Morroco - Marrakech, Andy's Odes & Top Tips

Morocco March 2016 - The Map

Do Geography!

Some Photos from Marrakech

The alleys - dodging donkeys, bikes, carts, motorbikes, other bikes and people - the hostel (& their famous breakfasts) the Bazzar & markets - the bike sorting from their travelling boxes

Supplementary Section - Andy's Odes 

(Musings that are sometimes poetic and sometimes not)

Ode to the Sac Plastique (Plastic Bag)

You are light

You are convenient

So easily disposed

You are everywhere

Sac Plastique

Caught on the many brambles

Caught in the sandy hollows

Kilometer after kilometer

Into the distance

Sac Plastique

  

You cover the barren lands

At the Entry

At the Exit

At most Villages and Towns

Oh Sac Plastique

In Blue

In White

In Green

What would these roads look like if it wasn’t for the

Sac Plastique?

What could we do 

Differently

Rather than use 

The

Sac Plastique?

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Caution: The following section contains a few quick tips specifically for Cycle Touring

– Do not read: if you’re after a good story accompanying a good beverage –  Do read: if you’re thinking of going Cycle Touring in Morroco

Top Tips with Andy – Cycle Touring in Morroco

1. Don’t bother with trains & bike boxes/bikes in Morroco – use the CTM busses. (We tried & after the ticket guy telling us it was fine we were stopped at the door & then spent the next hour getting different answers on luggage, lugging our bike boxes around & getting the tickets refunded)
2. Buses:  Be specific about going to the CTM Bus Depot, rather than the Gare Routiere (We ended up at the Gare Routiere on the Taxi, despite thinking we’d emphasised the CTM sufficiently well.  This was a completely different experience to CTM. The Gare Routiere is a local station, crowded, loud, very busy and sometimes daunting!)
3. Knowing French is a really good time in Morroco – Some people known a little English, but everyone seems to know French.
4. Flying into Morroco:  If starting in Marrakech fly directly in / out of Marrakesh airport if possible to save a day of travel logistics etc.  We had to fly into Casablanca with Emirates, but could have flown out to Holland with Air Maroc from Marrakech.
5. Bike boxes with Air Maroc – NB:  They cost about 550D ($80NZD) each with these guys – so factor that it.  You will need to pay this when checking in.
6. The Moroccan Expectation of Payment:  Always be cautious with offers of help with baggage!  Only ask for help from women or shop keepers re directions.  Agree on prices of taxis etc & write it down on paper to avoid any uncertainty.
   Accepting an offer of help:  If someone does offer to help and you accept have a clear start/end point to the help, even if they seem genuine & want to help you buy your tickets etc…. They often are after some extra coin & will try and sell you a sob story to get some.  10 D seemed to be the min accepted here.
7. Toilets:  Most times you could use a local café or petrol station toilet for free if you asked.  Keep some 1 D coins on you for the bus toilet areas etc
8. Cooker Fuels:  Don’t rely on gas or other cooker fuels.  Petrol seemed to be the only solution or we did find some puncture only gas cartridges at some supermarkets.
9. Finding Bike Boxes in Morroco:  Bike boxes are apparently a real pain to find in Casa – leave yours somewhere if you can.  We understand a lot of bikes are arriving in plastic bags now.
10. Clothing & Sleeping Bags in Feb/March– It can be really cold in March – we’d suggest taking your good winter bags for this end of the season and warm clothes.
11. Tenting:  40-50D ($10 NZD, 2016) seemed to be fairly standards at campgrounds fr two people and a tent, with 10D sometimes for a shower and most places having WiFi.
12. Food:  We found couscous/veges and either Tuna or eggs the best meal options for quick and nutritious.  Dates & almonds from the markets were a winner (especially if you’re prepared to buy a 1kg packet of dates (25D).  Rolled oats from the Supi with yoghurt was a good change from bread.
13. Advice:  Ask a number of people something, don’t always rely on one piece of advice (like the time Yousef told us there was a really good link road from near his guesthouse to where we were going & there definitely wasn’t)
14. Ave Spending:  For us in 2016 = 240D/Day = $36 NZD for both of us (Nb: including mixture of tenting (80%) and hostels, cooking for ourselves 70% of the time and including taxis at either end/buses/hostel at Marrakech at either end)