HIGH ATLAS HIGHJINKS
<< previous page | next page >>
The road to Imilchil however is not for the fainthearted. Most participants prefer travel by camel or donkey, to the overcrowded cattle trucks which ply the route. Trucks with large open crates are packed with men, women and children, holding on amongst bulging sacks, scruffy goats and heavy fuel drums. We were travelling on our trusty 83 BMW R100, with a German couple riding two aging XT500.
Chewing grit in huge dust clouds, behind convoys of such juggernauts, we rode the treeless mountain passes, under dark blue skies. Rocks as big as your head were strewn along the gravel road and views of the golden Erg Chebbi sand dunes of the western Sahara, were occasionally visible as the road snaked and climbed higher into the mountains.
Impromptu petrol stations were set up to cater for the abnormal traffic flow. Forty-four gallon fuel drums were strategically placed along the 100km, two day drive. Moroccan attendants hand pumped fuel into large jugs or empty four litre oil containers for accurate measurements of the valuable liquid.
