Ten Days in Morocco ~ Husky • Sertao • XR ~ Final part

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Parts One and Two here.
As two of the group are actors and Americans, from Tazenacht we take an excursion north to Gas Haven, a surviving film set from a 2006 remake of Wes Craven’s 1970s mutant hillbilly slasher The Hills Have Eyes. If nothing else it’s a great ride north through the Tizi n Bachkoum pass, chasing Andy on the Sertao.

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Southwest American roadhouse an hour out of Ouarzazate. Even that boulder by the sign is fibreglass and wire.

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Being an actor, Patrick knows a lot about about working behind bars.

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Outside, desiccated, severed limbs swing in the desert sun.

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There’s even a Wall of Death, but not the fairground one where a bloke rides round and round until he gets dizzy.

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Chubby-cheeked babies charred by a nuclear experiment that went tragically wrong. Or something like that.

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Lunch in Agdz – pronounced like ‘Agadez’ in Niger.

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Rob takes a swing on the Husky.

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Mustapha leads us to a viewpoint over Agdz palmerie with the Draa river in there somewhere. We’re riding up that hill tomorrow.

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We arrive at the lovely Ksar Jenna on Nekob westside. We’re spending two nights here.

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Night falls over Nekob.

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Inside, following another fine feast, the Kindles glow.

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Next day Rob, Andy and I take a ride up MH14 ‘Sarhro West’ which I tried last year on the BMW 650 twin.

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Patrick is doing his own thing today on the Sertao and Andy snatched his XR250 before I could.

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We stop for a tea and snack at the last dwelling up the valley. Hassan sits with young Ahmed in his woolly hoodie.

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At the summit junction, KM46, I invoke the droite d’accompagnateur and depose Andy from the XR250.

mk3-35Undaunted, Andy hurtles off into the afternoon sun on the TR650, following an untried Olaf track which descends to the N9/N12 near the Draa river.

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Once it drops off the plateau this piste proves to be as spectacular and exposed as I imagined. Morocco at its best.

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Back on the N12 road a short distance out of Nekob, another palm-ringed kasbah shimmers in the crepuscular glow.

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And another lavish breakfast at Ksar Jenna.

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Today we’re moving on, off up the well-known 112-km piste over Jebel Sarhro to Tinerhir; MH4.

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Just a week on a dirt bike and Patrick already has his arse-end aflame.

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A rare shot of me on a motorcycle. I’m trying out the Sertao, but on the piste its characteristics are distinctly canine compared to the Terra. Nice engine but feels 20kg heavier.

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This was all the ‘camping’ we could manage.

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A coke stop near the pass.

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Up past Iknioun the track becomes a wide and fast motorway and I blast along on the Husky in top gear for a while. But the classic piste (MH4) is now in the shadow of the amazing Sarhro West piste we did yesterday.

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We haul 100km over to Chez Moha at Ait Youb hamlet in the High Atlas. A lovely spot all made of mayd and straw, but a bit chilly compared to what we’re used to.

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Maybe better in the spring when I was here last time. Even then, we enjoy a fabulous cous-cous feast huddled by an electric heater.

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Next day a cool morning but I enjoy a fantastic burn up down the Todra Gorge on the Husky, fix a quick nail puncture then we have a lavish grill in Tinerhir. A hundred miles down the road we check into the Vallee hotel in Ouarzazate southside. A little past it prime, but they have wifi and heating and beer and yet more great food.

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Our room boasts some rather creepy psycho-erotic art. The longer you look at it, the more disturbing it gets. Or perhaps it’s just depicting the desecration of our Mother Earth. Either way, I do believe ‘Salah 07’ might be in dire need of some female company.

Next day, yet more brake warming, bend swinging action over the Tizi n Tichka pass back to Marrakech and a plane home.

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So there we have it. A great group and a fab time buzzing around Morocco over 10 days enjoying a little bit of everything: cosy lodgings, amazing views, delicious fresh food, all linked by great blacktop and piste. I’ll offer something similar as a tour next November 2014 when the weather seems just right. Have a look at the Tours page around mid-December.

1 thought on “Ten Days in Morocco ~ Husky • Sertao • XR ~ Final part

  1. Pingback: Ten Days in Morocco ~ Husky • Sertao • XR ~ 2/3 | Sahara Overland

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