Car Iris to Oued aou, Oued Laou to Chefchaouen

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.

El Jebha to Oued Laou

I did nothing more than put the wheels on at El Jebha, jumped on the bike, and set off.

I’d been told that the next section was along the coastal road and picturesque.

Picturesque in the car maybe… Full of steep incline and never ending hills on the bike.

I was approximately 1 hour into my journey when I heard the ‘peep peep’ of a horn behind me, and the brown shape of a diatsu duster belonging to the previous hotel owner, pull in just in front of me.

As luck would have it

He’d promised me a lift earlier, when I was checking out, but I hadn’t really pushed the matter.

Turns out he was taking this road to visit his relatives in Tangier for Ramadan, which started today. Taking a lift with him would shave 75km off my journey, and take me right into Oued Laou!

A day of car journeys

Ended about 100m from my accommodation, located behind a mosque! An apartment. All to myself.

Nice setting.

Being Ramadan, something I hadn’t bargained for was that they were all fasting. All eating from evening on Wednesday to Thursday lunch is forbidden. I managed to pick up some noodles, bread and pastries from the supermarket. For breakfast, I had some pastries and a bit of bread and yoghurt. Not much. But I hadn’t done much the day before. Had I had done 155km up and down the mountains, it would have been a whole different ball game. I doubt I would have made it the whole 155k, even half, would have been tough.

So yeah, lucky about the weird campsite guy.

Oued Laou to Chefchaouen

I’d looked at this one on Google maps, and comparatively, it looked a fairly straightforward journey. I can say this about it. Of all the journeys on bike, it was the most picturesque. The mountain streams making the previously desert landscape into a green, lush and pleasant affair. The only problem were the hills, that, and I’d left my cycling hat in the Cara Iris hotel owners car.

Here’s some pics from the day.

Cycling stroke

As anyone knows, your time is fairly limited in the sun without some form of protection. Even the locals that spent periods of time outside wear a hat, or covering of some description. Without, you’re talking one to two hours before you’re going to need to take shelter.

I myself am well aware of this after waking in Nepal and being caught out. I opted to make stops every hour in the shade under the impression I would reach my destination in 3 hours. It was something that scared me. I’ve got heatstroke before, it isn’t something you can just ignore, so it would threaten my journey, if it set in.

Luckily!

As luck would have it. On my first stop, near to a ceramic pot selling hut on the hillside, I rested the bike against a clay oven and went to investigate the shop. All the pots were out, but there didn’t appear to be anyone around. It was shady under the tarp, so I stood around, eating my peanuts. Suddenly, I heard this ‘ola!’ and a little man’s face appears from behind a curtain at the back of the hut. ‘Hello’ I said. And the head disappeared behind the curtain again. I want back to studying the pots outside. Two minutes later the old man appeared again and started engaging me in conversation.

I’d come from Oued Laou, I was on the way to Chefchaouen. I explained that I needed to keep out of the sun because my hat had blown away. I was taking shelter in his shop. After finishing up my nuts, I decided it was time to get going and went over to the bike. As I was doing this, a guy pulled up in a van and jumped out and greeted the old man. Big, by Moroccan standards. He and the old man sat down at the entrance to the shop and I went back to prepare the bike for the off. The deralier was playing up, it needed to be fiddled with a bit after coming down that 3 miles of dirt track the other day. This I did.

When I jumped on and cycled past the hut, the old man had hung some straw hats for sale outside the shop! He wanted 20, but I gave him 16. It’s a deal!

Now I can cycle the whole way without falling into a ravine, collapsing or spending the rest of the holiday in hospital!

Killer Bee 🐝

Nothing else of event apart from standing in some shit, (I wiped it off with the empty peanut wrappers), and being attacked by a killer Bee. I swatted it, (eventually) after it chasing me for some time, and ran it over, but not before it stung my ear. It was trying to sting me in the face.

Here in Chefchaouen

I will be staying for 2 days so there will be more to follow.

Chefchaouen is set on the side of a mountain. I had to cycle up a very large hill to get here! The mountain air is very pure, and I will attest to it’s properties over that of sea air. So pure, and that goes for the produce I had for breakfast, a natural flavour to them. Pure and sweet.

Today

I’ll just be exploring. I also need to buy a hat. Relax, you know. Let the bones rest.

Trip statistics

• Distance: 55km
• 11kph Ave speed
• Max temp 24°
• 1,320m Elevation gained
• 2,733 calories burned
• Time 4h 58m

Gallery

Here’s some pictures from the last 2 days.