.jpg
Our path takes us through more mountains again

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3663-L.jpg
Some beautiful scenery as the road hugs the Ziz River (Oued Ziz) through the mountains

We stopped for lunch in Rissani and had some trouble finding gas. This was not an isolated problem. We often gas up in the late afternoon before stopping and the local pumps always seem to be out of fuel. However, the larger multinational stations like Shell are always in stock, you just have to find one.

I'm not sure why this is, whether the local pumps just stock up enough for a single day?

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3713-L.jpg
Riding through the gates of Rissani

When we're riding, I prefer following instead of leading for a couple of reasons. I like taking pictures with Neda riding, it makes for a more interesting photo, and it also stops me from worrying excessively if I can see her all the time instead of checking my mirrors every so often.

However, we do take turns leading, and during my stint in the front, I checked my mirrors one time and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed Neda wasn't behind me anymore. I panicked because normally if she's slowing down or stopping she'll radio me to let me know. I frantically tap on the communicator. The beep tells me that we're connected and I call out to her to ask if everything's okay, but all I hear back is silence - she's not responding.

This is very concerning. I pull over to the side of the road and wait. 5 seconds. "Hello? Neda? Hello?!" Troubling silence over the communicator. 10 seconds. She should have caught up to me by now. My heart is racing and my mind is thinking all sorts of horrible things. It makes no sense. The road we're on is perfectly straight. There's a little bit of a cross-wind that moves our bikes around, but we've faced much worse. Was she blown off the road at speed?

I quickly make a U-turn and start looking for her. About a km away, I see her parked bike at the side of the road. It's upright and I'm instantly relieved, but she's nowhere to be found. I park behind her and finally notice that she's walking around in the ditch and it looks like she's searching for something. She's still not responding to the radio, so when I get closer to her, she points to the empty spot on her helmet where her communicator should be.

Her radio had fallen off somewhere and she was looking for it on the side of the road!

My relief that she's okay slowly turns to annoyance that we've lost another piece of our equipment. Everything is falling apart on us! This is so frustrating. Neda says she saw the communicator in her mirror bounce away from the bike and into the ditch. It's been 15 minutes and we are both walking up and down that same area that she went back to, but the search is proving fruitless.

I'm ready to give up, and in my mind I'm already trying to envision what traveling is going to be like without being able to communicate with each other. The comms were such an essential part of our kit. What makes it even more frustrating is that I know Neda's communicator is still working because I'm still connected to it. It's just that it's not connected to a microphone so I can't even play Marco Polo with it. Neda's communicator is lying somewhere on the ground tantalizingly transmitting its quiet background hiss into my earphones. It's driving me crazy!!!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...IMG_4643-L.jpg
By some stroke of luck I FOUND IT! We make sure that Neda's communicator doesn't escape again

Even though we're angry that our stuff is all falling apart, I still have to sing some praise for these Sena communicators: They take a lot of abuse (like bouncing down the highway) and still keep working. The only weak point is the base clamp kit that connect them to the helmets. The pins on my communicator have bent and I have to jiggle them often to make a good connection. The plastic tab that clips Neda's radio to the base has become worn and now the communicator comes loose with just a nudge.

I also have to mention that someone from Sena sent me an e-mail about a month ago. They saw our blog and asked how our communicators were doing. When I aired my concerns, they replied "No problem, we'll send you new units". Wow! Cool! This was totally unsolicited and our communicators have been out of warranty for a long time. They really stand behind their products! So we do have new units waiting for us, we just have to figure out *where* to send them to...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0969-L.jpg
Standing on the pegs trying to minimize the vibrations from the washboard gravel road

So with our comms patched up, we head off the highway into the final stretch for the evening. Our stop that we've booked for the night is actually in Erg Chebbi, which is right on the western periphery of the Sahara Desert. This means that the last 15 kms or so is off-road as we negotiate the poorly marked gravel pistes running parallel to the sand dunes that represent edge of the Sahara.

SO COOOL!!!!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3736-L.jpg
The washboard roads have worked Neda's drybag loose. Thankfully I'm following.
If I were leading there would be more swearing as we would have sacrificed more equipment to the desert

I radio Neda that her bag has fallen off her bike. Because I'm closer, she asks if I can give her a hand. You probably already know me by now, so when someone asks me: "Can you give me a hand?", in my head I hear "Can you take lots of pictures?"... Neda narrows her eyes and shakes her head as she stomps angrily towards her fallen drybag. *kikiki* [click] [click] [click]

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3748-L.jpg
As we head deeper into the desert, the gravel piste turns into stretches of deep sand

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SCN3751-XL.jpg
I don't do as well as Neda

I don't want to blame my bike, but the weight is piled so high and so far back that I feel like I'm balancing a bowling ball on top of a broom. The motorcycle's front wheel weaves worryingly on the deep sand and on one stretch, I can't control the speed wobble and take a tumble onto the soft sand.

There's no way I'm getting this baby back upright by myself. I radio Neda, "Can you give me a hand?"

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...IMG_4646-L.jpg
Neda: [click] [click] [click] :)
Gene: Really...?!? :(

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3758-L.jpg
Just for good measure, a couple of kms later I dump the bike on the other side as well...

Not that we're keeping score, but it's 2-0 for Neda. She's too well-mannered to point this out, but when she taps on the communicator and asks, "You okay?", all I hear in my head is "The score is 2-0 for me, bee-yotch". :(

Despite all the wobbles and falls, we are having a really good time. The scenery here is phenomenal: dark reddish-orange sands as far as the eye can see, that get deeper in colour (and depth) as the sun falls lower in the sky. Now this is what we thought Morocco would be like and we're not disappointed one bit!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3760-L.jpg
Lost in the desert.

From all the maps that I've looked up on-line, our place should be about 15 kms from the highway. At this point, my odometer reads 20 kms and we're still lost. We don't know which building is the right one, they all look the same and there are no signs whatsoever.

I have the GPS co-ordinates, but the pistes don't line up and it looks like we're just circling around where our stop for the evening should be.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3762-L.jpg
Neda: "Let's stay in this one. They have camels!"

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3763-L.jpg
And then out of nowhere, Lawrence of Arabia pulls up on a motorcycle!

This guy worked at the place where we are staying. When they are expecting guests, they send search parties out into the area to help guide them in, since it's so confusing out here. We follow him back, and I'm wobbling all over the place, eying his small and nimble, light cycle ahead of me with envy.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSCN3772-L.jpg
Our place is right on an oasis...? Oooh, fancy!

I can't believe we're at the edge of the Sahara Desert. In Africa! On motorcycles! It's all so surreal! We're surrounded by massive sand dunes. I can't wait to go exploring tomorrow!!!

Hi,

looked like you stayed in the same spot we did in 2012. But in 2012 they had muss less water there. The lake was much smaller (behind hotel).

http://maddin.smugmug.com/Mopped/i-h...K7_P5920-M.jpg
and they had also camels :-) (this pic is from my buddy).

We had the coordinates too, but we arrived in pitch black ;-) This was a nice expierience :biggrin3:.

The pool was nice, but to cold when we were there in November.
http://maddin.smugmug.com/Mopped/i-X...0-%20522-M.jpg

For gas stations go the Morocco knowledgebasis from Tim Cullis (also Member here) and load the fuel station waypoints in your GPS. Very handy
Maps, guidebooks, and GPS (installing maps, waypoints/POI, and creating routes)

Which way do you want to go next?

Best Regards
Martin

Yes, that's the one, Martin! And thanks for the tips!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/213.html

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...L/map213-L.jpg

This is a close-up of the hotel we are staying at at the edge of the Sahara Desert. You can see the pistes that we took to get here yesterday. Funny, they seem really well defined from above, but when you're actually riding them, they criss-cross and seem to go all over the place. Thank goodness the GPS kinda pointed us in the right direction. Kinda.

So this entry is pretty much going to be about all those sand dunes you see right outside our back door.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1264-L.jpg
This was a bivouac situated on the dunes outside of our hotel

We made it a point to wake up an hour before the sun was supposed to break over the horizon to trek out to a spot in the desert where we would be surrounded by sand dunes so we could catch a proper Saharan sunrise. We're told the colours are just magical at this time of day. It turns out you don't have to go too far to get full immersion - there are a couple of huge sand dunes nearby and the minute you go around the corner you could just as well be in the middle of the Sahara instead of a mere kilometer away from the edge.

I brought my GPS on our morning hike just in case, but we didn't really need it because we didn't get very far in.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1058-L.jpg
About a km away from the hotel - Sand for as far as the eye can see in all directions.
It could've been 300 kms in!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SC_1151-XL.jpg
Amazing patterns sculpted by the wind

We were in awe of all the different shapes of the dunes and the patterns that the winds blew the sands into. I found the ridges very fascinating and we trudged a haphazard path around the desert trying to find a nice sharp edge that was just the right angle against the sun, had an interesting curve to it and bonus if it had a cool pattern on the windward face. And of course, all the time trying to approach the dune from the right direction so we wouldn't dirty the sands with our footprints.

It turned out to be a fun game which distracted me just enough for me not to notice that we were doing A LOT of hiking.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1713-L.jpg
"Be vewy, vewy kwayite. We're hunting doones..."

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1716-L.jpg
Amazing, amazing, amazing! The colours, the shapes, the patterns. Glad I brought a spare battery for the camera...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SC_1146-XL.jpg
I would love to watch a time-lapse video to see how these patterns are created!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1139-L.jpg
Having such a good time out here!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SC_1156-XL.jpg
Part of me wishes we could just hover over these dunes. Partly because I don't like disturbing the sand with our footprints, but mainly because I'm just lazy...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SC_1123-XL.jpg
Field of cool patterns. I have literally 100s of more shots of the desert...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1708-L.jpg
Heading back to the hotel. You can see a little of the oasis up ahead

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1729-L.jpg
Upon our arrival, we returned some stuff to the desert that we had borrowed

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...SC_1268-XL.jpg
Moroccan the Cats-bah

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Moroccan the Sheeps-baaaaah

These sheep were running away from huge worms lurking underneath the sands of Erg Arrakis. Actually, they were being chased away from our hotel by the staff. Turns out there are some really tasty plants on our patio, which are meant more as decorations for the guests, not as a snack for these sheep...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1281-L.jpg
This 4x4 was having a great time making runs up and down this massive sand dune outside of our hotel

The largest sand dunes in Morocco can be found here at Erg Chebbi, rising up over 150 metres in height. "Erg" is the Arabic word for dune field, and Erg Chebbi is about 200 square kms of dunes. They say that the orange colour of the sands here are particular to this one place only, which makes it a very popular spot for tourists.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1181-L.jpg
While hanging out on the patio, we heard the sound of dirtbikes. So we came out to investigate.

Giacomo, on the right, runs a company that offers motorcycle tours of Morocco. Here he is with a very lucky customer, Gianluca from Italy, who got some intensive one-on-one training with the former off-road racer. They just happened to stop at our hotel to come in for a quick snack, so we got to talking with them.

One of the items on our bucketlist is to ride sand dunes on a dirtbike, so we asked Giacomo if he had any spots open in the next few days. I could sense he was holding back much scoffing and laughter as he regretfully informed us that he was booked for the next couple of *months*. Dammit. Sometimes it's great just showing up and going with the flow, but for other things, it seems like you actually need to plan them out well in advance.

We took Giacomo's e-mail address and we will be using it in the very near future.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1195-L.jpg
So Jelly!!!

We watched with extreme envy as the dirtbikers suited up and remounted their four-strokes and they braaaped off into the sand dunes. My camera chased after them like an excited dog, until they were well out-of-sight.

*sigh* We SOOOOOOO wanted to do this, and in the back of our minds we thought we could just show up, rent some bikes and have a great story to tell at the end of the day.

But instead, we booked a camel tour of the sand dunes, with an overnight stay in a Berber tent...

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1244-L.jpg
Later on in the evening: Camels! I just need to get them to stand up so I can get a picture of their feet!

Neda turned to me quickly and lectured me sternly, "These aren't camels. Camels have two humps. These are dromedaries. They only have one hump. So you're not going to be making any dumb camel toe jokes on the blog!"

Hrmph. We'll see about that, Neda!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1248-L.jpg
Neda made a new friend. I can already tell by the look in her eye that
she is mentally calculating how much space she has left in her tankbag....

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1251-L.jpg
I can't even imagine what this dromedary is thinking about Neda right now...

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of shots after this because dark clouds rolled in fast from the south-east. We had nervously checked the forecast beforehand and although it predicted rain, we thought: hey, we're in the freakin' Sahara Desert, ain't no rain gonna follow us here! But the skies darkened ominously and the winds picked up anyway, a sure sign that precipitation was imminent.

We looked at each other, then at the line of camels in front of us. We really didn't want to go trekking out there in a downpour, not get any pictures of a Sahara sunset (which was the main reason we booked the tour) and also spend the night sleeping in a cold and wet bivouac! How do we gracefully back out of the camel tour that we had reserved?

*sigh* So here we are in the freakin' Sahara desert. Supposedly one of the driest places on earth. And we've brought rain with us...

No such thing as a dumb camel toe joke Neda, so cut loose Gene :rofl:


:rain::rain::stormy: If you 2 can make it rain in the Sahara, you are wasting your talents :tt2::thumbup::lol2:

I hear you. California, we're coming to help you out! :rain:

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/214.html

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1740-L.jpg
Average rainfall in the Sahara Desert 2.5 cms per year. Which they got all of last night...

When we asked to cancel our reservation for the camel, er dromedary tour, the hotel wasn't that happy. They tried to convince us into heading out into the coming storm. But they were more than accommodating when we told them we were merely postponing our trek till tomorrow, thus guaranteeing an extra night in their expensive desert resort. Suddenly everyone was smiles again... :)

I did some research and while the whole of the Sahara only receives 25 mm (about an inch) of rain a year, it's mainly the eastern region of the desert that gets even less than that. The western section where we were staying gets about 100 mm annually, which explained the presence of the oasis around our hotel.

So we're not heavily cursed by rain, only just slightly jinxed...

Two Germans that were booked on the same dromedary tour that we were supposed to be on last night arrived back this morning. Although they had a good time, they told us that they didn't see a desert sunset and they were wearing rain clothes the entire trek. I'm so glad we have the freedom to adjust our schedules this way, it's such a luxury!

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...L/map214-L.jpg

So today the weather is looking much better. There are still residual clouds from the shower last night, but we're hopeful we'll catch a nice sunset. This is only an overnight tour, and the path that we're taking is not far from the hotel, maybe a little further than where we hiked the morning before. But it's all about being on a camel, er dromedary! There are bivouacs set up just on the other side of the huge dune outside our hotel, and we're told it's a short dromedary ride around the corner.

There are some camel treks that take you three-days into the Sahara, but from what we saw yesterday morning, whether it's three days or one hour, you can get a pretty immersive experience either way.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1778-L.jpg
Alice the dromedary has one hump...

Said, our tour guide, also works at the hotel and he brought out the same dromedaries that we saw yesterday. He gave Neda the one that she bonded with the day before, which was really nice, and we headed out into the desert, just the three of us. It was pretty cool not having to share the tour with anyone else so we could stop and take lots of pictures.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1797-L.jpg
Said sends signals to the dromedaries with a series of clicks and noises made with his tongue

We found out that the dromedaries are rented by the tour guides from a stable around the corner. They are all trained to respond to the same clicks and noises so everyone who takes them will know how to give them directions. Either Said didn't know the language, or our droms were very hungry because every time he let go of the reins, they didn't listen to his commands and would wander off to the nearest grass tufts to dine. :)

Riding a Drom is like riding a motorcycle:

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1811-L.jpg
Neda is hanging off her drom, trying to get a knee down.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1816-L.jpg
Lowside! You get on and off camels when they are kneeling down.
You have to hold on tight during mounting/dismounting, or much Droma ensues...

We told Said that we liked to take lots of pictures and he responded that it would probably be better to ditch the droms and go hiking instead to spots where camels couldn't reach. He said we looked to be in fairly good shape, so he showed us where the highest dune was in the area and said that we could catch a great sunset at the peak.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1820-L.jpg
A little Dragon Ball Z action in the desert

I named my steed Des. Short for DesmoDromedary. Because it was CAMelshaft-driven.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0013-L.jpg
Good reception out in the desert!

Said was born in the Erg Chebbi dunes and is descended from a long line of Berber farmers. He lives in Erfoud, which is 70kms north of the Erg and he comes in to work for the hotel and to teach tourists about the Berber way of life. When we told him we liked to take pictures, he changed the tour around to accommodate our interests.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0025-L.jpg
Just like in motorcycle stunting, the Berbers also have their version of the "Jesus Christ" pose

Said brings the droms back to the stable in style, and we begin the long hike up the tallest dune.

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_1312-L.jpg
In the distance Said meets up with a fellow tour guide taking more tourists to the other dunes

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0045-L.jpg
Hiking up to secure our seats for the show. You can see the bivouacs where we are staying tonight below us on the left

http://mym0ry.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...DSC_0052-L.jpg
We had to take many breaks on our way up, the view gets more magnificent the higher we get

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In the distance, the other tourists that we saw earlier hike a smaller dune. Haha! We win!

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The hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise are the best times to experience the Sahara!

Although the colours of the Sahara are quite a sight during the day, they are washed out and there is an absence of contrast on the dunes because of the overhead sun. The shadows cast by the scalloped sand domes as well as the orange colours that are set aflame during sunrise and sunset are absolutely awe-inspiring by comparison!

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Neda takes some amazing shots of the sun falling behind the distant horizon

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This is just one of those magical moments, made even more special
because we were sharing it together up here on this peak.

After the awesome sunset, we ran/slid down the dune, each step causing mini-avalanches on our way to the bivouac. Much easier and more fun going down than up!

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At the camp, we had to get rid of all the sand in our shoes once again.

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Sneaking a peek into the kitchen bivouac. Smells delicious!

We joined another larger tour group in the bivouac and shared our experiences of Morocco. They were a friendly bunch of Canadians and Germans and a few Australians who were traveling by tour bus. Listening to their itinerary, I couldn't help feeling a bit smug about seeing the country on our schedule and choosing our own path.

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After dinner, Said and the other tour guides brought out the Moroccan drums for the nightly entertainment
The heads of the drums have to be heated up for them to sound better and be softer to the hands

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Listening to the Berbershop Quartet perform by the campfire

There was much drumming, chanting and singing by everyone, which was surprising since there was no alcohol involved. The merriment continued into the night, but since Neda and I are old, we retired early into our bivouac. Although the temperatures in the desert reach the freezing point overnight, the heavy fabrics that covered the tent and our mattresses kept us quite warm. We were still wearing every piece of clothing in bed though...

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5AM wakeup call. While I am bleary-eyed and groggy, Neda is a morning person
so she is the least popular person in the campsite as we all get ready to mount our dromedaries

We are woken up just a few short hours later by the tour guides who shoveled all of our lethargic asses onto the droms to catch a desert sunrise. Well, almost everyone... Said pulled us aside and said he would take us to a better spot for picture-taking, but we would have to ditch the droms again.

I like this special treatment!

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While the rest of the tour group is below us on the right, we hiked to a higher peak to get a better vantage point!

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Playing around while waiting for the sun to rise

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The sun slowly begins to peek up above the horizon and the dark sands begin to glow like embers being stoked

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We stand as if the National Anthem were being played, in an effort to be as tall as possible
to catch the sunrise as soon as possible! :)

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The warm glow of the morning sun envelops us as we hike down to join the tour group

After bragging of where we were and what we saw, we bask in the BusPeople's envy in addition to the warmth of the rising sun. Haha! :)

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See the two empty dromedaries up front? We were hiking back separately from the group so we got to take some great backlit shots

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Reflecting on such an amazing experience!

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Dromedary Toe.... dammit, Neda!!!

Okay, so I didn't get to make a dumb camel toe joke. You win this time, Neda...

Jokes aside, it was interesting seeing how fleshy and padded their feet are. These are very heavy creatures and the extra surface area stops them from sinking into the sands.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/215.html

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It wasn't cheap staying at the edge of the Sahara. If it were, we probably would have spent much longer there. But after our mini-excursion, we traded in our dromedaries for our two-wheeled steeds and made tracks away from the desert and back into the interior of Morocco.

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Without the majestic sand dunes in the background, all the pictures I took seemed very flat

Taking a different way back, we encountered a variety of terrain - some hard packed gravel, grassy plains and sand, of course. I managed to keep my wobbly bike upright through the sandy stretches, not without much sweating and swearing. But when we reached pavement, the score between Neda and I for falls remained tied at 0-0! Phew!

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Back on the main road!

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Double-tracking back north through Rissani. Riding through the gates from the other side now

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We are heading west across the country. Next big city is Ouarzazate.

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Stopped to check out some ruins at the side of the road

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Ruins at Tinghir

I don't think these were important buildings. It seemed there were squatters living in the ruins and there was a lot of construction material outside. Still, the colour of the remains looked quite nice against the blue skies of the nice weather we were having!

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Donkey Hotay

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Riding through desert landscape dotted with palm trees

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Our journey across the interior takes us through some tiny towns.
This felt like the real Morocco outside of the large cities and medinas.

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Tajine break along the way

The bus tour people that we took the dromedary tour with the day before also left the same time as we did and since we were all headed in the same direction, we leap-frogged one another throughout the day. These tours have deals to bring their tourists to local businesses and restaurants, so the bus people had to endure sales pitches and overpriced food, while we could stop wherever we wanted to eat where the locals did!

After lunch, we noticed their bus parked outside a gringo/tourist restaurant. Haha! :)

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We took a road north of Tinghir and stopped at a scenic overlook

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The patch of green in front of the buildings is the Tinghir Oasis

The oasis itself is quite long, stretching 50 kms parallel to the road that we took. Tinghir is right in the middle of that long stretch of green grasses and palm trees. At the overlook, we met another GS rider, David from Germany. We envied how light his F700GS was packed for this trip, as he was planning to tackle a lot of the off-road pistes that would have been too gnarley for our overloaded mules.

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Chatting with a fellow traveler, exchanging stories and tips

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Stowaway

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North of Tinghir, there are some smaller towns that we rode through

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Neda noticed that there are different styles of clothing and robes in each of the regions we rode through.
Not sure if it was a fashion or religious thing. Here, they all wear white robes draped over one shoulder

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Heading into the mountains

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Todra (or Todgha) Gorge

A few kms north of Tinghir, the walls of the mountains rise up suddenly and the road winds through the gorge that was probably carved out by a mighty river at one point in history. Today, we ride parallel to a small, stony riverbed that is fed by glacial streams, which are dry at this time of year.

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The gorge extends for several kms and the scenery all around and above us is marvelous!

We couldn't help but ride as slow as we could to take in how beautiful the orange rocks were. The colours were reminiscent of the hues we saw in Arizona and Utah.

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Neda is racing mountain goats running alongside us on the dry riverbed

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At the narrowest part of the gorge, vendors have set up stalls to cater to all the tourists that come here

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We have to stop for a picture. Too bad not a lot of sunlight gets into this part unless it's directly overhead

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Further north, the road deteriorates as not many tourists venture past the narrowest section

There is a piste that connects the Todra Gorge road to Dades Gorge further west, but it was late in the day and the forecast called for rain in a few hours, so we decided to turn back and take the main road to Dades instead.

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Trying to find our riad outside of Dades Valley

It felt great to be back on the bikes and doing more exploring while the weather was good. We've got to decide if we're going to wait the rains out for the next couple of days or just bite the bullet and forge on in the wet... :(

Great pics from the desert! They're some of my favorites from your whole trip.
And as always, I'm chuckling away at your humour. :clap:

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/216.html

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Dades Gorge is the twin sister to Todra Gorge that we visited yesterday. Located just an hour away, we stayed overnight at the nearby town of Boumalne to wait out the overnight showers. Unfortunately, the forecast called for more rain today so our rainsuits were on standby.

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Regular maintenance at our riad

Neda's front tire is suffering from an annoying slow leak, about 1 psi every couple of days, which means we've got to make sure it's inflated on a regular basis. Now her seat lets water in and her tires let air out! Not major issues, but added to the list of all of our gear falling apart, it's really starting to weigh heavily on our mood.

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On our way to Dades Gorge

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Picturesque villages line the valley along the way

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Ruins of an old kasbah

They call the route through the Dades Valley the "Road of a Thousand Kasbahs". These old fortresses were built by the indigenous Berbers to protect themselves from invaders.

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Neda's GS photobombs the landscape

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Neda is attacking the twisty roads con gusto... er, avec plaisir!

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Famous shot of the Dades Gorge switchbacks

It's a cloudy day, but the rain seems to have held back as we rode up and down the road that winds through the Dades Gorge. This is the best motorcycle road we've been on in Morocco thus far and we are savoring the good tarmac and the curvy roads surrounded by amazing scenery!

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Stopping to admire the sights

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Cool rock formations up in the distance

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More Dades Gorge

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Riding through the narrowest section of the gorge

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A boy and his bike

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We ducked into a restaurant to eat some yummy Moroccan dishes for lunch

While we ate, the skies opened up something fierce. Looks like the rains had found us again. Gahh, I really, really hate putting on the sausage suits again. My new motorcycle jacket has a thick collar and all the layers bunched around my neck: sweater, Gerbings, jacket and rainsuit feels like it's tight enough to cut off air and circulation.

All the stuff we're replacing our broken-down gear with is just not as good as when we first started off on our trip. I miss online shopping.

*whine* *whine* *whine*

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Rain lets up but the skies are still threatening as we get closer to Ouarzazate

We're spending a couple of days in Ouarzazate to catch our breath. We're a bit hesitant about hitting another city again, given our bad experiences in Fes and Meknes, but this time we've opted to stay far away from the medina.

Ouarzazate is known as the gateway to the desert... if you're coming from the west. I think it's an interesting place because they filmed scenes from the Game of Thrones here. It was the location for the city of Yunkai. Cool!

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Parking outside the hotel

For once, we don't have to pay for parking since the bikes are right outside the reception area and we are assured that everything should be secure. The next day, our bikes are still there but someone has swiped my security cable that was strapped down to the back seat. They stole a locked security cable. Without the key. Why would someone do that? What good would that do anyone?!?

Now I have to buy a new cable lock. So annoying.

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Pick up soccer games spring up wherever there's an open space

Our plan to stay away from the medinas is working out well. All we want to be is anonymous and just observe the people going about their day-to-day lives without being harassed, and it seems the best place to do this is not be where the tourists go. We found out that there is a market every Sunday just around the corner that only the locals go to, which seemed like a good place to hang out for the morning.

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The market gets busy, as people arrive by foot, motorcycle, bus

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Lots of food, clothing and miscellaneous items for sale here

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Tajine pots

The market was chaotic, far less organized and manicured as the souks in the medinas of the big cities. Vendors set up their shop wherever they could find room and we strolled between large tents selling furniture and blankets thrown down in the sand with trinkets and baubles strewn over top.

This is where people who actually lived here shopped and I liked the authenticity. And also not being hustled at every turn...

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Chick peas and assorted beans for sale

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Anyone selling a spare motorcycle security cable?

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Need to pick up some new silverware?

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Looking for a bargain

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Buckets of olives

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Fruit stand

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Smug as a bug in front of rugs

It was a very good decision to stay away from the tourist spots in town. We had a very good experience just hanging out with the locals. Not sure this is going to last where we're headed next, though...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/217.html

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It's with a mix of curiousity and dread that we're heading into Marrakesh with.

We've heard so much of this mysterious and mystical city through books and songs, as well as from other travelers and we're eager to see what all the fuss is about. But having endured the touts of Morocco's other large cities, we were also expecting the worst in the country's largest tourist capital.

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The Gene amongst tajine pots

But first, we have to cross the Atlas mountains again. We made the crossing last in the east, near the desert, and it was through the range called the Middle Atlas. This time, we're going up and over the High Atlas mountain range towards the Marrakech Plains.

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You can see the snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the distance

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Mountains are getting closer as we climb higher

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The twisty road that we're on is called the Tizi n'Tichka. Tizi means "pass" in Berber

The temperature drops to below freezing (-1C!) and the visibility gets worse as we ride up into the clouds. We're over 2200m above sea-level at the top of the pass and the moisture from the clouds and the freezing temperatures force us to pull over and put on our rainsuits.

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Brrr!

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Just like in the Middle Atlas Mountains, we find all the dogs that were exiled out of the cities by the cats

Neda feels sorry for them and rummages through her pantry (top case) to find some food for them. She generously gives up her last few scoops of peanut butter to these sorry canines, but they don't seem to know what to make of it. Even after suspiciously sniffing the open jar, they don't go for it. Neda has to spoon some out with a twig before one of the braver dogs approaches for a taste-test. Dumb dogs. No wonder the cats managed to kick you out of the cities!

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Aren't dogs supposed to *love* peanut butter?

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This guy knew what was good and made off with the jar!

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With our rainsuits on and one jar of peanut butter lighter, we made our way back down the pass.

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Back down the switchbacks of Tizi n'Tichka

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Back down in the Plains of Marrakesh, the weather gets sunnier again. Still not that warm though...

Our ride into Marrakesh was unremarkable. Our original intention was to try to find a place outside of the medinas and then ride in one day to visit the souks, thus avoiding the hustlers. But we found that all the accommodations were so expensive. It really was cheaper to stay in the old city, I think because the hotels in the modern areas of the city were frequented by people on business with bigger budgets and corporate expense accounts. So it was back to the medinas with the rest of the backpackers and vacationers.

Like before, we had to park outside the walls of the old city and I dove in on foot while Neda watched the bikes. I made a mistake not getting the exact GPS co-ordinates of our riad in Marrakesh before arriving. All I had was a Google Map location which maybe gets you in the right time zone when it comes to navigating in the medinas of Morocco... Lost in the labyrinths of Marrakesh, I couldn't find the place where we were staying and against my inclinations, I had to enlist the help of one of the touts waiting for business. But not before negotiating a price.

After some walking around, it seemed my young guide did not know where the riad was, but he flagged down another guy on a motorcycle who seemed to know and the guy on the bike motioned for me to get on the back seat. The riad should have been close by and I didn't want to pay extra for a ride, so I declined and followed his bike on foot. Our guesthouse was only a few hundred meters away and at the door of the riad, I settled up with the first guy who I asked for directions.

He immediately took off, leaving the motorcycle guide looking at me expectantly. Thus I was introduced to a new hustle in Marrakesh - I call it the "Everyone Gets Paid". Basically whoever you make a deal with enlists as many people he can get to help you out, then you are expected to pay everyone involved. *nuh-uh* I shook my head. "Go chase after your friend and get your money, I didn't make a deal with you".

He looked pissed, probably a mixture of play-acting and annoyance that the "Everyone Gets Paid" hustle didn't work. Too bad, so sad.

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Once more, into the fray we go. Into the medinas of Morocco

We were both in a very bad mood in Marrakesh. The hustlers were wearing us down and we didn't feel like leaving the riad. Why did we even bother coming to the city then? It took great effort of will to don our armour and go exploring once again.

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Grounds of the El Badi Palace

One of the first attractions just outside our riad was the El Badi Palace. Built in the late 1500s, it was built to celebrate (gloat) over the Moroccan's victory against the war with the Portuguese.

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Good luck storks atop one of the towers in the palace

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Stork in flight, baby already delivered

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Proof that I was there

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Reflections in the pools at El Badi Palace

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Copper lamps in a Marrakesh souk

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Talk to the Khamsa

The Khamsa means "Five" in Arabic and in this instance refers to an open palm symbol that is often used in artwork and jewelry as a sign of protection and to ward off the evil eye.

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More peering into mosques that we were forbidden to enter. Such intricate designs inside!

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Snake charmer in the souk

Djemaa-El-Fna is the largest souk in Marrakech, located in the main square of the old city. Snake charmers are known to frequent this area and we really wanted to see snakes being charmed. Before taking pictures, I asked the guy above playing the flute how much and his buddy beside him answered 10 dirham. Okay, deal.

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The snake glistened menacingly like it was made of shiny, moving metal

The guy playing the flute motioned for me to come closer, he kept kicking at the snake to maneuver it into a position so I could get a better shot. I think either the snake was not poisonous or it was defanged, he didn't seem at all concerned about his (or my) safety. Thankfully I have a zoom lens...

I don't think the flute player was doing anything special. The snake didn't seemed very hypnotized or charmed or anything.

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This was as close to the snake as I dared go

After I was done taking pictures, the flute-player's buddy took my 10 dirham and promptly got up and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Oh no. Is this "Everyone Gets Paid" all over again? I looked at the flute player waiting with his outstretched hand. Yep.

I shook my head, turned around vowed never to engage with street vendors and hustlers again as he called out to me for his money. "Everyone Gets Paid" only works if tourists start falling for it and I wasn't going to contribute to this behaviour. I had no doubt in my mind that he would get his 10 dirham once his buddy came back.

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We went to a fancy restaurant which was supposed to serve good tajine. Not impressed. Too many raisins.

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Waiting for business

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Looking out the window is a favorite past-time all over the world

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Men in traditional Berber hats walking around the souk

So in the end there was nothing mystical or mysterious about Marrakesh. Nothing that we hadn't seen in any of the other medinas of Morocco. It just confirmed that we are so done with medinas and souks.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/218.html

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Good riddance, Marrakech!

It's been freezing during our whole time in Morocco. When we left Europe, we looked forward to baking in the scorching African desert sun. That so didn't happen... we've been bundled up in all of our layers for the last three weeks! During our stay in Boulmane, we chatted with a tour guide who said that the warmest part of Morocco this time of year would be Agadir, on the western coast. So that's where we're going!

So back over the High Atlas Mountains once again in search of warm weather.

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Sharing the road with vehicles of varying horsepower

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Our search for the perfect tajine continues in a small village along the way

We are heading south-west on the R203, which goes up and over the High Atlas Mountains. After lunch, the road takes us through the N'fis valley, where we are given a good idea as to what the roads are going to look like. As well as a great view too!

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Nice!

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Neda bundled up against the cold

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Twisty roads always put smiles on our faces!

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Plenty of picturesque villages line the road heading over the High Atlas Mountains

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Palm trees to cacti

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Road starting to climb the mountains

The R203 is called the Tizi n'Test once it starts to climb up over the High Atlas to over 2000m. The entertaining part is when it steeply descends, offering us plenty of switchbacks and twists and turns, however it's hard to concentrate with the scenery just off to the side and below.

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The Tizi n'Test winds back and forth over the High Atlas, offering us marvelous views down below

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Neda ducking below some rocky overhangs

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Another roadside stop to admire the view of the valley below

As we descended from the High Atlas mountains towards the coast, the weather got very, very warm - in the mid-20s. At our next gas stop, we peeled off all of our layers, this was the first time in a long time that I was able to wear just a T-shirt under my mesh jacket. Felt so good!

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Surprise roadside gifts!

Just outside of Agadir, we noticed we were being paced by a car, which is not that unusual for us since we were quite an oddity rolling around on Moroccan roads on our huge behemoths. At a stoplight, the passenger rolled down his window to talk to us. He spoke English, but not any kind of English - Canadian English! Haha!

We pulled over to chat. Yassine is from Mississauga (just outside of Toronto) and he was visiting family in Morocco. He told us he was so surprised to see Ontario plates on our bikes! He imports Moroccan oranges to Canada so he gave us a sample of his goods.

Nice guy! And it was awesome getting a chance to speak Canadian again, eh?! :)

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Hanging out at our hostel after breakfast in Agadir

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Agadir is a beach-side resort town, luxury hotels line the coast

There was a huge earthquake in 1960 which completely destroyed Agadir, so the city was rebuilt from the ground up a few kms away. A lot of famous architects were hired to help in the rebuild and the result is a very modern place, quite unlike any Moroccan city because it contains no remnants of the old country.

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The warm weather year-round makes it very popular place to spend a vacation

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Modesty on the sands

Morocco is considered a moderate Muslim country. They have more relaxed attitudes towards women's dress and behaviour here than in other strict countries. It was interesting seeing full burqas on the beach mingled with the bikinis of the tourists.

Still, outside the beaches some tourists do push the limits of tolerance. In Marrakesh a few days ago, we saw a trio of British girls walking the souks in sandals and skirts cut above the knee. They were totally oblivious to the shocked and disapproving looks of everyone!

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Moroccan flags flapping in winds from the shore

We spent quite a bit of time just soaking up the warm weather on the beach, it was very therapeutic after such a long spell of cold weather. I was a bit disappointed that we had already booked our accommodations in the next town. I had no idea Agadir would be this pleasant, we would totally have stayed at least a couple of days more! :(

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Stopped for lunch at a small town just outside of Agadir

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Amazing seafood here! :)

We're discovering new places all the time. Just earlier, I had bookmarked Agadir as a place to spend a few days if we were ever back again, but now having ridden a few kms outside, we discovered the best place to stay in the area is actually in some of the smaller towns north of the city. The rocky coast is very picturesque and there's less of a western resort-feel, which is totally what we like.

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Our bikes weaved across the road as the winds from the Atlantic Ocean grew very fierce.

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We were driving north as the road cut inland and we saw an unusual sight...

One of our friends told us about these goats in Morocco that could climb trees, so we were constantly on the lookout for them. We spotted a whole bunch of them just south of Essaouira. We had quite a laugh watching them jump up on the branches to get a nibble of the Argan fruit, which is indigenous to this area.

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These guys were extraordinarily nimble and some of them got quite high in the tree!

These goats are quite essential to the economy in this area. Everywhere, we'd see stands and stalls selling Argan oil. It's used for beauty products for the skin and for cooking. The oil is actually extracted from the hard nut inside the food, but only after it's eaten and excreted by these goats!

We didn't buy any Argan oil...

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They must be pretty light too, some of these branches did not look like they could support the weight of several of these goats! :)

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Even the camels got in on the action

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I climbed up to see what all the fuss was about. The goats didn't seem to like that too much and fled to another tree (you can see one under my right arm)

After pooping out some Argan seeds, I hopped on my bike and we were off to further explore the western coast!

Hi,
I just want you to know that I really enjoy reading your travel stories and the beautiful pictures.

Maroc
 

Hi guys, excellent writing as usual, if you get tired of the wind on the coast check out Tafraoute, a bit inland and a microclime hemmed in by mountains with nice roads and trails. I hated Agadir and the coast (too many fat underdressed tourists) keep us posted and stay cool, its May now and its gonna get hot:-))

:rofl:

What stunning pictures. Thanks for sharing :)

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/219.html

We have a lot of footage that we've shot from our last four weeks in Morocco and it's been a while since I've done some video editing, so here's what I've been working on!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/220.html

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Our 1-month insurance policy is slowly ticking down and we are quietly exiting Morocco.

Under overcast skies, we arrived at the port town of Essaouira and against our inclinations, we book an accommodation inside the medina once again because the city hotels were too expensive. We did the familiar Moroccan dance - Neda staying with the bikes outside the old city's walls while I dodged hustlers looking for our riad. I've been taking point on all scouting and communications forays because of my (slightly better) knowledge of French, but after the last few weeks it has really started to wear on me.

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While it has a typical Moroccan medina, Essaouira is also known for its picturesque port and docks

We're staying a couple of days here to catch our breath before continuing the trek out of Morocco. It seems like the salt water breeze carries seagulls from all over the coast to this one place, hoping to pick at food coming in from the fishing boats and falling off the tables at the tourist restaurants.

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Boats under construction at the shipyard

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These blue-coloured boats all parked outside the medina walls are perhaps the unofficial symbol of Essaouira


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A hooded figure surveys the boats coming in

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Lining up the boats so they all fit nice and tight

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Sorry Mr. Seagull. No food for you!

Since we are still on the coast, we had another seafood meal. There's a spot right in the docks where you can order fresh shellfish that's just come in. Unfortunately, there are no prices, as the locals see this as another opportunity to gouge tourists. We were getting a bit hungry, but I hung around and watched as other people haggled to get an idea of the prices. When we approached the table, I asked the waiter how much, he replied, "1000 dirham" ($100). We started to walk away and he smiled broadly, "Just kidding, it is 200 dirham". I negotiated more shellfish, some expensive octopus and eel and that seemed fair for the both of us. So we sat down.

While waiting for the food, more people streamed in. I listened to the haggling and was dismayed when I heard some locals haggle down to almost half of what we paid! We're so bad at bargaining... When our food arrived, we enjoyed it much less than if we had paid half price for it... :(

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Our riad was inside the medina, so we spent some time walking around

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After visiting all the other Moroccan cities, the medina here was typical, not as big as Fes or Marrakesh

From Essaouira, it was basically a highway ride, back into the interior of the country, taking the central road to the north. Having read up beforehand, we skipped Casablanca and stayed in smaller towns.

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Outside of Rabat, we saw some spring flowers blooming by the side of the road. What is Neda doing?!?!

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Answer: Instagramming

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Last stop before Tangier

In all our research, everyone recommends to skip Tangier. Nobody ever has a nice experience in that city. We skipped it when we arrived, but now we're headed there because our fellow traveller, Trevor is arriving to Morocco and that's where he's staying.

How bad can it be? We are about to find out..

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Trying to find parking, we have to make room for a funeral marching through the narrow medina streets

When we got inside the Tangier city limits, some boys tried to steal Neda's dry bags from behind her bike while stopped at a traffic light. They ran away when I motioned to get off the bike. *SMH* We arrived at the riad that Trevor was staying at. He was in the middle of an argument with a parking lot attendant that fleeced him out of some money.

Although we had experienced lots of hustlers in Morocco, they had always stayed within the boundaries of the law. Tangier in comparison was lawless and disrespectful to tourists. The minute I arrived in the city, all I could hear in my head were the words of a famous old man, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy".

I felt bad for Trevor. He was just starting his journey into Morocco and this was his first impression. At least we had done our research and had a much better experience in Chefchaouen.

Trevor welcomed us into the riad with some liquor. After a month of dry country, we guzzled the schnapps he had smuggled in with relish. That almost made it worthwhile coming into Tangier for. Bless his heart!

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Catching up over dinner and drinks

We've run into Trevor over and over again, first at the HU meet in California then on the Stahlratte between Panama and Colombia. He stayed with us in Croatia and he returned the favour opening up his villa in France to us.

It's amazing how small the world is!

We spent the evening comparing routes, hints and tips, and also the all-important hard-drive exchange. Every long-term traveler keeps an external drive full of music, TV shows and movies which we all share when we meet up. It's a well-established ritual.

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I know food trucks are popular in North America, but have Escargot Trucks caught on yet? :)

The snails on top of the truck have creepy glowing eyes and there are big, silver bowls in the middle for everyone to spit out the shells. I thought this was hilarious!

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Next morning, Trevor heads out to explore Morocco

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We were on our way further west back to the Tangier Med port

If we hadn't had to meet Trevor, we would have totally bypassed Tangier and went straight to the port for our departure date. Everything we had read about Tangier was true. The fact that it's a popular port for cruise ships to dock at means that it attracts every low-life looking to make an easy buck by stealing from the cash-laden tourists that never stay long enough to fill out a police report.

It was such a dirty place, totally unrepresentative of the country. It really reminded me of the first city we stayed at in Mexico: Ensenada, also a port town for cruise ships. We were wisely told to get the hell out of there and experience the real country. Tangier was exactly the same.

While we were packing to leave, one guy who was trying to sell me a bag of weed (which looked suspiciously like oregano) asked me indignantly when I turned him away, "Why do you tourists even come to Morocco?!"

The question really should have been, "Why do tourists even bother coming to Tangier?"

Despite this final city leaving us with such a bad taste in our mouths, and despite the hustlers in all the medinas constantly pestering us (they were only trying to make a living), we will remember Morocco fondly.

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The last hustler in Morocco

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Out of Africa

We are exhausted. We've been constantly on the move since the Pula girls picked us up in Spain for Christmas. We're long overdue for a long break from our travels, so we're just going to hunker down for awhile and continue our journey as the weather starts to warm up in Europe.

See you in awhile.

Enjoy the rest Gene & Neda & thanks again for sharing your travels & great photography :thumbup1:

I look forward to more stories some time to lighten up the nights at work.

Its a well deserved break. Ive really enjoyed following your travels. Thanks for letting us come along.

If you're looking for some down time, go and stay at La Calera in Teba.
Trust me, it's amazing for relaxation. Not at all on the gringo trail and it's beautiful there, especially at this time of year.

Hey Folks,
I'm having a great time reading through your journey, up to page 12 so far and loving it. We're going to our first HUBB meet at Boonah near Brisbane, Australia in September; really excited to be meeting up with a great bunch of like-minded travellers. Thanks for the inspiration and stories, keep it coming.:palm:

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Hi everyone, we're back in Toronto for a short visit and we've been invited to give a presentation of our journey so far! If you're free and in town, please join us:

Thursday June 18th, 2015 6:30PM
Endras BMW
100 Achilles Road, Ajax, Ontario

We'll be talking about our trip and showing some of our pictures and videos. We'd love to meet you!

HU Ontario 2015 event is happening - please come!
 

Hi Gene and Neda,

Just an update to let you know that the HU Ontario 2015 meeting is happening June 18-21 on Lake Couchiching near Orillia, and a personal request to you to please come and present at the meeting!


We understand that you're committed for Thursday, but we've got slots available from Friday through Sunday!
:D
We'd like to be able to put your name and face up on the page as a presenter, so please let us know as soon as you can if you can make it! Start here to register:
www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/presenter

Hope to see you there!

Grant & Susan

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/221.html

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It's been two weeks now and I'm worried about Neda. She has been motionless on the couch for all this time, Kindle in hand, and if weren't for the regular tapping of the "forward" button, I'd have to check for vital signs. We are holed up back in the same apartment that we stayed in over Christmas in Calella, just outside of Barcelona. There has been no movement, either by bike or by foot. The last few months of travel have knocked the winds from our sails and we are suffering from travel fatigue big-time.

Two weeks ago, the ferry spilled us onto the sunny port of Barcelona and we rode out into the glorious arms of Europe, and more importantly into the land of Español, where Neda could freely communicate again. I was more than happy to relinquish the reins. The plan was that we would stay somewhere familiar and recuperate, and then as the spring slowly thawed the north, we'd venture out and see if the snow had melted.

At least that *was* the plan. Normally Neda only needs a few days of rest before she gets ants in her pants and is raring to go. But it's been two weeks now and she's only left the apartment a couple of times only to shop for groceries. *THAT* was very unusual. Honestly, I didn't feel like pulling up the stakes either, but we had a team meeting and debated the pros and cons of staying or going. Even though we're still not feeling 100%, there seems to be this frustrating pointlessness to just sitting around and waiting for... what? The weather reports seem to be encouraging. How long will it take for us to feel ready to continue on? We have to acknowledge that our journey is now heavily influenced by four seasons instead of one.

Perhaps we needed to force ourselves out of this lethargy. Otherwise we'd be stuck in Spain in this comfortable little apartment watching the summer slip away.

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Skirting east of the Pyrenees mountains, which would most certainly be snow-covered this time of year

It's a slow chore to pack our bikes and we wistfully waved goodbye to Calella in our mirrors for the second time. The warm, sunny microclimate of the Barcelona region had given us a false sense of weather in Europe as the grey clouds of south-west France greeted us at the border. I am acutely aware that I am now back on language duty again. Not much of a break... :( and Neda won't be happy that she is incommunicado yet again.

We are both second-guessing the decision to leave Spain.

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Perhaps the still-stark-naked vineyards of Southern France are trying to tell us something...

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And so castles in the rain...

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We didn't get to see Carcassonne last year because of the weather. So we headed up there. And it rained...

The citadel of Carcassonne is a huge medieval fortress set on a hill above the vineyards of south-western France. The architectural plans look like they were lifted straight out of a Disney fairytale movie, although in reality it was probably the other way round. With the dark clouds roiling in the background, you really felt like there could be a magic mirror on the wall that could tell you who was the fairest of them all.

We'd settle for just an accurate weather report...

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Cacassonne is France's second-most visited tourist attraction behind the Eiffel Tower

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The inside is filled with souvenir shops and pricey restaurants

There is a traditional dish in southern France called cassoulet, which is a casserole with pork and white beans. Almost every restaurant inside the citadel served it. We window-shopped the food, but were reminded just how expensive everything is in Europe, so we held our appetites in check until we hit the grocery store on the way back to our AirBnB.

This is something that's going to take some getting used to again after our relatively cheaper sojourn in Morocco.

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The fairest of them all

Another major difference that we've noticed in the south of France (which we do make a note of everytime we ride here) is that most drivers are very laid back. Such a contrast to the chaos in Morocco or the aggressiveness of Italian drivers. Most people drive under the speed limit and seem to be in no rush at all. It's actually nice riding down here.

I wonder if maybe there are very stiff speeding fines here. We still remain invisible to photo radar because of our Ontario plates, but really, we're in no rush either and the roads are still slick with freezing rain.

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This gargoyle is straining to listen to our incessant whining

Did you know that gargoyles originally were used to divert rainwater away from the building? Spouts were routed through the throat and out the mouths of these creatures. The French word gargouille is derived from the Latin for "throat" or "gullet", and it also sounds like "gargle". If there is no spout in a gargoyle and it is purely ornamental, then the correct architectural term is a chimera, not a gargoyle.

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Chimera

I think our favorite part of Carcassonne are the chimera on the Basilica de St-Nazaire, inside the citadels walls. As usual, I take my usual pictures of votive candles inside the church.

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Basilica de St-Nazaire

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Stained Glass Goodness

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Rose Window

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And then I was all like Pew Pew Pew Pew Pew

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One of the more handsome chimeras standing guard outside

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A purple haze in the air obscures the sunlight

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happiness staggering on down the street, footprints dress in red

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Mostly it's French tourists pay a visit to the castle during the weekdays

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All along the watchtower, princesses kept the view...

These are our first steps back out into Europe and we're wondering if we've jumped the gun both on the weather and our willingness to continue our travels.

I fully agree. I'm italian and live in Italy, nevertheless riding here is often stressful also for me.
At the end of this month (on 20th) me and my wife are going to Sarlat-la-Caneda to visit Perigord (Dordogne) and I'm sure it will be a relaxing week on the road.
We hope to meet you there, one never knows.bier
Andrea and Paola.

Updated from Mar 16 2015: Riding Through The Cevennes

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We're departing Carcassonne on a cold, but sunny day. At least the weather is finally co-operating. Today, the plan is to ride through the Regional Park of Haut-Languedoc and play in the mountains in nearby Cévennes National Park.

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We ride through many quaint and tiny towns inside the park

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Stopped for lunch at Le Caylar and spotted this neat castle (Castel Roc) overlooking the town

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The rest of the afternoon was spent criss-crossing the many twisty roads in Cévennes National Park

Within the park's boundaries are several mountains and nestled in the valleys between are these amazingly twisty roads. It's the middle of the workweek and we have the roads all to ourselves. Strange that we haven't seen any bikers around though...

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As we climb up one of the mountains, we see some white stuff on the ground. Uh oh.

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At this point, I had to put the camera away for fear I'd slide off the road!

We're getting the idea that our departure from sunny Spain might have been a bit premature. It seems most of the French bikers still have their motos in the garage. We tip-toe up the mountain and breath a sigh of relief as the descent melts the snow around us. Neda radios me and tells me the temperature has dipped to freezing at the peak of our run. *ugh*

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Passing through more picturesque towns in Cévennes National Park

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Every small French town has a church, which is typically the highest building

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Just ouside Treves heading to the Groges du Tarn

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The road winds above the gorge and we duck in and out of holes blasted through the shale and granite of the area

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Leaves left over from autumn last year

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What a pretty part of France! I'm glad that we got to explore this region, it's actually a lot more scenic than the the Côte d'Azur. It's too bad that we are here early in the season, it must be beautiful in the summertime! Being out in the nature and tackling all the twisty roads here have visibly improved Neda's mood. Despite the freezing temperatures, I think we made the right decision to get off our asses in Spain.

We spent the night in the northern edge of the park in a small town called Balsièges and in the morning, we headed straight for Lyon about three hours to the north-east. Going to do some sightseeing tomorrow!

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But first, we need some Euros. Drive-thru ATMs are very popular in the US.
We're introducing this concept to France...

Hellou..it is amazing what you decide to sell everything and do this adventures..it is waw..Me and my husband we want to go around Africa.start in oktomber and the first stop is in Morocco..for us it will be a great help to give us som tips where to sleep... Thank you.

I love you blogs posts, thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the comments and encouragement. Glad you're enjoying traveling with us!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/223.html

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We are actually staying in a small suburb of Lyon called Saint-Priest because the accommodations downtown are too expensive. That's the nice part about having the bikes in Europe, we don't have to stay in the touristy areas but when we get there, parking is free!

Neda is trying out something new. She's found a volunteer organization of city guides and has organized for us a free tour of Lyon! We always like it when a local shows us around town.

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This is Jean-Jacques, our guide around Lyon!

We met Jean-Jacques in one of the main squares in the centre of Lyon, Place de Terreux. He was very helpful and asked us what we'd like to see in the city. We definitely didn't want to see any more old buildings and museums, so we told him we liked photography and asked to see the uncommon things that only the locals knew about. He nodded his head knowingly and proceeded to show us the Insiders Tour of Lyon! Cool!

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Government buildings at the Place de Terreux

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Lyon is built at the confluence of two rivers, the Saône, Rhône. The old city is built on the shores of the Saône

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One of the many bridges that cross the Saône, this one is pedestrian only

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Lover's Locks on the bridge. These are commonplace everywhere in the world!

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Jean-Jacques shows us one of the city's official bouchons

A bouchon is a traditional Lyonnais eatery, not a fancy restaurant, but a place where you can nosh on deliciously prepared portions of meat - specifically pork. There are only about 20 official bouchons recognized by the city, and they are tucked away on side streets that many tourists would not otherwise give a second glance at. We take note of a couple of Jean-Jacques favorites.

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Murals of Lyon

Lyon is also well-known for its murals painted across many of the buildings in the downtown and the old city. They're not really that old, but there are enough of them scattered all over the place that they give the city a very artistic vibe.

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Some of the murals are very lifelike!

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Vieux Lyon (Old town) is full of cafes and bistros lining its cobblestone streets

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Wonder what's behind this door?

There is a hidden city within Lyon. There exist these mysterious passageways known only to locals that go through the ground floor of some of the buildings in the old city. There are many streets that run parallel to the river, but not many that run perpendicular. These passageways called Traboules allow pedestrians a shortcut to get between the parallel streets without having to go around the building to the next block. Kind of like entering the lobby of a building from the south on 1st Street and then exiting on the north door to get out on 2nd Street. Except much cooler... because these are secret!

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Exiting a Traboule to get out onto the next street

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Beautiful architecture that reach up the height of the buildings inside the narrow enclosed courtyards of the Traboules

Traboules were initially built in the 4th century and allowed the inhabitants to get from the river to the hill more easily. The doors are not marked at all and unless you live here, you need some kind of map or guide to show you where all the Traboules are. This played a huge role in WWII when the local resistance fighters would evade the invading Nazis forces and prevent them from completely taking over the city

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All are welcome to use the Traboules, but they need to be quiet and respect the residents who live above them

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Traboule entrances also double as the entrances to the buildings themselves

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Jean-Jacques shows us more cool architecture inside another Traboule

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The interior world of the Traboules really reminded me of the movie Dark City
with the claustrophobic buildings that changed configuration every night!

Lyon is world-renowned within the silk and textile industry. Long before WWII, these traboules were used by workers to transport their goods from the mills and workshops at the top of the hill to the merchants near the river. In fact, Jean-Jacques was in the textile business before he retired. As we walked around the old town, he weaved together stories of the history of Lyon with his own life story of growing up in this city. It made it so much more personal.

We're not sure what we want to do when our trip ends, but being a tour guide sure seems like a lot of fun!

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Back out in the old city, a cruiser roars past us on the cobblestone roads

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Saint-Jean Cathedral

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Hanging out at Place Bellecour with Louis XIV looking down upon us

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Another local secret

Jean-Jacques also pointed out on the map this great viewpoint that is in a little park hidden away on one of the hills overlooking the city. There's a plaque up there that informed us that Lyon is the sister city to Montreal! A Canadian connection!

We had done a lot hiking today, so we took a nap on one of the benches and woke up to a great view of the city.

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Statue by the foot of the river

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During WWII, this building was hit by a bomb that didn't explode, but left a scar on its face instead

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Palais de Justice, right on the river bank

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Lyon also has an amphitheatre! Of course, Neda has to investigate and report her findings back to the city officials in Pula.

Lyon is a really picturesque city. We are getting a much different impression of France than the one we got when we skirted the French Riviera last winter. It also helps that we've got a local to help guide and organize what we are seeing. I think part of our travel-fatigue stems from the effort needed to research all the things we want to see and do.

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Brilliant, bright blue day above the old buildings of Lyon

We picked an amazing day for sightseeing! Yesterday's ride and today's weather gave us a bit of a boost to our travel-weary spirits. I'm wary that our moods do seem to be on a bit of a roller-coaster, but perhaps the warm season ahead in comfortable surroundings will give us a bit of an even keel.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/224.html

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Aaaand we're tired again.

We rode further north underneath grey skies, typical of early spring in France. Branches are bare, the air is cold and the boring straight roads dump our weary bikes onto the outskirts of Dijon. We're staying at another AirBnB and our host Alain greets us at the apartment. Alain speaks only a bit of English - unfortunately about as much French as I do, but when he sees our bikes, I can sense that he really wants to ask us questions about our trip, but discussing anything above and beyond logistics just devolves into pantomimes and hapless, confused shrugs.

I really wished I had paid more attention in French classes at school. This is turning out to be the biggest regret of this trip - that I had the opportunity not just to learn another language, but to do it at an age when my brain was way more malleable such that new languages would come easier later on in life, like the way it does with Neda.

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This church looked interesting, so we stopped for a break

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Neda is Shocked to discover her bike can't use these charging stations.

We've actually chosen to stay in Dijon because we're meeting a couple of Internet friends here! Colleen and Dan are American ex-pats living in nearby Switzerland just a couple of hours away and when I mentioned to them our planned route, they volunteered to meet us along the way. Colleen is very active on the forums and has written up several of her motorcycle trips, but since she used to live on the west coast, I've never actually met her. But that didn't stop her from greeting us at our apartment with a big smile and a hug! Funny how you can feel like you know someone without ever having seen them in person!

We spent a nice evening over dinner chatting about bikes, Europe, travel - all things near and dear to our hearts. This animated discussion continued over breakfast the next day and I realized we were so engrossed in the great conversation that I hadn't taken any pictures! So as they were leaving to head back to Switzerland:

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Wishing Colleen and Dan a safe trip back to Switzerland! See you again, soon!

We had been in Dijon for a few days now, just vegging in the apartment that we hadn't even made it outside to see the old city. Supposedly it was quite pretty. We're really dragging our feet to do any kind of sightseeing, but before leaving Dijon, we made a half-hearted effort to see the historic centre.

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Cobble-stone roads mark our destination

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Rows of chimera on the Church of Notre-Dame

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Inside Notre-Dame, beautiful!

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And my favorite - candles.

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We walk around the old city and stumble upon a merry-go-round

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Buildings showing off their half-timbered frames are examples of "colombage" architecture which is very common in France

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And of course, when you're Dijon, you have to try the Dijon mustard!

They say the best Dijon mustard is Edmond Fallot. We have never seen so many flavours of Dijon mustard! We visited the factory store downtown. It was a lot of fun trying all the different flavours until the store kicked us out when it was evident we weren't going to buy anything... So expensive! We're planning to pick some up in a grocery store where we know it will be cheaper than in the tourist district!

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Hobos 4 Life! Window shopping...

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Well, that was nice. Let's go!

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Leaving Dijon

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Onwards to Paris!!! Well, not quite...

We're still so tired, so we've booked into another AirBnB apartment in Vauréal, a suburb just 40 minutes north-west of the city. We've waited all winter to see Northern Europe and now that we're here, we don't really feel like going out. I don't feel so bad hibernating inside because the weather has been so grey, cold and rainy.

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Our little suburban hideaway

Marielle, our AirBnB host, has welcomed us into her apartment by leaving us with a bottle of wine and a tub of something called terrine, which looks and tastes like pâté. I asked what the difference was, she couldn't explain, but she said it was *definitely* not pâté! I looked it up later on the Internet and still couldn't understand the difference. It seemed to be one of those funny Parisian je-ne-sais-quoi-mais-il-n'est-pas-pâté-certainement! :) But terrine turned out to be one of our favorite foods, and we kept going to and from the grocery store to buy more tubs of I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Pâté....

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Neda has found a new hobby!

For a while now, Neda's been plagued with a lack of a hobby. Unlike the blog, which I pretend to keep updated (but actually never do), she needs something to occupy herself. She's read over a thousand books while we've been on this trip, she's on Level 9,372 on Candy Crush and she's slowly going out of her mind. While I'm content to read and write, take pictures and edit videos, my wife is more of a hands-on kind of person and needs something physical to do, which is why she likes cooking, hiking, yoga, etc.

She's found the perfect hobby in needle-point. It's keeps her hands busy, is portable enough for motorcycle travel and she really enjoys it. Neda told me it was something her mom used to as well.

I've been so worried about Neda's mood for a long time now, but already I sense a change from her previous bouts of restlessness.

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Dropping Neda off at the airport. In the rain, of course...

Since we're staying in Vauréal for a while, we looked into flights to Italy so Neda could visit her sister and niece for a long weekend. I knew RyanAir flights were cheap, but I didn't know that it literally costs €19 to fly from Paris to Milan. It cost us more in gas to ride from Vaureal to the airport and back... Crazy!

So off she went! And while Neda spent time with family, I had a grand ole time not updating the blog and gorging myself on terrine!

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With Neda back from Italy, our social calendar fills up in Vauréal

Marielle moved into her boyfriend's place while we stayed in her apartment and she invited us over for dinner one evening. They just lived down the street from us!

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Hanging out with Marielle and Stefane

Our hosts were so friendly and gracious and although their English was not very good, it was still better than my French, and we were able to share a little bit about all of ourselves. I really like seeing how other people around the world live their everyday lives, how some things are so similar to us, and how other things may look and taste like pâté but are not.

Sorry, I can't let it go. It's pâté.

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Stefane cooking us a traditional French meal from the region with cornish hen. Merveilleux!

We were introduced to Stefane's little boy, and they both encouraged him to practice his English with us. We spent the evening huddled around an iPad and an atlas sharing the pictures we had taken and pointing out where we had gone on the map. I realized that Marielle and Stefane were seizing the opportunity to demonstrate to Stefane's son how important it was to learn English.

And if things go according to plan, there'll be an additional future world traveler able to learn and converse in multiple languages wandering around this planet!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/225.html

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So we've been here in Vauréal for over a week now, perched 40 minutes away from the most famous city in the world and we still haven't left the apartment to go visit it.

Everyday we find some excuse not to ride in to see Paris: "Looks like it's going to rain today", "We woke up too late", "Gotta go to the grocery store to buy more terrine..."

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But one day we ran out of excuses, so we hopped on the bikes and headed into the city

The landscape here is fairly flat, the smell of fresh manure wafting up through our helmets as we ride by the green fields that lie between all the quaint towns between Vauréal and Paris. We picked a weekday to go, staying off the highway, and we're rewarded by having the roads all to ourselves.

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The back roads to Paris

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Traffic is not so bad in the big city!

Marielle had advised us beforehand not to ride in Paris because of the congestion and the crazy drivers. We've heard this warning before in every major city we've been to and no offense intended to those giving us this advice, but they're probably not aware of all the places that we've ridden in and that our definition of "bad traffic and crazy drivers" is very different than theirs.

After riding through the pure pandemonium they call traffic in Delhi, Bogotá and Mexico City, motorcycling through Paris and Rome is like strolling carefree through an open field.

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Basilica of the Sacré Cœur in Montmartre

One of the places Marielle recommended for us to see was Montmartre. Situated on top of a hill overlooking the rest of Paris, it used to be an area of the city that was filled with bohemians and artists at the turn of the last century. In fact, Montmartre is right next to the Moulin Rouge. But any of the low-rent, ramshackle buildings occupied by writers and painters who voluntarily gave up their aristocracy to pursue "la vie boheme" have now been replaced by restaurants and souvenir shops catering to the hordes of tourists who visit every day.

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Speaking of which...

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Moulin Rouge is where the Can-Can was invented. Here, you can pay €4 for a can-can of soda...

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What is more stereotypical than street-side bistros in Paris?

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Store all prettied up for the tourists

While walking around, we stumbled upon the market on Rue Daguerre, a pedestrian-only street with fruit and vegetable stands enticing passersby. You can duck in and out of all the fromageries lining the avenue. There are tons of these market streets all over the city and they felt a bit more authentic and local-oriented than the tourist traps that we came from.

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Rue Daguerre

Obviously you can't see all of Paris in a day, which is exactly the time we've given ourselves to do. So we each picked a couple of places of interest and we rode around the city, crossing them off one by one. And once again, we parked pretty much anywhere we wanted without paying any fees! I love motorcycling in Europe!

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Two-wheelers crammed on every square inch of sidewalk. For free!!!

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Catacombs

One of the places on my list were the catacombs underneath the city, the main reason being that I read about it in "The Da Vinci Code". There are many tours in the city based on the book, but they're all too expensive, so no Louvre for us, just the creepy catacombs, please.

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Spooky skulls

Our tour underneath the city yielded some very interesting facts. The catacombs serve as a mass storage site for the remains of 6 million people who lived in the Paris area over the last 300 years. They were originally moved from cemetaries because of overcrowding of the bodies, leading to improper burial, bad smell and the spread of disease.

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Some of the bones are placed in pretty patterns, like this heart-shaped arrangement

At many points, there are small signs pointing out the date of the bones. It was interesting seeing how the older ones from the 1700s were much more yellow and worn-looking. It was slightly creepy being around all these dead bodies, but yet strangely fascinating at the same time!

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A shrine set amongst the bones

There are about 300 kms of tunnels that make up the catacombs, but only about a 1.5 km stretch is open to the public. The rest of it are not renovated for tours, but that hasn't stopped "cataphiles" from breaking in and exploring the labyrinths underneath the city. Some of them are urban explorers, but others hold parties or meetings in the darkened spaces under Paris. In 2004, police found a whole movie theater set up in the catacombs! :)

We emerged above ground far from where we entered and had to consult a map to get back to our motorcycles. It was Neda's turn to pick an interesting Parisian spot to explore.

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This washroom was self-cleaning. And free! Very cool.

Neda has very different tastes than most people. In restaurants, she's always ordering the more unusual items, and it's the same when it comes to sightseeing. What caught her interest was a park called the Promenade Plantee. You can actually see it in the picture above, the park is elevated above the city streets to give it a bit of isolation away from the traffic of the city.

The Promenade Plantee used to be an old elevated railroad which was torn out and replaced with a narrow garden that stretches through Paris. Stairs to get to the park are situated every few hundred meters and once you are strolling above, the big city seems to disappear.

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Feels just like walking in the countryside!

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And then you look over the edge...

Paris was nice, but we weren't in the right mood to truly soak up the City of Love. At least by foot. So we hopped on our bikes and just rode around town.

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At one point, we passed by this structure. I radioed Neda, "Hey, is that the...? naaaah, couldn't be...."

But when I checked the pictures later on and cross-referenced it on the Internet, it was! We totally rode past the Arc de Triomphe. Kinda unassuming in person...

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Little photoshoot on the streets of Paris

Being on bikes was waaaay more fun than walking around the city. The traffic in the middle of this weekday was light and it seemed it was too early in the season for tourists and their tour buses to clog up the streets. I consulted my GPS and headed towards:

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The Eiffel Tower!

This was also an item on my list. Again, we approached the spot where my GPS said it would be and I looked over at the structure peaking above the trees. I radioed Neda, "I think that's the Eiffel Tower, but it looks kinda short. Maybe it's a miniature? And the real one is somewhere closeby?"

But when we got there, it turned out that it was the real Eiffel Tower. I guess we're used to "towers" being as tall as our CN Tower back home...? *shrug*

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Sightseeing is soooo much better on two-wheels!

We're glad we got to visit Paris, especially riding around the city which was super-fun. Which reinforces the fact that although we might be tired of sight-seeing, we still *LOVE* riding our motorcycles! But we do need a long rest, and we know just the place to find it...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/226.html

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We're going to Belgium!

We've been looking forward to this for months. Not to see the country, but to spend time with our very good friends, Eva and Thomas. We first met them two years ago while we were visiting Toronto. We really bonded with them during that time and we've been counting down the days till we could see them again, this time in their hometown of Leuven.

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Hallo! We are in Belgium!

From Paris, it was an easy three-hour ride to get to their place. As we got closer, I got really excited when I saw the signs for "Leuven". This is because every time we meet anyone from Belgium, I always tell them "We have friends from Belgium, they live in Leuven", saying it as if I had actually been there. Well, now I can!

We arrived to their place like excited little kids, it was soooo nice seeing them again! We really missed them! And we brought them gifts - chocolates from France (which were actually Belgian chocolates) as well as the rain which has been following us since Guatemala in September 2013. You're welcome!

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First things, first. Need to get rid of some the weight up top.

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Ta dah! Now I am presentable to the Belgians!

I don't really know much about Belgium. I know Belgian chocolates, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian beer and Belgian waffles... and that's it.

I asked our friends what else there is to know about Belgium and they mentioned some obscure musicians. Also something about the French stealing the recipe for Belgian Fries and calling them French Fries. So... just food, basically! :)

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The Belgians baked a lactose-free cake and threw Neda a surprise birthday party! How nice!

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And presents!!!

We used Eva and Thomas' address to ship all the gear that we've bought online to replace all the stuff that's been falling apart and breaking the last 6 months. They wrapped up all of our shipments like presents! haha!

Third birthday on the road. I can't believe we've been wandering around for so long...!

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Communicator installation party! Whohoo!

One of the packages we got was from Sena. Someone from the company contacted us through our blog and asked how our Sena SMH10 comms were doing. I mentioned that we loved them, but they are suffering from wear-and-tear from almost three years of daily use. So they mentioned they would ship us replacements as well as their new action camera. WOW! and COOL! Can't wait to try them out!

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Leuven is most-well known for being the home of Stella Artois, so we took a tour!

Artois was merged with a few companies over the years, including Anheuser-Busch in the US, and they bought Labatts in Canada, making the parent company, AmBev, the largest beer company in the world. And they are headquartered right here in Leuven!

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Stella is not really our speed, we tend to like darker beers, but that didn't stop us from trying the free samples!

Eva and Thomas mentioned that it is unseasonably cold and wet this spring in Leuven. My eyes shifted side to side guiltily... But the weather did clear up and we spent the day walking around their city.

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Tour of downtown Leuven

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Leuven Town Hall, looks like it was made of Lego!

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Rows upon rows of statues on the Leuven Town Hall

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We decide to take another stab at Belgian Beers, this time at a pub downtown

Knowing that we like darker beers, Thomas ordered us some Westvleteren Trappist Ale. Holy smokes, it was good! Had a dark, fruity taste, with a champagne-like carbonation to it.

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Westvleteren is now my favorite trappist ale!

There are only eleven monasteries in the world that brew Trappist beer. Six of them are in Belgium. What makes a beer Trappist is that it must be brewed entirely within the monastery walls, not be made for profit and have strict quality control. This makes the output sparse and the resulting bottles very difficult to obtain and thus expensive. Customers who drive to the monastery in Vleteren are limited to how many cases they are able to buy and their license plates are recorded so they are only able to buy once every 60 days.

The beer is *that* good!

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Here's to Abbey Beers!

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St. Peter's Church

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Clock on St. Peter's Church

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Eva and Thomas took us to the best Belgain Waffle place in Leuven. A food stand in town!

A real Belgian Waffle has to be eaten plain. That means no whipped cream, no strawberries, just by itself. Also, it's preferable that you eat it on the street and not in a sit-down restaurant with cutlery and waiters. We are eager to eat waffles like authentic Belgians!

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Smack Lick!

Leuven is in the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium called Flanders. So we have been learning some Flemish words while we are here in Belgium, specifically all the food words. Our favorite word is the expression for "Bon Appetit", in Flemish, it's "Smakelijk", but it's pronounced (roughly) Smack-Lick!

Such a funny sounding word: Smack-Lick!

Eva and Thomas don't realize it, but we have been using Smack-Lick randomly in our conversations now. Just out of the blue, I'll tap on the communicator and exclaim, "Smack-Lick" then turn it off. Smack-Lick.

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These boys are kicking the Smack-Lick out of that ball

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This strange statue of a giant bug impaled on a giant needle is one of the most famous symbols of Leuven

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Relax-time: Crocheting and Needlepoint

Staying with Eva and Thomas was so easy. Having done their own multi-month trip abroad, they intuitively knew that we were burnt out from traveling, so they knew exactly what we needed - namely Internet for me, and a kitchen for Neda and lots of relax time in their house.

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Thomas enjoys cooking almost as much as Neda!

Eva and Thomas finished their trip just over a year ago and I had so many questions about how they were settling into their new life, as they are one of the few couples we know who have lived like nomads and then re-entered their old life again. It was apparent that their wanderlust had not dissipated at all. In fact, they were continuing their minimalist existence, trying not to accumulate too many possessions so they could be light and free for future travels.

I saw them as an ideal template for the way we would like to be when our trip is over as well.

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Eva and Thomas take us to an amusement park! FUN!!!

Like I said, our friends knew exactly what we needed.

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A nervous smile beside me, and how I know our friends really like us!

Thomas is deathly afraid of heights, but he bravely volunteered to accompany me on the Dalton Terror ride, which lifts us several stories above the park and then drops us, letting us hurtling to ground at the speed of gravity.

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You can probably tell by this picture, I am not afraid of heights.
Smack-Lick!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/227.html

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We've been at Eva and Thomas' place for over a week now and we're loving it!

We really miss the company of other people, and hanging out with our friends is really filling that need to be social. Meeting new people on the road has been amazing, but being on a trip this long we are struggling to find balance and it's comforting to spend time with friends who we don't need to explain who we are, where we've gone, what our personalities are like (one of us is lazy and other one has more energy that she knows what to do with). Sometimes it's just nice to curl up on the couch and pick some crappy movies by random on Netflix... and then razz each other endlessly about it... :)

P.S. Don't pick the movie "Parallels" and watch it with your friends. You'll *NEVER* hear the end of it. Ever.

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Eva wheels her motorcycle out of the BatCave. Our bikes have remained parked for the whole week!

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Watching Eva do some pre-riding-season maintenance

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While we take our computers... er, motorcycles in for service

The service guys at the local BMW dealership knew us already even before we walked in. They follow us on our blog! We talked to them a little about our trip. Then they shook our hands and wished us a nice trip and handed us our bill. No discount for storytelling... :(

On the way, we tried out the new communicators that Sena shipped to us. The 20S is an upgrade to what we had before and although we didn't have enough time to give them a full run-through, we're blown away by how crystal clear the sound quality is. They've really improved the noise reduction from the SMH10, which wasn't bad to begin with! Thank you, Sena!

We're also really happy that we got most of our gear refreshed, getting it all shipped to the RideDOT.com European Headquarters in Belgium (and you thought only NATO had their headquarters here!) We just need to get Neda's seat fixed still. Finding an upholsterer in Leuven willing to work on it is proving difficult.

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I finally get to see Speculoos in person!

A couple of years ago when Thomas and Eva were staying with us in Toronto, I asked them what foods they had which were particular to Belgium. He described these spiced biscuits that you soaked in tea or coffee, then spread them over bread. It's called speculoos and now every morning, I got to see Thomas do his ritual dunk and spread.

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And then in the grocery store I see pre-dunked and spreadable Speculoos!

When you stay with friends this long, we're not really guests anymore. So we did the room-mate thing and did some grocery shopping for them. Settling into Belgian domestic life, the most exciting thing for us is that there is a new grocery store called "Albert Heijn" that opened up around the corner. They're the biggest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and they are expanding into Belgium. Eva and Thomas pointed out all the new Dutch products on the shelves that they wanted to try. The shelves were a little empty, probably because they were a brand new store.

We kind of miss all these little neighbourhood details that fly under the wheels of our nomadic existence.

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Because our roomies are vegetarian, Thomas attempts to make vegetable jerky.
I like to call it Vagirky. Because it sounds a little dirty...

The vagirky was put in the oven and baked until it should have been chewy, but instead it turned out crispy and dry. No Smack-Licking the dry Vagirky.

:)

I thought about why we get along with Eva and Thomas so well. A lot of it is that we have so much in common: addicted to travel, motorcycles, relaxed attitude to life. But also, there's a sense of modesty to them that we've found is common to a lot of Belgians.

Belgium is a funny little country. It shares borders with France, Germany and the Netherlands and each of the Belgian regions are split along the language lines: Dutch Flanders and French Wallonia, similar to English/French Canada. But I don't think they lack a cohesive national identity here as much as that they an understated nationalism, similar to the modest Canadian culture that we grew up in.

And Eva and Thomas are just cool people to be around. I don't know if they truly realize how special they are to us.

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What's going on here?

Eva works as a content writer for a PR company and one of her clients is a recreational equipment retailer. Each quarter the company puts out a glossy magazine/catalog and Eva had an idea of including our travels in the next issue as a lifestyle/human interest piece. We initially thought it would just be a print interview and some accompanying pictures from our blog, but to our surprise a camera crew showed up to do a live interview for a video supplement on the company website!

Cool! We felt like celebrities!

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Fireside chat with RideDOTNeda.

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In addition to the interview, the crew got some background shots of our gear. This was getting fancier by the minute!

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And then the video shoot went outdoors to include shots of our motorcycles! Thomas led us out to some scenic spots in Leuven

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While we wait for the camera crew to set up, Neda tries to sell Eva her motorcycle: "Only 80,000 kms! Never dropped. Much..."

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Making movies is boring for the actors. Gotta wait for all the cameras to be set up. So I went around and took lots of pictures

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Setting up the shot

Because of my amateur video-editing attempts, I already knew how much footage needs to be shot to make a short video, but it was eye-opening to watch the professionals and see how much set-up time is required to get the best lighting, framing, etc. Compared to my seat-of-my-pants-pull-the-camera-out-of-the-tankbag-and-hit-record way of shooting video... :)

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And then the video shoot goes mobile for some action footage!

Thomas and Eva led us and the crew on their bikes to some country roads where footage could be taken of us riding our motorcycles. Wow! All this for such a short video! I was so curious what the end product would look like now!

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Tim, the director mounts a miniature Action Camera on Thomas' bike to get shots of us from the front

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I felt like a member of the Royal Family, riding around with a motorcycle escort in front and a chase vehicle behind us!

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The stakes get higher when a drone was brought out. OMG!

At the end of the day, the cameraman shows us some of the raw footage that they've shot. It looks SOOOO good! I can't wait to see how they put it all together. Eva said that it will be a few months before it'll be finished and launched concurrently with the magazine article.

So it turns out it's not actually a short web video. There was so much time put into this and so many different cameras involved that we are turning this into a 12-part mini-series that will air on Netflix. We will be calling KTM and asking them for free motorcycles for our journey just so that we can capture them turning us down on camera...

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This will be the cover of our Blu-ray Disc.

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After a long day of shooting, we ride back to Leuven with the rest of the RideDOT.com European film crew

Hey Gene, it works for the rest of us poor suckers stuck at home :clap:

Travel phobia
 

Continuing to follow you folks. Have been since you left Toronto. Can't get enough of your commentary about the places you have visited. Like reading the Encyclopedia Britanica. (Almost) LoL. Keep it up. Hope some day to meet you on the road.