Morocco Day 8: Rabat - Asilah - Tangier

In the crack between Europe and Africa im sat in a bar surrounded by hookers, the man next to me has just let the barmaid know he thinks she has a beautiful derriere and would like to get jiggy jiggy with it. Someone else was pushed against a wall and asked if they want sex.  But that was the evening, the day started somewhat differently in Rabat.

Waking in Rabat i wanted to check out the city and see a few sights to compare with the other places on the journey. There were three things on my list.

The Chellah or Shalla, a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis that was later the site of an ancient Roman town.  You're actually permitted right upto and on the ruins, walking over and on them as you see fit. Huge stalks sit on their massive nests atop the ruins.

The Kasbah, a fortress dating back to the 10th century and home to a small village notable for its picturesque blue and white walls.

the busiest market stall ever?

Armed guards with automatic machine guns guarded this building...

Finally the Hassan tower, a 13th century mosque that was never finished.  This one we passed on the bikes on the way out of town, i didnt stop.  Rabat was great, my favourite city so far, i much preferred it to Marrakech.

Time to leave 

With the sites ticked off we hit the road again, it was good to be moving on the bikes. During the day Jason and i got separated and didnt get back together for several hours.  I used the opportunity to test the French Jason had been teaching me, i had to get water, food and petrol.  Most of the time Jason had been ordering because his French is pretty good, but i enjoyed the test of skills and it was interesting, and also a little worrying, to be alone out here, what if something went wrong?

museum in Rabat



i did a little off roading and ended up getting kicked out of a Golf Marina i stumbled into over the hills whilst avoiding the roads.  Who would have thought you'd find a Golf Marina out here?  This coast route is certainly different to the poor, impoverished heart we'd ridden through. 

Meeting Jason at Asilah at about 16:30 we decided, nice though the place was, it was a little quiet and we could use the remaining daylight to ride to Tangier.  A place i'd been to before, 'Europe's gateway to Africa', a den of deceit, a place capable of chewing you up and spitting you out.  It sounded great and full of promise compared to Asliah.  

It was rush hour when we arrived and the traffic was intense.  The roundabouts had different rules to Europe and we were trying to work them out for the whole trip, it seemed to be; you all dash to the middle and mostly stop, but continue being aggressive with your vehicle and especially your horn, unless you are big and / or travelling at speed, in which case you can't stop, but if you dither you get run over. 

It was madness, but what a thrill to rev and ride the Enduro bikes through it, weaving and cutting through the jams on the agile and powerful machines.  High on adrenalin we arrived at a hotel with underground parking and made our way to the bar. What happened over the next few hours is a blur, we made lots of friends everywhere we went, many of whom wanted to come back to europe with us and we laughed a lot.