Around Morocco on our Bikes

May 2 - Eid holiday Tourist spots are open, but businesses are closed for the Eid al Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan. We spent several hours walking parts of the town other than the Souk and all its hustle. The city ramparts stretch about 19 km around the old city. Inside, there are routes that will accommodate an automobile, but the vast majority are narrow as below and suitable for handcarts, bicycles, and motorcycles. It's a full time job avoiding the motorbikes as they dart around with considerable speed - also great agility by the local people. A visit to the Bahia Palace built in the late 18th century, at the time was one of Morocco's most luxurious. Next the Saadian tombs that date back to the 14th century including about 60 members of the Saadi dynasty that ruled Morocco in the 16th and 17th centuries. After visiting the tombs, we exit through one of twenty gates with a look back at the Kasbah mosque. Back to the hotel and get ready to ride 104 km and climb almost 20...

 30 April - 1 May - two days of riding through the Atlas mountains to a day off the bikes in Marrakech. Amazing scenery these two days with dramatic changes as we went over passes and into different valleys. I'll let photos speak for themselves. Over 1100 meters of climbs each day - here we head into a series of switch-backs to get up and over the top.  Most of the villages have a mix old and new buildings and ruins. There are always carefully managed water conduits running along the rivers to irrigate the fields, sometimes not much more than ditches but other times more elaborate such as below.  Lots of donkeys are used to carry loads to, often tied up when the owner is busy with something, seldom just wandering as is this one - not a dumb animal - it is going downhill while Ursula works the uphill direction.  The highest pass of this segment of the journey, a bit over 2200 metres...  ...before we start the descent towards Marrakech... ...an amazing 35 km of de...

 29 April - Rest day in Ait Ben Haddou, also known as 'mud city', having had parts reduced to mud in a flood some many years ago.  The photos above are probably parts of the city that have been used most in movies that have been shot here The site has been used for movies over the last 70 years: In its earlier days, Ait Ben Haddou was initially a Berber community but Jewish settlers from Spain arrived in the 17th centrury. We understand that in thise days, there were around 20 Jewish families and about 60 or 70 Berber families occupying Ait Ben Haddou and the Synagogue and Mosque lived happily within a few hundred meters of each other. The two groups lived harmoniously alongside each other although they did not inter-marry nor did they share a graveyard. Below is the Jewish graveyard and Berber mausoleum. After gaining UNESCO World Heritage status, the UN funded this footbridge connection as well as water supply to the site. No electricity except solar.   After our w...

 April 27-28 - 100 km to Skoura, then 75 km to a rest day at Ait Ben Haddou. This we never expected... smooth highway with a bike lane for many kilometers along this stretch of the journey... More great scenery... I love the snow-capped mountain backdrop or the parched hot desert. There are always more hills to climb. On one of the steeper ones as we climbed at single-digit speed on a rather narrow part of the road and limited forward visibility around a curve, a police vehicle came up and positioned himself just behind us and turned on his flashing lights until we got over the top. Movie studios have used this area for movies such as Lawrence of Arabia. Lots of beautiful pottery along the road - again, one has to feel for the effect of COVID on these businesses. Our rest day is Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO world heritage site owing to its past as the 'mud city' We get there after about 12 km of steady climbing that would have been okay except for the 40 km/hr wind that was right o...