Day 193 28th January
54miles (El Kelaa des Sraghna to Marakesh) Average speed 16 mph Top speed 25 mph
Brian, Jasper and Craig outside the hotel
Awake at 8 but no hot water left for a shower to soothe my aching neck (Craig used the last of it – how inconsiderate!) Had brekkie in the hotel cafe of crepe, croissant, coffee and oj. Then after stopping to top up with water we hit the road.
Flying along playing follow my leader
We were flying along all the way though we stopped for a Sprite and a chocolate bar. Then it was good fresh tarmac for a few miles and we really picked up the pace, cruising between 19 and 24 mph. It all was flying past so quickly, it was hard to appreciate the stunning views of the mountains.
Distant mountains
Then as we got nearer to Marakesh the towns got bigger and busier and pretty crazy as we sped through the souks at the side of the road. Everyone was cheering and waving to us as we passed, except for a few kids who threw stones at us. One nearly hit Jasper on the head with a piece of plastic.
What a view!
It was brilliant to ride behind him and get a tow in his wake even if I spent a lot of time looking at the hole in his shorts from behind. Then as we got closer it got really busy, but there was a good shoulder for bikes to ride on so no problem until we reached the city when we got stuck in traffic jam outside a roadside souk.
Marakesh – traffic jam
We tried to fight our way through the scooters and taxis but kids were grabbing at my panniers so much that I had to, not so politely, tell them where to go. We made it through and Jasper did some great navigating using maps.me app to find Hostel Kif-Kif which I’d seen earlier online. We ended up pushing our bikes through the tiny streets of the medina while people tried to sell us everything from shoes, apples and bike seats to carpets!
Goods for sale everywhere
Checked in and carried the bikes up the stairs to the first floor, before taking my second cold shower of the day. We asked reception for a restaurant and he took us to Cafe Rouge round the corner, which had a lovely roof top terrace but the food wasn’t great, although my beef terrine was tasty there just wasn’t enough for a hungry cyclist. We then went out to explore the town and it was great in the souk without too much hassle, we had coffee on a rooftop and watched the sun go down.
People watching from a rooftop as the sun goes down
Then we found a bar with 2 for 1 happy hour which lasted all day! 4 beers for £13.00 later we headed back to the hostel and Craig cooked Spag Bol for dinner, where we chilled for the evening. A great day to finish our riding together as we will be going in different directions next week.
Hostel Kif-Kif