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Morocco October 2015

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Day 11 - Mussy's gearbox was still causing concern so he and the Hungarians left the group to take the main road to Tata and get the truck checked over.

The remaining six headed into the foothills of the Anti Atlas taking a piste running parallel to the road. We all aimed to meet in Tata that night and regroup. This was another route I hadn't tried before and again turned out to be a pleasant change than the N12 Desert Highway.

We aimed for Icht for lunch but Icht is smaller in the real world than it is on a map so we found some handy trees for lunch. Not long after getting back on the road for the last run into Tata we received news that Garfieldus and Ray wouldn't be rejoining the group and where heading towards Marrakech :( Disappointing news as they are both nice guys and I was looking forward to getting to know them better on the rest of the trip.

Once we hit Tata we met up with Mussy Dobi and Mishi restocked supplies and had dinner. Tomorrows goal was Erg Cheggaga

23344826790_e3d8ec9758_c.jpgP1090194 Panorama 1 by Trackasylum, on Flickr

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Mussy's auto transmission was giving some issues but so had mine since Spain. Anything over 60 mph and it was making horrendous noises hence my refusal to go any further down that beach. I didn't fancy being stuck in that gloop with no hope of rescue.

I do miss it being warm and sunny all the time. That was nice. Even the stinky hot was nice. Shame to lose Gary and Ray but I can completely appreciate that they didn't want to do any more rock bashing with no spare. Stocko was nervous too having bust a tyre early on. I thought we'd find more tyre places that we did. Which was less than one. Fuel was never an issue but tyres were a bit scarce unless you went into a bigger town.
 
Day 12 - Todays plan was to head south from Tata then swing south across Lac Iriki to Erg Cheggaga and into the dunes.

We got off as planned and headed south for about 100km until we hit a nice big sand bank, no entry signs and a military post. The commander had a rather fetching shell suit but there was no way to continue on the planned route. We retreated a few km and I hastily replanned the route to continue off road rather than head back the way we came. The first bit was a nice piste, smooth fast surface and things were looking good until we rounded a corner to find another check point blocking the way.

Again no way to proceed despite the route we wanted to take only being about 1/2k past the check point!. The soldiers advised us there was an old Dakar piste we could take back to the tarmac. As te junction meant backtracking 15 km we headed off piste to find a away across country to the new route. The Dakar turned out to be a rocky hell before turning north towards the road along a river. Just as we entered pass through a ridge there was our third army checkpoint of the day :(. Initially it seemed that they wanted to turn us back the way we came or back into the area they didn't want us in:icon-rolleyes: instead of letting complete the last 5km to the road.

Eventually they were persuaded to let us through, now was a good time for a lunch stop. From here it was an unplanned tarmac section to Foum Zguid before picking up the piste to the dunes (and another army checkpoint). Despite the set backs we made good time, Lac Iriki was dry and much smoother than last year meaning we got to the dunes and found a nice camp site for the evening.

A good sunset in the dunes was something I really wanted from the trip and I wasn't disappointed. With a beer and chair I headed up to the top of the dunes to enjoy the view

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Mussy
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Lac Iriki
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Wild Camp
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Cracking shots Mark. But not got one of that bloke who walked through the middle of our camp at 07.00? who the f was he? Where was ho going, but where the hell did he come from?
 
Cracking shots Mark. But not got one of that bloke who walked through the middle of our camp at 07.00? who the f was he? Where was ho going, but where the hell did he come from?
Amazing place isn't it Chris. You can be literally in the middle of nowhere and someone will pop up from behind a dune or rock.
 
Amazing place isn't it Chris. You can be literally in the middle of nowhere and someone will pop up from behind a dune or rock.

We were in the Sahara wild camping when two soldiers (Mustapha & Mohammad) strolled in, they had been sent by their Commander to see what we were up to.
They pointed out a light on a hill in the distance which we hadn't noticed, it must have been a couple of miles away they said it was their fort, and this unsympathetic commander had made them walk it just to see what we were doing there.
They turned out to be a good couple of blokes, we got a party going on but they drank a lot of our beer and smoked a lot of our fags.
Me and the soldiers.JPG
 
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Day 13 - Up early to get some sunrise pics of the dunes and then we set of East toward Mhamid. Mussy announced he, Mishi and Dobi would split from the group today and head north to Zagora on their way back home, this was always part of the plan as Mark had to get home for work commitments. Still it was sad to see another great bunch leave the group.

I planned to head north from our camp site and then pick up the northern piste skirting round Erg Chegaga but possible took a different branch and we ended up driving a very sandy piste through the dunes. Given the time of day there was a lot of traffic heading east and the tour guides took their customers out of the desert camps back toward civilisation. We must have passed 30-40 vehicles. The tour guides are pretty obnoxious drivers often bullying their way through.

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Just past the big dunes we looped north to the Sacred Oasis and the Land Rover Skeleton, one of the RaidMarc 2015 Stickers was added to the collection on the old shell

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Rather than take the main piste into Mhamid we skirted north thus avoiding the inevitable touts of Mhamid and the subsequent hassle and rejoined the tarmac at Tagounite. We stopped for fuel and to say a goodbyes to Mussy and the lads. This was when our worst breakdown of the trip occurred, Byrons 80 refused to start, assuming a flat battery the jump leads came out but we still couldn't get it started.

After everyone having a go at suggesting what could be wrong, trying different batteries etc etc we were stumped. A helpful local in a 100 series came over and enquired if we needed a mechanic/help, being Morocco he knew a good mechanic (don't they always?) Intially the offers were declined but eventually we decided to tow Byrons truck the half mile into the workshop.

The mechanics was typical of mist small town facilities with scavenged spare parts galore and a mass of landrover engines lined up in the workshop:icon-eek:. Whilst the diagnosis was in progress some of the group relaxed in the nearby café and made use of the wifi whilst others took the opportunity to get supplies. Soon we had news that parts were on the way from Zagora to solve the mystery non starting issues.

It also transpired that the friendly local who offered help initially ran a camp site nearby. Time passed and in true Moroccan style the parts from Zagora took slightly longer to arrive than promised. The group effort of us and local mechanics had some success get the engine to start with bypassing several things with wires, good luck and witchcraft.

Over a drink in the café chatting to Pete we speculated on the impending and predictable way the day was progressing. Moroccan No1 had offered assistance and ran a camp site.............you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to see what was on the cards, the repairs would progress slowly until it was too late for us to get off to the planned wildcamp and instead we'd be staying at the previously mentioned camp site.

Sure enough the predictions came true and at about 18:00 we retreated to the camp site leaving Byron's 80 at the garage. Camp established, Chris and Gary broke out the Braai. The locals brought out the Mekhir (local Fig based spirit ranging from a wine to rocket fuel depending on the area) alcohol was exchanged and spirits improved.

During the day I'd noticed a knocking from the front of the 95 so whilst dinner was prepared the tools came out and we discovered an alarming amount of movement in my front offside wheel, suspecting a loose hub nut the search was on for a 34mm sockets, sods law was although we had enough tools between us to set up a well equipped LC repair business, no one had the right socket so it'd be off to the mechanics in the morning.

Chris and Gary did a stunning job cooking various pieces of dead animals ( the second occasion.........I forgot to mention the earlier one at the Butchers Camp:icon-rolleyes: Thanks Chaps). Meanwhile Moroccan No1 had brought his friend round for some after dinner music and jamming. Fed and lubricated with alcohol we settled in to a fantastic night with the locals jamming and singing.

Around 11pm we heard the pur of Toyotas finest 4.2 approaching and Byrons truck returned :D all fixed and a new battery in place. I forget the exact price of the work but it was reasonable cost wise and despite the fairly obvious tactics to get us to stay the night the day turned out to have a great ending and we turned in wondering what Day 14 would bring...................................
 
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It was a very curious fault and even the collective wisdom of the convoy couldn't sort it. We had jump leads all over the place and none of it made any difference. The batteries actually seemed fine. All there was, was a clicking. The local guys had every relay off and the starter which was in bots before Byron could say 'Mastercard'. Then eventually they jumped it with a wire directly to the starter. I knew it wasn't the starter to be fair. The 24v system is as we have said many times a complex (and unnecessary) set up. But oddly a new battery fixed it. Byron had a few no start episodes earlier in the trip which turned out to be a loose connection on the driver battery. Maybe something to do with that and the battery got cooked. Anyhoo, it ran like a dream after that. I has smashed off a bump stop on a particularly huge depression out in the rocks. I asked if they had one. Some jabbering on the phone later they replied "Here in 45 minutes" And.. it was.

The booze situation was odd given they were Muslims. We asked them about alcohol and praying too. "Don't believe everything that you read" was their reply as they polished off the last of my vodka. "We like to think of is as Islam-light"

Kamal's place was interesting It has a sand filled swimming pool and some less than 5 star toilets, but it was a neat evening all round. Certainly a highlight.

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It always seems the way, the memorable occasions are often those when things go wrong.

In the middle of a trying time, I often find myself saying or thinking "one day I'll look back on this and laugh about it..."
 
Day 14 - After saying our farewells to Kamal at the campsite we headed back into Tagounite so I could get my hub nut tightened up. Mechanic managed to tighten it slightly but a lot of force and a 3ft bar was needed to get anything extra on.

Over Coffee at the next door café, Chris, Gary and Byron announced that they would miss out the next section of piste and take the tarmac to Erfoud. Chris was also waiting the arrival of a new bump stop as mentioned above.

So Pete, George and I headed off into the desert again picking up one the classic southern pistes. This was my 3rd time on the first half but the area is beautiful so I was happy to be doing the route again. After checking in at an Army checkpoint we were off. The first sections is quite rocky as we ascended over some ridgelines and back
down into the huge crater on the East side. Had to squeeze through a couple of sections as a group of French 4x4's came the other way.

After the second Checkpoint the piste opens up into a lovely fast smooth section and lots of fun ensued as the 90, 80, 70 convoy put the hammer down a bit :)

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Admittedly we were somewhat more restrained on the speed than another group of 4x4s we passed!

As we approached Tafroute Sidi Ali a Moroccan came speeding towards us on a motorbike, stopped, watched us go past and then sped back past us towards the town. About 1/2km out of the village the biker ad a friend flagged us down

"You cannot go this way river too big!"
"Which River? Oued Rheris or Oued Ziz?"
"River too Big, Piste Ferme follow us"
"We don't need a guide, is it blocked at Taouz? at the Dakar Crossing"
"Yes Much Water"

"OK we're not going that way Bye"
"but you must come with us"

Gotta love the persistence and attempts to make a bit of cash but sometimes its predictable, After running this route previously I know the detours, side routes etc, guides we're definately not needed.

Anyway our planned route, missed the old Dakar crossing of the Oued Ziz and we headed off again. Turning north off the traditional route we headed up towards Gorge Mharech. As we were enjoying ourselves immensely a afternoon tea stop at Riad Nomad at the end of the gorge was a welcome break. One year I'll stop here for a night of luxury in the desert, this year it was just a few coffees.

View from Riad Nomad
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From here we headed across Oued Rheris and the feche feche dust it entails towards a POI in the sat nav that had intrigued me for some years.....the Lost City!

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Having found the Lost City, we felt we'd done our bit for the local infrastructure and decided we needed to be at Erg Chebbi for sunset. This section was new to me as last year I headed further north but turned out to be an interesting route again, with the scenery more savannah like than earlier in the day.

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The last 20km however and the piste was heavily rutted by trucks running out to some mines and I struggled a bit in the deep ruts, another inch taller tyres would have made all the difference. We hit Tarmac again at Taouz and headed north to the grand dunes of Erg Chebbi, arriving about 15minutes before sunset :)

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Whilst we were there watching the sun disappear behind the horizon, we decided to trial different sand recovery techniques
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Maxtrax won :)

Today had been hell of a day for the group, the route is possible in a day with an early start but much better with a wild camp, however we didn't start until gone 10am. Tired,, hungry but grinning like idiots we rolled into the campsite outside Erfoud a little after 20:00 for hot showers, BEER, food and BEER.
 
Forgot to mention that the days changes from the planned itinery meant we couldn't visit the Graves and rock paintings I'd planned or Fort Oufilafal and the slave mines. I'll save those for next time..........
 
Day 15 - A more leisurely day today starting with a trip into Erfoud for breakfast and some supplies. The day was 95% tarmac as we head North West to Tinerhir and the base of the Todra Gorge.

On route we stopped at Hanjorg Voth's desert sculptures for a bit of culture/art. Ibrahim the Guardian met us at the Golden Spiral for the full tour. Unfortunately access to the inside of the Stairway to Heaven wasn't possible as a tourist had fallen an hurt themselves inside :icon-rolleyes: I didn't take a lot of photos as again, I've visited a few times so have a lot from previous trips

Golden Spiral
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City of Orion
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Todra Palmerai
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Day 16 - The High Atlas

Leaving the campsite we headed into the jaws of the Todra Gorgeon our way to Tamtattouchte. From here we headed west on the infamous Gorge to Gorge route that links the Todra Gorge with the Dades Gorge, Reputably one of the toughest routes in Chris Scotts Morocco Overland book. The piste essentially follows a river between the 2 gorges and suffers a lot of damage in the spring when the snow on the High Atlas Melts. There are legendary trip tails from this route of bikes taking 15 hours to do the 25kms.

An advantage of Autumn Trips is that in theory there has been several months for routes to be cleared. As we headed into the valley we could see another group of 4x4' in the distance so there was some comfort that as long as we didn't catch them up the route was clear. Whilst this was to be the most technical of the days we did there really wasn't too much of a problem, a couple of careful sections around washouts and some scouting for routes where the obvious track disappeared.

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At the end of the Gorge to Gorge Piste we turned north onto the southern end of Route MH1 from Morocco Overland heading towards one of the highest passes in the High Atlas reaching 2912m. Compared to the last time I did this route back in 2013 there was a lot more traffic which was surprising, we also found workmen on the piste. The combination of the two caused some butt clenching moments as we squeezed past lorrys, excavators and graders on the side of the drop. GaryS had a scary moment squeezing past one of the wagons loaded with locals and I believe a winch was deployed to ensure he didn't end up at the bottom :icon-eek:

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Top of Tizi-N-Ouano 2912m
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We had planned a High Atlas wild camp for the night but a plea was submitted for somewhere with a toilet so again plans were changed and we headed to Imichil and the camp site on the shore of Lac Tislit. On the way we established why we had encountered so much traffic on the ascent, there was a large Moussem outside of Imichil, looked fantastic and I would have loved to have had a look around at the scenes straight out of Mad Max but it was getting on so we carried on to Imichil.

I've been up through Imichil several times now and always thought the campsite was derelict but on arrival we found it to be heaving, all the rooms were taken and just after we arrived a german group of 2 VW Syncro Campers and a Unimog Arrived - dwarfing Chris' 80!

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Lac Tislit (The Bride)
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Day 17 The High Atlas Part 2

Following the nights camping on the shores of Lac Tislet we headed back into Imichil for Fuel, the high altitude and long ascent had left me a little short. It was here that Gary and Chris left the group to head north on Tarmac.

The rest of us had plotted a revised route the night before to account for the unscheduled stop in Imichil following requests for a Toilet. Taking the main route north from Imichil we headed down a steep road into a valley before turning back into the High Atlas along a beautiful 'B' Road and through lots of nice little villages and proper High Atlas Berber life.

Coffee Stop
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We were somewhat surprised a little later to find the Moroccan Equivalent of the Transfagarasan Road heading down into a steep valley and hooking up with the planned route from the day.

If we'd taken the planned route we would have came along this valley
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You can't see the stunning road down to the bottom in my picture I'm afraid. Byron elected to stay at the top and get some photos of the rest of us driving down. I think this meant his descent was a little faster than the rest of us and not long after I reached the bottom Byron came on the radio to say his brakes had failed:icon-eek:.

Fortunately this was just overheating of the fluid as a result of a long descent in a heavy cruiser and after a short stop to cool down the brakes we working and we set off along what turned out to be the most stunning route of the trip. During my route planning I'd just picked this route out to link interesting areas together and hadn't really given it much thought.

The narrow piste followed the river valley at times clinging to sheer cliff faces and at others sneaking along the edge of the water. A very narrow piste, it was lucky that we met nothing but motorbikes and cyclists as there was nowhere for miles to pass other vehicles.

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Some sections were very narrow with low rock overhangs and to be honest I wondered if some of the taller vehicle would get through at all

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Byron picked up a small war wound after a startled goat dislodges rock higher up the cliff face.

Lunch Stop, Pete and George cool off in the river, shortly after joined by Byron and I
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At the end of this section we met another Unimog heading towards us so we stopped to let them know that the route would be impassable for such a large vehicle. The occupants turned out to be a nice English couple with huge overlanding experience across north Africa including trips into the Libyan Sahara. They had tried to do the route the way we had come but got turned back by some locals. We exchanged tales of Morocco and route advice for a while before we departed.

At this point the planned route headed deeper into the Atlas or we could take a shorter route to the planned campsite overlooking Barrage Bin El Ouidane. The gorge had been slower progress than expected and it was clear that if we took the planned route we wouldn't make the camp site that night. A proposal was also tabelled to go through the Middle Atlas and look for wild Barbary Macaques. So we took the short cut saving the rest of the planned route for another trip.

View of La Cathedrale, a popular rock climbing destination
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As we skirted around the Barrage the weather looked like serious rain was blowing in and the night before we'd received reports of bad weather and flooding in the North of Morocco. We got to the dam and headed to the waypoint for the campsite to find nothing but bare hillside. This took me by surprise as I', sure I'd looked up the campsite on the interwebs and seen pictures of campers parked up looking over the barrage but no I wasn't there. Pete was all for staying in the very posh 5* Hotel but in the end we stayed at a nice little camp site downstream of the dam itself
 
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