March 26, 2023
Day 39: Chefchaouen to Tetouan
First View of the Mediterranean
Leaving the Chefchaouen Medina is a lot easier than entering it. The bikes have been stored in an empty hotel room downstairs and after loading up we only have to roll down a couple of stair steps to get to the road. It is pretty quiet in town as we roll down main street and find the road headed north. We lose about 300 meters altitude descending down into the valley, altitude we will have to regain before the final downhill to almost sea level in Tetouan.
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Either way, we enjoy the downhill, then start slowly back up. We pass a dam and reservoir where the road steepens, then up and up and up to a ridge. We get nice views into a wide valley with small villages plastered against the hillsides, green fields and olive trees. Behind all the craggy Rif Mountains.
The final long downhill into Tetouan is into a strengthening headwind. Our hotel is close to the Medina, in the center of town, which means climbing away from the main road. There are some steep sections that have to be walked. The Hotel Regina manager is very friendly, helps us get our gear up in the elevator and stores the bikes in a storage area in the basement. All good.
We are only a block away from a Medina gate, Patrick wanders in briefly to get something cold to drink. Later in the afternoon we go explore better. This is definitely not a tourist Medina. The smells are sometimes overwhelming: fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, meat, live and dead chickens. A table with half a dozen goat heads. And always that funky smell from the sewer grates.
We make our way across the Medina to the east end where there are some tanneries. As we get closer the locals show us the way. The tanneries are pretty dead and look like they have not been used for a while. Of course there still is plenty of leather goods for sale and they always have their very special Berber market going on. The guy that tries to sell us something backs off real quick when he finds our Patrick is Dutch and we are on bikes. Our reputation precedes us.
Tetouan is not a tourist town; So during Ramadan there are no open restaurants to be found. Not until after Iftar, the breaking of the fast at about 6:45. A canon shot lets us know when that happens, when we venture out for food the streets are empty, except for a few people scurrying to get home everybody has holed-up to eat. A half hour later the streets slowly get busier again. We had hoped to eat seafood, but the restaurant recommended does not open up. Instead, we join another dozen muzungus sitting at a street side restaurant. We are glad we were in two tourist towns at the beginning of Ramadan and don’t have to spend another month traveling in Morocco. Everything really shuts down here unlike other times when we were travelling in other countries during Ramadan.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 1,407 km (874 miles)
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