One week of the bike (traveling)#

Published by Borja Lopez Rio on 2023-04-09 00:00:00

I’ve been off the bike for one week.

Me and Dolo had a trip to Morocco scheduled for the 31st of March with another couple, very good friends of us. It all started months ago, when having some drinks on a terrace, Pili told us about the idea of doing an adventure trip without the kids (they have 2 kids too). We totally jumped into it and soon things were arranged.

So, one week ago we drove all the way from Lugo to Porto (in Portugal) and from there we took a flight to Marrakech, to spend one week in the north of Africa (first time for me visiting this continent).

We were not alone there, we met a local guide (Said) and 8 more people from Spain. The plan was to get there with a backpack, a sleeping bag and a few clothes only.

It was quite the adventure indeed, spending some time first in Marrakech and then crossing the Big Atlas Mountains and going into the Desert of Merzouga, where we met a nomad family and slept in their camp, visited small villages learning a bit more of their culture and spent one night under the stars (and a sand storm) in the middle of the desert.

I’ve to admit, I had such a good time that I only thought about cycling a couple of times (in the Atlas… so many beautiful roads there… ;-D).

A sneaky road in the Dadès Gorges, coming all the way up from the bottom to the place where the photo was taken. The road tarmac looks dark blue, in contrast with the light blue of the sky and the vivid red/brown of the mountains on both sides A selfie of myself, wearing a Litham with tuareg colors (indigo-blue) and sunglasses, under a blue sky, with the desert behind me. A picture of another sneaky road, in the Big Atlas, going up in twisted turns on some arid area without any trees. The sky is a dark-to-light-blue gradient. A village by a road in the Big Atlas. The mountains and hills are all red colored and the houses are also the same color, it takes a moment to distinguish them from the mountains themselves. The sky is a vivid blue without any trace of clouds. There is a small stoney road on the right side of the photo The sun setting behind one of the Haimas in the berever nomad family camp The sunset in a flat area near Merzouga desert, the sun is setting behind the mountains of the small Atlas, there is a skinny tree on the right side of the photo The sand dunes of Merzouga desert, with the sun setting in the middle of the picture and dolo sitting on a quad on the right side of the photo. The sand looks a bright orange, the sky is a mix of white and grey The sand dunes of Merzouga desert, with the sun setting in the middle of the picture. The sand looks a bright orange, the sky is a mix of white and grey