302 To Algeceries and into Morocco

30th August 2018  Miles Today 181. Total miles  929
Our intention today was to get to Morocco and stay in a hotel in a place called Asillah. It didn't happen.
Firstly, I underestimated the distance to Algiceries, the port of embarkation. It turned out to be 181 miles (so far - a few more to go) and I did not realise how long it would take to get to the port so we were rushing. Secondly, when we got near Benalmadena (just South of Marbella) I noticed that Wallace was struggling with the hills and then noticed that the throttle would not open more that about 1/4. Oops.
I pulled off the motorway and started to strip the throttle apart and then take the tank off to see what the problem was. I could not find the problem anywhere and by now we were getting late so we decided that we would have to get the ferry the next day. As such, Karen cancelled the hotel booking.
I was working away on Wallace and a Spanish Gent named Manuel pulled up alongside us on a BMW GSA with his small son on the back. He spoke good English and just dived in to help us with phone calls to nearby mechanics and a Yamaha shop. After about an hour of messing about, and not actually finding out what the problem was, we had Wallace up and running good as new. Before departing, Manuel gave us his phone number in case we had any more problems and also the number of a friend of his in Morocco should we need one there.

The scenery was improving. We had clearly left the flat desert and were now back in the mountains. It was much more enjoyable.

 
After setting off again we searched for a place to spend the night. We found a truckers hostel and in desperation took it. It turned to be a hotel by any other name, just not as grand and it had en-suite shower etc. We did some more washing and I hung my new bright dayglo orange pants on the balcony for all to see. I actually do have class but not much. Karen just hung her head in shame. She is so proud of me.
We had a bit of a drama with Septic (the laptop computer we bought in America), we had just backed up all our photos onto a separate hard drive and the thing just packed up when the SD chip was plugged in to the side if it. It just shut down and the only option it gave us was to reload Windows all over again. In doing so it deleted all my programs. Karen advised me to get a new one before we left but know it all Ray decided he could get it working OK. Prat.

We maxed out on snacks and fell into bed.

31st August 2018  Miles today 64  Total Miles 993
We arose fairly early for us and thought about going into Gibraltar to replace this useless laptop. Sadly, when we set off we realised that we had already gone past the turn off so binned the idea and besides, this bloody thing is working again - just.

We rode into the port of Algiceries and after a few circuits of the place and swatting numerous 'helpers' away we found the ticket office. We parked Wallace up and Karen stayed to look after him whist I went in, jacket and helmet still on (chin flip up), to buy a ferry ticket.  I bought the ticket and was advised that the boat was already letting vehicles through to the holding area. We queued up with the other cars and when we got to the check in desk, there was clearly a problem. Despite my asking for a bike ticket, he had erroneously put Wallace down as a trailer that we found out later was called a 'remolque' in Spanish. My use of the universal word 'idiot' had the kiosk staff laughing.

Bugger. After some creative (i.e. wrong way) maneuvering we got back to the ticket office and the guys jaw dropped when I told him what he had done. To be fair, he was extremely apologetic and reissued the ticket with a small refund.

Back to the check in desk and straight to the front - everyone else had gone through. We then waited a short while and were ushered first onto the boat. When on board, we completed the immigration formalities with a makeshift desk and a Moroccan Immigration officer. Efficient - too efficient for the UK to use!

The Spanish are a bit nervous about their immigration at the moment. In the past few weeks aside from letting a stranded boatload in that Italy refused, they have been beach invaded with large inflatables several times in the past couple of weeks. You will not hear about this in the main stream media - too sensitive. Also they had a mini riot and further invasion at their small enclave on the North Moroccan coast at Cueta.

This was the queue of cars that had just got off the ferry to enter Spain.They are being careful at the moment.

Wallace being strapped down. Billy no mates today.

Gibraltar disappearing in the background.

After about an hour we were in Africa. It was Karens first visit and mine this corner of it. She was a bit apprehensive but she kept her usual cool exterior. Once of the boat, we had to book Wallace in through customs, use a cash point for some local currency and then pay about £76 for a months insurance.

The queue for cars to get onto the ferry at Tangiers went on for miles and the tempers were fraying with the sound of blaring horns going off like Mexican waves in the traffic queue.

The queue at the port where we got our insurance...and...

....  a couple of miles later. I am glad I was not in it.

We were then off on the mad Moroccan roads. It was a bit of a learning curve but we made it onto the motorway OK and set off for Asillah, where we were supposed to be yesterday.
Then we had a problem. As we entered Asillah the Sat Nav shut down. I assumed we had gone over a bump and dialoged it a bit so I turned it back on and all was fine for a few minutes and then the same thing happened again. It was not too much of a problem as we were just riding round looking for a hotel.
We found a great hotel just by the beach and with a pool. Yeehaaa.

Approaching Asillah.

The view from our balcony. With beer in hand.

We poured ourselves out of our biker gear, showered and went out to eat. The place is a holiday resort, mainly for the locals and, as is true to form in this part of the world, they come out at night when it is cooler.

I love the western sunsets

Bad photo of 'up market' taxi.

The boss on the promenade. Just about everyone was selling some sort of food.

There was even a mini fair on the front.

It was then a walk back to the hotel and off to bed.

One thing we have noticed about these people is that they are almost all very happy go lucky and extremely friendly.