NYK—mag 0425
04. Northern Cities & Andalusian Echoes
Starting to bike again is tough; giving up even crosses our minds when it takes us a half day just to catch a bus to Meknes. We leave in the morning for the bus stop in Marrakech, only to find the bus leaves later in the day. We check the trains and go to the station, but the website had shown buses, not trains, so now we stand in front of the station with no clear option. A train to Meknes is available if the bikes are properly packed, but finding a last-minute solution for that is impossible. So, we head to a third place to catch another bus. All of this happens while biking through Marrakech’s heavy traffic where one moment of inattention could end the trip. The stress piles up, and after five hours on the bus, we finally reach Meknes at night.
The next morning we start biking slowly with the goal of reaching a small town where we can stop or pitch the tent. Until lunch everything goes smoothly; the sensations come back and it feels good to be in adventure mode again. Eating at a small roadside restaurant may not have been the best idea. The owner insists his meat stew is perfect for lunch. When the plate arrives, it is a stew of offal, with sheep stomach and liver in a sauce eaten with bread. Definitely not the best fuel for the effort ahead. The town we aimed for has no hostel, but locals direct us to the police station, which sends us to a gas station. This is where we spend the night among buses, drivers, chickens, and screaming peacocks. It is by far the worst night of the trip, but also one of the most unusual. In this country, expect nothing, because every day is a surprise. Why are there peacocks at a gas station? A worker shrugs and says, “Because it is stylish, no?” After a well-deserved shower, perched awkwardly over the toilets in front of the workshop, I close my eyes thinking of the Rif mountains waiting for us in the morning.
The Rif is a mountain range in the north of the country.
Everyone warned us to be careful and shared many prejudices, most of which quickly fade away. The mountains here are smaller than the Atlas but much steeper. People say the locals are crazy drivers who smoke hashish all the time. That may be true, but we never feel unsafe. The Rif region produces the most hashish in the world, and it is deeply woven into the culture. Stopping for mint tea at any time of day, the café is full of men in djellabas smoking through thin, long wooden pipes engraved with symbols.
Despite the difficulty of restarting on the bike, our days in the Rif offer a beautiful last glimpse of Morocco.
I feel we have completed our journey by seeing nearly every landscape the country offers. It is with satisfaction that, once in Tangier, I start to realize the trip is almost over. Setting that feeling aside, I try to enjoy Tangier to the fullest. Tomorrow Grégoire leaves, and I will have a day alone to explore the city.
Tangier’s medina, the old part of the city, is famously white, earning it the nickname Tangier the White. The city also sits at the mouth of the Strait of Gibraltar, with Spain visible across the water, which is why it is also called the Pearl of the Straits.
Tangier pulses with history and culture, its location making it a crossroads of empires. The Mediterranean Sea has been a place of exchange among some of the greatest powers, and the city has changed hands many times, finally showing strong Arab and Spanish influences. During the Al-Andalus era, Arabs ruled parts of Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492 A.D). Walking through the city, you can still feel the nostalgia of this golden age for them. By the names of places, restaurants, and shops. The Spanish presence left its own marks as well. This mix created a place rich in cultural expression, and one of the best musical examples is the album Encuentros, meaning Meeting or Gathering, by Juan Peña Lebrijano and the Orquesta Andalusi de Tanger. This album masterfully fuses Flamenco and Arabic rhythms. The songs alternate between Spanish and Arabic lyrics over instrumentals that draw the best from both cultures, inviting you to dive deep into their shared world. In Tangier, the connection between these cultures is impossible to miss.