Day 31: Midelt to Timahdite

March 18, 2023

Another good call

“It looks like a storm brewing in the mountains,” Patrick says as we ride out of town. “Not a good day to pick to camp out,” Rachel replies. At least that is the plan for today.

Midelt Province is known for Apple growing

Despite a huge neon sign on the roof across the street, that we don’t seem to be able to completely block-out with our curtains, we sleep very well. This is probably the most comfortable bed and comforter we have had so far in Morocco. We wake up early, as always, and carry our gear downstairs before sitting down in the restaurant for our breakfast. Just after eight we set-off.

There is a strong headwind right as we leave town, the road angles slightly up which makes the going slow. We plan to take this section easy to conserve energy for the final 16km or so climb to our destination. After an hour or two of cycling it becomes obvious we do not have the strength to ride this headwind, plus climb the pass today.

We stop at a restaurant and have a cup of coffee and consider our options.

The restaurant is plastered with stickers. Rachel leaves I bike Boise sticker.

First option, either way, is to get to Zaida, a good sized junction town that very likely has a grand taxi stand. We consider staying here and taking a taxi up the pass tomorrow since there are decent hotels here. There are plenty of pommes (apples) for sale, the town looks very interesting. But it is still only 11 o’clock, so option two, why not get up and over the pass today?

It only takes fifteen minutes to arrange another taxi. Things are well organized at the grand taxi stands, there is always somebody in charge of which taxi is the next to leave and rates are set. They don’t seem interested in putting us in a taxi with locals though, maybe because of our excess luggage. Typically they talk us into just buying all seats and leaving immediately. There always seems to be a guy who is ready to go at the right price. This time it is 200Dh for about 25km, a bit more that we expect, but negotiating does not seem to get any traction.

All right. We load up and are off. Our driver is a bit of a maniac, driving fast and overtaking everything in his way. He gets us to the top within a half hour. We load back up and set off down the hill in a freezing headwind. After a short steep section it levels off a bit and we have to pedal which warms us up. We meet a Welsh dreadlocked cyclist making his way up and we talk briefly.

The valley is barren on the north side. The south side which we drove up had big cedar trees, but not so much on this side. There are large open meadows and lots of sheep herders. On our way up we saw the potential camp spots we had identified on satellite photos, but they did not seem that great, plus we probably would have been discovered by the sheep herders.

Rachel’s handlebar had twisted a bit from the taxi roof. We stopped to adjust just as a sheepherder is taking his sheep up a hill. He asks if we have “an aspirin”. Rachel pulled out the medicine kit and gives him an Aleve. The sheepherder then asked for “water” and Patrick gives him his water bottle to drink, which he later poured out.

We stop to fix Rachel's handlebar as a sheepherder approaches

A bit later we stop for a food break, Rachel made sandwiches from the breakfast omelet and bread.

Down we go, into the wind. We pass a few small villages with lots of nesting storks. Our goal now is Timahdite, a small town with two hotels according to googlemaps. We find the first one and get a decent room for 200Dh. The street is lined with butchershops / BBQ places, we’ll have no issue finding dinner tonight.

After a rest, we go to one of the tajine places lining the street, with the meat hanging behind the grills. We explore a little of the town before retreating back to the room.

First place, Patrick asks for a menu. We want to see the prices.

Second place, we have a beef tanjine for two 50dh ($5) along with a green sauce that is spicy and a plate of white beans in a sauce.

Tomorrow to Azrou and meeting up with Audrey, a friend from Lori and Ilya, who stayed with us through warmshowers a few years back. Audrey runs Amalna Maroc, a women's coop.

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Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 1,211 km (752 miles)

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