The difference between Morocco & the UK…

As I sat here at the reception desk of the Hotel Nomad Palace, using my best schoolgirl French to explain that I am not actually a receptionist, the owner’s brother asked me if I knew the difference between Morocco & the UK?! I laughed!! There are many!! I said the sunshine!! He said that in the UK we have watches but no time; In Morocco they have time  but no watches!!

As the wifi that would be fixed in 1 hour yesterday is still not working I can see his point!!

We have just returned from a beautiful camel ride up to the dunes to watch the sunset &, having finally got my hands on the required cable, I can tell you that everything runs at camel’s pace!!

That is except a bunch of nutters on Kawasakis in the dunes!!

For those with the energy, yesterday afternoon was our first go at the proper sand dunes; I think we were all surprised at how difficult it was. It was like learning to ride again! The bike control in itself is not the big issue – it’s all in the mind…

You have to attack everything with confidence to keep moving, yet you must read each dune for it’s shape & to find the harder packed sand & avoid the boggy, soft stuff… If you mis-judge you risk bogging the back wheel down, which is extremely tiring to free, or more dangerously, you fly over the top of a sharp ridge & the bike digs in on the other side, stopping instantly… I speak from experience…!!

Your bike’s stuck!!

As we set off today, taking advantage of the cooler morning air, we were all a little intimidated by the kilometres of towering dunes standing between us & the Algerian border. Bikes & riders never faltered though, everybody raved about the smooth power delivery & how much easier it made the sand. We couldn’t believe they didn’t overheat with all that has been asked of them, the riders certainly did!!

I’m a bit gutted at the internet speed as there are so many great photos of the bikes at play here!! But they will come!!

For now we are going to have a late dinner & an early start tomorrow for a long day’s riding; waving goodbye to the dunes with most people already planning their next visit to conquer them!

We have another marathon day to get to the Todra Gorge tomorrow so I will leave you with a photo that shows a little of the beauty & fun we’ve been having as Mick & Gwion play in a sand bowl!!