From Sevilla to Marrakesh (Gaspard)

Day 13 – From Zurich To Sevilla

Finally I was ready to go back on the bike! I had planned a schedule to fix my bike, protect my hand and start biking again slowly. As you can guess nothing went as planned. On the plane I met Afta, a teacher in Canada from afganistan. We exchanged during the flight about education and technologies in different countries. I really enjoy discussing with people from very different horizon.

My plane had four hours delay putting my trip to the bike shop and decathlon under pressure. As soon as I arrived to Sevilla, I went to the bike shop to do some changes on my bike to be more confortable and avoid future issues with my hand again. I added some accessories to change my position as well as protective foam and gloves.

Coming back to the hotel I had the nice surprise to be welcomed by free sangria Friday. This lead to a really nice evening with the people from the hotel.

After hearing about the cadiz carnaval finishing in two days I decided to modify my trip to arrive in Cadiz for the last day of festival.

Day 14 From Sevilla to El Cuervo de Sevilla

I left early to do a big day and arrive the following one in Cadiz. I was confident that I will find supermarkets and villages to buy food and water as it has been always the case so fr. Again I was wrong, for the first 70km of the day I was without food or water on dirt roads and a very strong sun.

When I realised that I would not find any village for a long time I started to ask cars passing by to give me some water – luckily this was very easy. I arrived in Lebrija at 3:30pm and ready to have a menu del dia and a lot of water to fuel me for the rest of my day.

Exausted after almost 90 km on dirt roads I decided to camp under a tree and continue the road to Cadiz the following day. Sleeping without a tent outside gave me a feeling of being powerfuless if something happens.

Day 15 Arriving in Cadiz

Unfortunately the night wasn’t long. I woke up at 2am with a giant hole in my air mattress! I was now sleeping on rocks. After a 30 min attempt to sleep and as the temperature were decent I decided to pack my stuff and travel to cadiz at night. The idea of a full day and night of festival in Cadiz kept me motivated despite my half closed eyes. I drove slowly under a beautiful sky the whole night.

Apart from being stoped by thee police for being on the highway and escorted out everything went fine. I arrived in Cadiz to watch the sunrise with the last people stil partying from last night.

When I arrived in Cadiz the hostal was closed -I guess nobody checks in at 8 am. Thus I went to visit the city before anybody gets up. It was beautiful to see Cadiz empty even though I later enjoyed the activity of the festival.

At 9 am the hostal opened, I went to have breakfast with some people I met. We then went to the day party in Cadiz. It looks like a mini street parade with people dressed up, music all over the place and the whole city partying. Similarly to a Swiss they burn a witch – we burn a snow man in Zurich- followed by fireworks and parties.

Day 16 From Cadiz to Barbate

After a “rest day” in Cadiz I had to do smaller distances in order to reach Tarifa on time and was more relax. I went along the coast through some amazing natural parks and along the sea cost. The nature colors and sea made that day amazing.

I was confident to have found the perfect place to sleep: in a natural park on a hill with a view on the ocean facing west to see the sunset. I barely had the time to send a whatsapp before being completely covered by mosquitos. I decided to head to the closest city -Barabte- to spend the night in a hostal.

Day 17 From Barbate to Tarifa

This was the last day of bike before meeting Javi in Marrakesh. I was so looking forward to meet him and my family in Marrakesh. I started the day by having a breakfast on the beach. The last part of Spain was great for having beautiful breaks along the beach.

I then followed google maps road which made my day very difficult. It took my through some completely floaded roads -third world countries roads- where I had to carry my bike and walk in the mud.

After that I got stuck behind four cows including the mother and two kids. I was afraid to scare the mum so I had to get off the bike and push it for 30 min till the road got larger and the cows let me go through. I was really surprised to see many horses and cows walking freely on roads with no barbwire fields.

I arrived in Tarifa and was stunned by the beauty of all the people kitesurfing, the beaches. I sat down with a book on the beach until sunset looking forward to meeting Javi and my family in a few days.

Day 18 From Tarifa to Tanger

After taking the ferry I was finally stepping foot in Morroco. My only plan for the day organize my journey for the next day to Marakesh with the bike. After going to the fancy bus company (CTM) and the train station that refused to take my bike, I finally found a local company that accepted me.

I spent the rest of the day with some people from the hostal visiting the city, chilling of the beach and drinking mint tea. We went to cafe Hafa, a very famous cafe where many artists use to come and enjoy the view. I would definitively recommend it.

Day 19 From Tanger to Marrakesh

Taking a local company was a mistake! I was on for an 11 hours bus ride with no toilets nor food. I read a whole book during the bus ride and arrived exausted to Marakesh. Javi was waiting for me there near the bus station with a huge beard, and brown face. The rest in the following post …