Nominally we’re in Marrakech, but in reality we’re in a camping ground right on the edge of the city which is kind of nice because it’s pretty quiet here (aside from the f*ing roosters who have no sense of occasion and were crowing at 0300, 0530, and ever since) but it also means that the nearest anything is quite a distance away and even sitting here under the white sunshade it’s 31 degrees!
Trying to smile, but ending up squinting because it’s so bright!
My cunning plan for getting my tent in the shade went pretty well but what I hadn’t accounted for was the bloody great flood light that got turned on as soon as it was dark and shining directly at me – in the end I moved a folding chair so that the back of it was between my face and the light.
The combination of rosters and the call to prayer had me awake earlier than I would have liked but I’d slept pretty well in between times so it wasn’t all bad. It even got cool enough over night that I had to upgrade from ‘on’ the sheet, to ‘under’ the sheet, to partially under my sleeping bag!
A number of riders have taken a taxi into the centre of Marrakech, but having been there previously I’ve opted for a quiet day (other than the roosters) at the campsite – it’s been rather pleasant writing up the blog for the last two days and generally taking things easy.
I’ve also ended up doing tech support for a number of riders who have been having issues getting the route files or maps onto their Garmin – a combination of missing maps or the wrong format files in the wrong places.
There’s also been a positive development in reuniting me with my passport – one of the medics, Tom, is going back to the UK this coming weekend to attend a wedding, so Adam only needs to post my passport to Hove in the UK, and Tom will bring it back for me the following week – a whole lot safer as a plan than trying to get it to rural Western Sahara!
The remainder of the day has passed with pleasant conversation, a couple of beers, some dinner, and a bit of shuffling things between bags – with a three day week, higher altitudes and cooler temperatures predicted some extra clothing is called for.
The plan for the week!
Lots of climbing to come, particularly tomorrow, as we get over the Atlas mountains – not exactly Silk Route altitudes, with the pass we go over (the highest of the tour) at 2092m, but given that we’re only at 450m here it’s still something of a ‘hill’ to contend with.
It’s significantly cooler this evening so I may even need to get in my sleeping bag – and on that note – I’m off to get myself into a position to do exactly that!
That pool didn’t seem to be getting enough use for my liking.
If there was only the one apricot it could be easily removed. Though knowing Moroccan food, I suspect there were additional nasties hidden in the bulk of the dish 😉
Excellent improvement in the selfie department. A squint and a smile is way better than your previous grumpy-looking efforts! And I love that you were doing tech support for one and all. I can’t imagine it…not one little bit lol.