Turns out the campsite owner being weird was the luckiest thing that happened all holiday.
The alternative accommodation, Maison d’hotes Cara Iris wen through my plans to get to my next destination using Google maps. We established some of the hills were going to be pretty drastic, the journey was 155km and there was no stop in between, (at least with bookable accommodation). Based on this, I decided to cycle up to the nearest gas station, (on the main road), and wait for a taxi. I’d been advised that this would cost €5 to El Jebha, a town half way.
Gas station
Easy to find, on the main N16 road. Had a litte supermarket and a few other travelers there waiting for lifts.
I pushed the bike slightly out of view and set about flagging down cars. This didn’t prove difficult, my fair skin and novel outfit probably helped, the only problem was the bike. As soon as I indicated this would be a passenger also, my potential traveling partners had second thoughts. After a while, I limited my recruiting efforts to vans and taxis. After about 3 hours, (12pm), I managed to grab a taxi. I had to persuade him that the bike would not be a problem to get in the back. We dropped the seat down, took the wheels off and it went in without any problem.
The road to El Jebha
Was 55km of Moroccan engineered mountain pass. Steep curve following steep curve, either going up or going down. It was a good idea not to bother cycling. At no time did I think I might have enjoyed it out there… I reached El Jebha in one piece. I had to pay the taxi driver double because I had left let seat down and it had taken up space which would have been generating a fare. I ended up paying 100, which is about £8.
Continue reading “Car Iris to Oued aou, Oued Laou to Chefchaouen”
