Enjoyable but slightly Fawlty Towers experience...

As we roll into Marrakesh it is the first time it has stopped raining for three days. This is not what we had expected for Morocco especially after being so lucky in Europe.


Ten days ago we had sprinted out of Austria and into Switzerland sticking to main roads and low altitudes chased by a cold front and snow that hovered a day behind us. From Switzerland we ride for Arles in France close to the Mediterranean and better weather. Three countries in three days. We take the chance in Arles to visit the Roman Amphitheatre. One of the most complete and impressive surviving in the world. Day four brings country four as we cross the Col D'Ares at 1500m into Spain. Another 200m above us lies the snow. We descend to Barcelona and our first rest day, with an opportunity to visit the Gaudi and wander the streets rubbing shoulders with the ultra fashionable of Spain. The rest day is dry and clear and we begin to believe we have cheated the weather.


In land to Teruel and while it remains dry for us we are shocked to be riding away from Teruel with the bikes showing -5.5C. The temperatures stay below freezing for the first three hours of the day. Today we cross the Meridian going officially from East to West. In March next year the group will cross the equator in Ecuador and later in April cross the date line flying to Australia for Section 5. These are landmarks as we circumnavigae the globe.

After enjoying some spectacular riding in Spain we wend our way down through the Ronda to Algeciras and an uneventful ferry crossing to Ceuta. Ceuta remains a Spanish enclave and so we ride 3 miles to the border where with the aid of a, not so little, fixer we cross after a couple of hours of haggling. The haggling was due to one rider arriving without the requisite documents. This could have been the end of his trip at the very first proper border but fortunately it just ending up costing him a wad of Euros.

Our first stop in Africa is Chefchaouen, a beautiful blue washed town on the side of a hill with a great Medina and our first taste of Morocco. In the evening most of the group wander into the Medina from our riad and enjoy dinner on the roof top terrace of a local restaurant. And it is here that it starts raining. Now I don't just mean a light shower, I mean proper pelting down rain, and it stays for almost three days. The ride from Chefchoauen to Meknes was still memorable and enjoyable but it was certainly wet! Despite being just minutes walk from the Souk in Meknes, no-one can bring themselves to get wet again and so all stay in the hotel which was a very grand, enjoyable but slightly Fawlty Towers experience.


The following day presents the first big challenge of the trip. Roads and towns are flooding as the dry earth of Morocco cannot cope with now 48 hours of torrential rain. Our route takes us up into the mountains and includes dirt roads and at least one Oued – River to cross. When the route was ridden for research the weather was very different and the dry river beds presented no challenge. However what they will be like now we won't know until we get there. As we get out onto the roads the wind is howling and the rain is pouring down and sideways and sometimes up as well. Some riders decide with only 8 days done and 240 to go that caution is the better part of valor and stick to a more main road route. However even then they are confronted with a washed out bridge and closed road.

The riders who have stuck to the route find the mountain roads are, if anything, in a better state than the main roads down in the valleys, that is at least until they reach the Oued. There are two options to cross – One looks like a class 5 rapid and a canny local in an ancient truck waits to see if we are stupid enough to try it. When we don't he turns back. Ten miles further down the now muddy and slithery road we reach another chance to cross and this is more achievable. The water is only two feet deep but the current is very strong and the surface underneath unstable. Kevin crosses having walked it first and then the riders brave it one by one with Richard standing knee deep in the current to guide them. Each makes it safely across with no drops. Neither the local in the truck or even our own 4x4 support vehicle chance it and both go back the long way to the main road in a 70 mile detour.


The rest of the day is spent winding on mountain roads to Cascades d'Ozoud and a remote and simple Riad. An evening spent beside a roaring fire in true Moroccan surroundings makes every-one forget they were ever wet.


The next day we visit a SOS Children's Village outside Marrakesh The work SOS do throughout the world for under privileged children is fantastic. A percentage of the cost for each rider on Discover Our Earth has been donated to SOS and so it is great to go and see the work they are doing. For Kevin it is also a reminder of previous visits to SOS villages as it was his and Julia's chosen charity on the Guinness Trans Americas ride.


And so here we are in Marrakesh and the sun is shining! Hurrah! A day off here will not be enough to explore this fascinating and complex city but a day is all we have. Form here we keep heading south and into the desert.