Day 6 - Taroudannt to Inezgane (45 miles)

So, off we went to Inezgane, heading towards the coast. The road was flat and easy, sun was shining and the wind was behind us. The road going west is lined with Argan orchards left and right, so when we took a break, that's where we stopped.

The problem with the Argan tree, from a cyclist's perspective, is that the thorns get everywhere. The Argan tree that we stopped under blessed us with two smacks on the head and a puncture on each bike.

We decided to go to Inezgane for two reasons - 1. It's on the route to Tiznit and 2. It's not Agadir. The traffic got hectic where the main roads intersect as we got closer to the coast roads; cars, cyclists, trucks, wheelchairs, donkeys all weaving in, out and around the parked traffic. Despite all the varied forms of transport, Morocco isn't a bad country to cycle in. The drivers are pretty chaotic, but we didn't come across much aggression.

We didn't hold out much hope for a good time in Inezgane. It's a fairly random city, apparently built pretty much around the busy roads that lead in and out of it. This makes it busy, smelly and noisy. Our stop off point was the bus station where all the budget hotels are based. Our choice, as usual on this trip, was the cheapest option - in this case the Hotel Louz - 100 dirham per night for two in a small, but clean and tidy room overlooking the bus station and souk. The bikes were stored in a shower room on the ground floor.

Unpacked and refreshed, we went for a wander round Inezgane in the evening. Tourists conspicuous by their absence, you could say that Inezgane was authentically Moroccan. The souk is huge, the fruit and veg section enormous and the general variety of wares on sale impressive. We liked Inezgane - pretty much hassle free, very lively and lots to look at. Total contradiction of our first impressions.

---

Day 7 - Inezgane to Aglou Plage (60 miles)

We grabbed a coffee in the morning and headed off south on the main Tiznit road, guided through an early maze of roads by a local cyclist on a racing bike (quite a rare sight in Morocco).

The road to Tiznit is boring in the extreme. A fast gently undulating affair with loads of traffic all travelling at high speed. As is often the case in Morocco, cyclists have to take refuge off the main roads on the bit of hardcore that borders them. This can be an annoying business, with the drop onto the hardcore doing your rims no favours at all.

We eventually reached the turn-off for Massa and the Souss Massa country park. The peace and quiet was welcome, but the headwind wasn't. The terrain out here rolls over gentle hills with countless plants growing in nothing more than sand. This was the scene for the rest of the day's ride into Aglou Plage and the basic seafront campsite that we stayed on. 65 dirham is about a fiver, but it seemed steep in comparison to the hotels that we paid little more for. There were few choices for pitching the tent, since the majority of the site is given over to tarmac and camper vans.

Day 8 - Aglou Plage to Tiznit (10 miles)

A short ride to Tiznit on Day 8 and a relaxed afternoon eating pastries, drinking coffee and taking in the sights. Outside of the town walls, Tiznit is a modern looking town with a great patisserie on the road in from Aglou Plage. Within the walls, the pastries aren't quite as big, but the town is relaxed and friendly. Worth a mention is the Hotel des Touristes in the medina where we stayed. Very friendly and clean hotel with hot showers and very reasonable at 100 dirham for a double room.

---

---

Day 9 - Tiznit to Tafraoute (68 miles)

Tiznit

We set off at 10am on the road to Tafraoute, which was our first mistake of the day. This turned out to be hardest ride of the trip and one which called for a far earlier start.

The first 10 or so miles were flat, running across the plains, heading slowly to the foothills of the Anti-Atlas mountains. Again, a pleasant day and a leisurely ride. The 'lunar' landscape associated with the Anti-Atlas is nowhere to be seen in the foothills, just palms, lush vegetation and dried up riverbeds. Halfway through the afternoon we approached the Col du Kerdous, a 1200 metre pass in two stages. In our smugness, we thought we'd reached the top after the first stage and I looked around for the Hotel that sits at the peak. Realised pretty quickly that it wasn't there and the road carried on gently climbing. And then climbed some more.

The foothills of the Anti-Atlas

There's alot more traffic on this road than on the Tizi n Test, made up of local transit and European Campervans - the plush white motorhome type (of which there's supposed to be 130,000 in Morocco at any given time). Looking up at the Hotel on the pass, I could see one parked as we carried on the climb. It started raining.

We must have spent a good hour climbing the last stretch of the Col du Kerdous and when we arrived at the hotel, the campervan was still there. I pulled up and the French owner came over, gave me a round of applause and offered us a cup of coffee. It was the best cuppa I had on the whole of the holiday. Merci Boucoup Monsieur.

It was 4.30 by now, we had a maximum of 3 hours of daylight left and over 30 miles still to ride. According to the map, Tafraoute is only 200 metres lower in altitude than the Col du Kerdous. I figured that had to mean an up and down route and unfortunately I was right. We were feeling the weight of the panniers by now, it was still raining and the pass was fairly grim. The 'lunar' landscape of the Anti-Atlas had come into being, bleak and inhospitable, dotted with equally bleak and inhospitable villages. A kid in a village threatened to throw a bottle at us, which sort of summed up the second half of the day.

By 7.30pm we were riding in darkness and I was nervous. The head torches didn't show up potholes, just a few metres of the road ahead.
Traffic approaching and coming up from behind was hesitating, not used to seeing the high viz panniers and flashing tail lights. Eventually we reached Tahala, where we considered stopping, but it was small and didn't seem to offer a great deal in the way of hotels.

So, we pressed on. Five minutes later, a van came up behind Janyis and slowed right down. Instead of passing when the opportunity came, it carried on tailgating her. We were on an incline and travelling at no more than 5 miles per hour. After a couple more minutes of being tailgated, Janyis stopped and so did I. The van slowed some more, but then passed, the driver clocking both of us as he went. This, combined with the darkness, gave me the jitters and made me want to turn back to Tahala and find somewhere to stay, but Janyis wanted to press on to Tafraoute. I agreed to this only on the basis that, if there was anything sinister on the road ahead, we turn round and bolt back down the hill to Tahala. See how brave I am.

A mile or two later, nothing terrible had happened and I relaxed. The sky was clear and the stars were incredibly bright. The road started to drop gently and the lights of Tafraoute became visible in the distance. Phew.

---

Day 10 - Tafraoute

We stayed at the Hotel Redouane in the centre of Tafraoute. 80 dirham a night for a double room - not the best place we stayed in, but not quite the worst either. We decided to take a day off, principally because we were knackered.

Tafraoute is built in a basin in the Anti-Atlas. It's used as a base for trekkers and mountain bikers and consequently has quite a few tourists. We met a couple of Germans from Berlin and Adam from Krakow, all of whom were travelling round the country by bus and grand taxi. After trying both of these forms of transport later in our tour, I'm pleased we travelled on the bikes. We all met up in the evening in the Marrakesh Cafe for food. The veggie couscous was excellent. Much of the day was spent on the hotel roof terrace watching a painter and a plasterer working over the road. Janyis was particularly impressed by the speed of the painter. You can see the fruits of his labour below.