Epic Morocco- MTB Day 4 Part 3

Hi Guys,

So after riding 25 some odd miles on dirt road, single track, through many small town, just over that next hill, we take a left off the dirt road onto a even more remote looking dirt road and ride for another 3 miles losing a fair amount of elevation. Knowing we have to climb out of this place the next day, I enjoy the ride down. When the brochure said local, rustic, cultural housing, Charlie really meant it. We were emerged full on into the middle of a small village, in the middle of no-where. The kids of the town were walking back from school and we were the talk of the town to look at.

After unloading into the clay/straw/earthen structure, we gather on the roof to watch a nice sunset in the valley.

Once the kids saw us weird looking people on the roof of the house, we were the talk of the town and kids wanted to come look at us. Almost looked like we were the zoo animals...but not really

The Valley was very vast and awesome. It looked like it went on forever. It was a little sad in that the potential for opportunity for growth and prosperity was very small.


These kids were so cute looking over the fence at us trying to not get their picture taken. A good game followed.


These kids just got back from school. Very friendly.


There always seemed to be someone from the village randomly milling around when the kids were out to play. My favorite was the hooded robe they wore. Reminded me of the Sand People from Star Wars



These kids were really fun to watch.

The tower below had a speaker in it which would go off around 3:50 to make sure you woke up for the 0430 call to prayer. The problem is that it when it went, it scared the donkeys, which make all sorts of noise and wake up everything. Then the chicken went off...etc. I know know what Srek must have thought about donkey.


These kids also played the don't take a picture of me, but I want to still look at you game. It was fun.


We never saw a water source on our way in, so no idea where or how far he had to go for water.



The kids all played together and this was the first time I saw boys and girls playing together. Usually they were separated.

We think the boys were playing with some sort of transformer.

Something about watching guys cook food really interested these kids below them.


They stayed around for 2 hours while we were on the roof and while they made a fire and cooked food.

The rock formations of the area were very neat. Like any good little kids, the boys saw a rock and climbed up right to the top.



Here is a picture of the endless valley that we had the pleasure of viewing.



There were almost the same amount of teas as well and beers. By now, the 1/2 pot of sugar added to the tea was getting a bit much. I could feel my teeth starting to be eaten alive.

We were around 5500 feet for the night. That ridge behind us was the early morning climb. Only 3 miles out of the 45 scheduled for the day.

This was really funny. One of the Moms stood onto of the roof and yelled to her kids to come home for the evening. Some things are the same across countries and language.


These two guys were bringing their herds back in. Again, I loved the sand people uniforms.



Here was a very nice spread for our dinner. We sat on pillows on top of the Moroccan Rugs. We dubbed this place the "Hostage" house, but the accommodations were quite nice for the area we were in.



I promised to take a picture of the Bathroom. Yep, there is a hole, but it did come with dual food pads to stand on.

Our next day a 45 mile day, climb from 5500 to 7500, back down to 6000 up to 7800 feet, back down to ~4000 feet. Big day ahead, getting good sleep on a pad and a sleeping bag.