14th day, april 29th 2023

Biougra – Marrakech

The evening and night were calm. After the last call to prayer, I went to bed. Today is a transfer day. I left my hotel after a light breakfast (at least the honey was very good) to join the A3 motorway, a few kilometres from Biougra, heading towards Marrakech. The vegetation is dry and sparse, no trees, just the occasional bush here and there. The motorway is in excellent condition and relatively quiet. I made good progress and took a refreshing break along the way. The temperature in Biougra was pleasant this morning but had climbed to 34°C by now.

I left the motorway and turned north towards Marrakech, where I refuelled. The El Ferdaous (https://g.co/kgs/fKCmGSC) campsite is located in the northern suburbs of the city. I found it easily thanks to my GPS. After registering, I discovered a vast campsite at my disposal, very large indeed! At first glance, like most places so far, the ground was mostly rocky, not ideal for pitching a tent. But riding around on the bike, I found a perfect spot under a large olive tree.

I took a few photos during the setup:

1. Laying out the groundsheet.

2. Unpacking the inner tent.

3. Assembling the poles and setting up the inner tent.

4. Putting on the outer sheet and done!

5. Securing everything with the pegs: my hotel is ready.

6. nflating my sleeping mat with an electric pump, no way I’m blowing it up by hand in 34°C heat!

7. Unpacking the sleeping bag, setting up the pillow and the lamp. My room is ready.

The campsite has a small shop where I bought some water and a packet of crisps, as breakfast was minimal and I was getting hungry. The shopkeeper told me there’s a shuttle from here to Marrakech city centre, I’ll take advantage of that tomorrow.

By chance, my friend Stefan from Cologne, whom I’ve ridden with in Scotland and Corsica, is finishing his holiday in Marrakech on Monday. We plan to spend the day together tomorrow.

Since arriving in Morocco, I’ve noticed many signs and building inscriptions are in Arabic, sometimes in French, but also in a script I’d never seen before: the Tifinagh (https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/tamazight.htm). alphabet. This is mainly used by Berber populations, including the Tuareg of North Africa. Its origins date back to the 7th century BC. The characters are really beautiful. It’s also one of Morocco’s official languages. Here are a few examples:

ⴱ ⵛ ⴷ ⴻ ⴼ ⴳ ⵀ ⵉ ⵊ ⴽ ⵍ ⵎ ⵏ ⵄ ⵃ ⵇ ⵔ ⵙ / ⵚ ⵜ ⵓ ⵖ ⵡ ⵅ ⵢ ⵣ

Today, I covered 285 km in 3 hours and 35 minutes.