Pedro

Nice one, Pete, glad you like the new bike! Bet you're looking forward for some smaller roads now.

Now that's a proper looking Ducati! ?

I edited for accuracy

SOber? WTF @boboneleg, is covid not enough?

There are false positives but obviously you always have to treat them like a sure thing. A second test settles it. Hope all goes for her!

Rode to Ericeira in the morning, a few showers on the motorway but didn’t even get my legs really wet Watching some surfing now, will enjoy the weekend here then spend some quality time by myself at home next week.

Oh, those knobs!

knobs on? at breakfast?

He's probably just trying to not fall backwards while waiting for the buzz to go.

He's just standing there The law? What do you think this is? Rio Bravo?

Nobody stopped to ask him because usually he is a very aggressive drunk

I really enjoyed going through all the thousands of pictures to post these reports, although I would rather I had thousands more to just keep going. Maybe editing a video or two in a few weeks or days would be a good idea, maybe once I learn how to do it, although to be honest video with voices is something pretty hard for me to do without falling apart. I have to do it properly alone, though, can't have my dog lifting his ears everytime Maria speaks in a Video as it breaks my heart. Assuming the Covid situation is handled next year, I will visit Morocco by myself in 2021. It'll be extra hard because on top of going without her, it was in Tangier that I lost Maria in 2018. But, if it's the same as posting these reports, it'll be tough but at the same time feel familiar. We'll see.

So, staying at my parents' home, yesterday I get home and there's this guy standing in the street, check this out:

And yet you cast the first stone ... Anyway, I think the ass poking stuff is reserved for later on. They have dogs sniffing cars as they wait in line to get out, although Rui did forget some hashish in his panniers and nobody told him anything. Then again, he was Portuguese!

Well, it wasn't my choice

Leaving Fes was uneventful, cool enough in the morning, easy traffic, and we just comfortably made our way towards Tangier via good easy roads A stork's nest is a very good use of a minaret, although I don't know how much the storks appreciate their early morning calls to payer. Having bought a rug for our living room in Fes (I know, the cliché!), Maria was now enjoying a little backrest. We stopped in Tetouan for some light lunch. Tangier was about an hour away, or less, and our plan was to sleep there. At our arrival in Tangier, we are way ahead of schedule, so without even stopping we decide to head for the ferry and see how much the wait is for the following crossing. Turns out we waited for half and hour of 45 minutes, and boarded headed for Spain. It was windy and the Mediterranean was choppy. Maria looking cool while the GS waits to be checked by the X-ray machine. Although the catamarans making this cross are really competent boats, fast and smooth, I felt sick since the moment I sat down inside. Fortunately we were joined by another portuguese couple of were just returning for a few days as well, on a Honda NC750. I forgot their names, and forgot to take pictures as well, but fortunately I accomplished my goal of not throwing up halfway through the trip Getting off the boat in Spain was quick and easy, as always, you´re usually just waved by if you're European. I stop immediately after exiting the harbor, in search of a cafe with a nice firm chair for me to get my land legs back. It's still early, so we decide to ride to Faro and have a rest day there instead of splitting the trip between two days. Sunset was spent on the road, and we arrived at Faro well into the night, having enjoyed a night ride with temperatures as high as 30º through Sevilla. The next day we woke up late, and went to the beach, we did have, after all, a day or two to spare, so spent them wisely before going back home. This had just been my best trip ever, and I was sad it had come to an end. I will treasure these memories forever.

I have a few places scattered around Germany, Portugal, and Morocco, that I call home. It's always hard to leave them after only one night, and this simple hotel in the middle of a windswept plateau is one of them. Regardless, we were to go to bed in Fes tonight, so we made way enjoying a fresh October early morning. I was aware this would be our last big open space in Morocco this year, so I cruised these valleys slower than normal (which isn't fast anyway), and even stopped for a couple of pictures Here I am practicing my intrepid adventurer's thousand mile stare, if the camera's pointed at you don't fear a goofy pose! It was a good thing the sun was now clearing the top of the mountains, as we were both a little cold. I remember enjoying this vastness, aware I would miss this. Little did I know back then, how much I would miss that feeling. Having a sandwich arriving at Fes, with the Morocco Rally cars and bikes passing outside stopped in front of an old dealership with a forgotten S-Class inside, just stuff you notice In Fes, our regular hotel was again fully booked, so we stayed next door, at a less cooler place but with an almost 4 meter deep swimming pool, enough to make my ears ache while going for the bottom. That night we had some sort of tajine with meat after being received with open arms at a known restaurant. We shared it The next day would be a long one, although not in our plans so far.

On the next day, we have a nice breakfast before riding out. The weather forecast was for rain on the coast and judging by our previous days in Tan Tan and Guelmim, we would be getting shitty weather all the way back to Tangier, so instead we decided to go back via the interior which was also very much preferred next to the coast as far as roads and people. It was also understood that we wouldn't be visiting Morocco on the bike on the following year, so might as well be on our preferred roads. Heading north still towards Marrakech, but before getting there we were turning east towards Beni Mellal and then Midelt. Moroccan cruise control: We were now heading to the plateau once again, but before we got there we both spent one of the most uncomfortable hours on a bike ever. Although it wasn't the hottest we've ridden through, the humidity was off the charts, we were soaked in sweat and uncomfortable. My groin ..., well, you know how it feels after a few hours like that. We were very happy to arrive at our hotel for the evening, and I swear it took me less than 5 minutes between arriving for check-in and getting in the pool. There are no pictures of the afternoon because we didn't really care for that area and Maria was too uncomfortable to be feeling like holding up a camera. With every part of me feeling relieved and fresh, we enjoyed a cool evening sitting outside having cold water, while being kept company by chickens unaware of the menu. In Morocco, every animal climbs trees, or was it just trying to escape the cooking pot? A very good night's sleep was had in our very colorfully lit hotel room.

How very dare you! I'm no mediterranean, I'm from northern Portugal!

Did you know, @Tym, that some Harley riders wire their trailer or their car to their bike´s odometer so that it counts miles being trailered to events as well? There you go!

On that day, near where the goats were climbing the trees to get to the Argan fruit, Maria picked a couple of nuts off the ground and brought them as a souvenir. Later, I took the seeds out of their shell and one of them I managed to germinate into a small tree that has been growing for almost three years: It currently looks like this

It was wet as we rode off in the morning, thick wet fog, the kinds of roads we were on and also the worn out suspension and tires in most cars meant traffic moved surprisingly carefully in the wet, I wonder how they cope with snow in places like Midelt where it really comes down and a significant part of cars seem to have had nothing done to them in the last 10 years. I didn't enjoy turning back north, my real wish would have been for us to go further south for 2 or 3 months! Anyway, we were off into the mountains, and surprisingly, this would be the day I was to ride my favourite biking road ever, to this day. Half an hour into the ride, as we turned away from the ocean and started climbing a little, the sun came out and it warmed up instantly, and out came our layers and the camera! In Tafraoute, a mountain town, we stopped at a small cooperative shop to buy one of our souvenirs for this trip. Argan oil is a very labour intensive work, the nuts' shell is split and it's the seed inside that is used for cold pressing for the precious oil. The cold pressing is done with a wooden hand tool, and is incredibly tedious and long work. Traditionally, all this is only done by women, so it's women who set up these cooperatives and run them with barely no influence by men who traditionally are dedicated to herding. It's also their way of controlling cash inflow to the household. This whole area is rich in Argan trees, and it's obviously going to be a rich business since major michelin star restaurants started using Argan oil for salads, as well as the beauty industry started to publicize Argan extract in expensive skin and hair products. In these hills or mountains, we stopped and watched a herd of goats enjoy the argan suits directly from a tree on a cliffside This is the stuff you can't find near tourist traps: We stop by Taroudant in search of lunch, and eat at a big cafe in the center. It was hot and busy, and no tourists in sight except for both of us. I left Taroudant with the feeling that it is a cool place to sleep over for another trip. Busy and big enough to be lively and get lost in but not chaotic and harsh like Marrakech. We were off again, heading towards Marrakech. Our plan was to stop an hour or so ahead and figure out where to sleep, our michelin map showed the R203 as a dangerous mountain road with drops, so I was obviously keen to try it The R203, between Tafingoult and Asni, is the best road I've ever done, look it up in google maps if you want. Starts pretty "European": But as you start to climb, it's not one to ride fast: At the top there is a dirt section, but I fear this might all have been "fixed" when I return for another run. This is a mountain, though, and they get plenty of winter weather here, so I understand why this road might be considered a little dangerous. We stop and check booking and google for a place to stay, and decide on one. Then just show up and ask for rates instead of settling for the internet prices, it was a good choice and was one of the best places we've slept and ate in Morocco. It had a comfy room, a swimming pool, ducks!, and an amazing restaurant that surprised us with Moroccan flavors in a more modern cuisine than we were used to, it was delicious. Dinner was outside, warm enough but with too little light for food pictures. We did have company, as always when eating outside in Morocco. A couple of old ladies from England sat on the table next to us, they were on a cooking learning trip learning different dishes in each town, and told Maria both would love to tour Morocco on a bike. One of them, having owned motorcycles for decades told us her adventures of motorcycling in the 50s and 60s in the UK. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of them. We slept great.

Breakfast was very nice, I mostly ate fruit trying to anticipate a warm day. We planned to going south to Tan Tan, checking it out, have a coffee, and ride back to Guelmim and stay back in the same hotel. Tan Tan was only 100km away so we could have gone further down, but I think that from here on south you're only really going if you want to continue heading to Mauritania, or at least to the border. We were both a little tired so could use an easy day with some rest in the afternoon. As we left for Tan Tan it was pretty foggy, but we assumed it would clear quite soon, we did almost the entire trip there under wet fog, our rain gear was at the hotel in the luggage. The road between Guelmim and Tan Tan has got a lot of three things: fish smell, slow moving, and traffic going further south to Africa. The fish smell comes out of nowhere next to some clearings by the side of the road where trucks carrying fish from Tan Tan's harbor empty their unfrozen ice, then the sun cooks that and the remaining smell is interesting because there is no ocean to be seen. Slow moving Land Rovers on old worn out leaf springs, carrying cargo or passengers at 60kmh, trudging along at a pace of a time gone past, driver patiently waiting out the trip in a car with no space for his elbow with a window that only slides open halfway in a car that is passed by every big truck, in over 40ºC heat, bless them! Here you see cars and trucks with license plates that I had never seen before, heading south to Mauritanica, Senegal, etc, feels exotic and something about the "body language" of these cars gives away that they know how long the trip is going to take regardless of being in a hurry or not. The fog eventually clears and we have a little bit of sunshine Tan Tan! Still pretty wet here. Nothing really noticeable about Tan Tan except that I created a little chaos by riding into the customs part of the harbor like it was a normal road. Got properly told off, and then waved by with a smile. After our coffee, which did it's job of warming us a little, we headed back for lunch at Guelmim Poulet Roti, my favourite: Little bit early after lunch, so we explored a little around the surroundings of Guelmim, and went to the beach And again, time to soak up We had dinner at the hotel and Maria ordered lasagna while trying to each something "normal", she gasped at her portion The next day, we'd have mountains again ...

In the morning we had a little but very tasty breakfast, said goodbye, and off we went in search of the Desert Let's go to Guelmim! Schools are usually the most colorful buildings you'll ever see Heading from there to Guelmim we had one of this trip's best memories. We finally felt like being close to the Sahara as I imagined from reading books, it had just gotten proper hot and I decided to stop and drink some water, when a few camels appeared, and then continued to appear, must have been over 50 all scattered into smaller herds, it was pretty great. Guelmim, perfect mix of desert frontier city with developed world, never had I seen so many old Land Rovers as here and from here on south. We got here during the afternoon having had no lunch. Very hot and sweaty, we weren't hungry but each drank a full bottle of water and a couple of very cold orange juices. Made our way to our very nice hotel, and had some more water there, after diving head first into the swimming pool. We slept in a very comfy bed, feeling like a million bucks. I was very excited to go to Tan Tan, gateway to the desert.