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Back from Morocco!

I got back yesterday from the charity hitchhike to Morocco, and as promised, here I'll write up what I got up to, and post plenty of photos, so that those of you kind enough to donate can see what you've helped me take part in.

I've been away for twelve days, the hitchhike itself took four days, three lorries, and about 2,900km, taking a neat diversion via Belgium and Luxembourg. Once in Morocco we stayed with a family, getting to experience the real Morocco, which was both unique and amazing. We also visited Fez, an intact medieval city, before leaving yesterday.

I took plenty of photos, as did my hitch partner Naomi, so what I'll do is give an account using my photos, then edit it and repost once Naomi gets back with her photos, as she is currently in London with friends. Watch this space.

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Reply 1

white_haired_wizard

Carl

'partner Naomi' eh :wink:

Have you got any pictures of 'Naomi'?? :wink:

Reply 2

Robcampo

ouh, glad ya had a good time!! cant wait to see the pics!!

Reply 3

FoeGeddaBowDeet

I could swear i've seen you posting in the HOC...lol.
Are you going to be putting photos/stories in here?

Reply 4

Carl

We left Cardiff on Monday 2nd April: our mission was simple, make it to Marrakech by 12th April, to get the flight back. I was travelling with Naomi, with whom I study French here at Cardiff. In terms of itinerary, I wanted to stop at Bordeaux to visit my friends, and she wanted to stop near Malaga to visit a friend too.

The UK

We set out from Cardiff Gate services, on the M4, where we had been dropped by some of Naomi's friends. This was the longest wait for a ride (which was greatly disheartening to Naomi, who'd not hitch-hiked before). Nai had opted for the modern whiteboard sign; me, pen and paper signage.

Naomi and I at Cardiff Gate services

It turned out there wasn't a lot of traffic at this services, and most traffic from the nearby business park was local. Additionally, there wasn't anywhere to stop on the motorway roundabout. The garage stopped us politely asking drivers after about five minutes. We eventually retreated to the motorway roundabout, where we got picked up at about 3.30pm, by a lovely lady called Liz. Liz didn't have any common sense, and stopped her car in the middle of the roundabout, so we threw our bags in the boot and jumped in. Liz wasn't in a hurry though, so she rearranged her bag and put on her seatbelt, and turned to introduce herself to us. This introduction was interrupted by a screech of tyres and a loud horn; a truck on the roundabout missed us by inches. I think then it dawned on Liz that is was about time we moved off, so move off we did.

Liz worked for a charity, and had been giving a presentation at the nearby business park, and was going home to Devon. She had hitchhiked Europe in the seventies as a student, and so was only too happy to chat away. Nai tried to rewrite her whiteboard sign, only to find that she'd used permanent marker, and it wouldn't budge. Amateur mistake! When Liz dropped us at Magor services, by the Severn crossing and only 16 miles away, Nai forgot her whiteboard in the car anyway. So far, so good.

Anyway, from Magor things got better. Three cars stopped for us in quick succession, although it seems that people can't read. My sign read M4 (E), but that didn't stop the first two cars asking us if we were going to Swansea. When the third car, driven by a bloke with a Swansea accent, pulled over, we wondered if they put stupid pills in the coffee at these services. Turns out, however, that the driver in question, Mervyn, was a squaddie from Swansea, but going to base in Cirencester. He could, therefore, run us to Leigh Delamere services, near Swindon. Again, it wasn't far, but a step in the right direction, nonetheless. This guy had seen four tours of duty in Iraq, was just back off his fourth and was going back to base to return to training. We soon arrived at Leigh Delamere, and so he wished us luck and dropped us there.

I was hungry, so went for a sandwich, and as I came back across the car park, Nai had been talking to a truck driver, Matthias, who was going to Stuttgart. He had a huge Volvo truck :biggrin:

, and Matthias offered to run us to Calais; we jumped at the chance. We waited for Matthias to finish his break, and then set off again. However, as we left the services, he got a call. One of his colleagues had broken down in nearby Chippenham, and we had to go andn rescue them.

Chippenham gave me a chance to take my first pictures! The truck of Matthias' colleague had a broken tyre, but his load was more urgent, so we swapped trailers, and set off again.

Matthias' truck

Naomi

Me and Matthias' truck

Matthias turned out to be very funny, his English was a bit rubbish but that made his jokes even funnier. He spoke fluent Spanish, so he spoke more with Naomi, and I took a back seat on the conversation, as I do not speak Spanish. We made good progress for Dover, I think getting there non-stop by about midnight. Matthias wasn't bothered by his tachometer, something which proved to be a bane of lorry travel, as it limits the time a driver can spend at the wheel. They have to break every three hours, can only drive 9 hours a day, and must get nine hours rest overnight. However, I think Matthias had two cards for his unit, and so could swap them over.

Matthias proved to be quite adept at pulling funny faces

As we approached Dover, Matthias suggested we go with him as far as Luxembourg. I was a bit puzzled, as it's certainly out of the way as far as the ideal route goes, but it being late we weren't in a position to change lorries, and Matthias was a pleasure to travel with, we decided to stay with him. Apparently at Luxembourg lots of lorries stop on the way to Spain, so it would be the best place to go. That night we took the ferry from Dover to Calais, and at Calais eventually found a place to stop (many, many lorries stop there, and so finding a place to park a big lorry is a nightmare). Having only one bunk, Matthias let us stow away in his trailer, sleeping on top of blocks of rubber compound he was carrying. It wasn't the most comfortable night, but we slept, occasionally woken by other passing trucks beeping, or the wind on the side of the trailer. Matthias woke us at 10am the next morning.

Reply 5

L i b

Carl

We also visited Fez...

Before reading on, I thought of That 70s Show. It was an amusing image.

Reply 6

nbnelson

interesting, Pics more~~~

Reply 7

Leigh

An interesting read, look forward to reading the rest.

Reply 8

Carl

There are more pics further down, especially of Morocco. Nai was more snap happy than me, so there'll be more once she's back with her camera.

Reply 9

Carl

France, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain

We set back off the next day, defying all common sense and heading east, into Belgium. Matthias explained that he wants to get home today, so he can spend Easter with his friends in Stuttgart, and so was swapping tachometer cards so he could get home with as little delay as possible. I was already getting the impression that being a truck driver must be a boring and lonely job. Near Charleroi we called the charity, to update them on where we are; a requirement of taking part. I informed them that we were in Belgium, heading east, and the confused woman asked: "hold on, you're heading for Morocco, not Prague, aren't you?". I assured her we knew what we were doing, and we powered on. We stopped for brunch and a shower just past Charleroi, then continued south to Luxembourg. I was amazed at how slow lorry travel is. Luckily Matthias was good company, and we arrived in Luxembourg just after 5:30pm.

Luxembourg was our best stop of the trip. We descended from the truck, and presented Matthias with a bottle of rum we got him on the ferry as a thankyou gift (he had disclosed that is partial to Bacardi and cola). As promised, the services were packed with lorries, and as Matthias' truck was blocking the way, he had to make a quick departure. Nai and I went in for a coffee, and approached a trucker in the café. A Spaniard, by the name of Angel, he was heading for Tarragona, and was more than happy to take us. I was a bit put out, bored of having a driver who didn't speak English or French, but we departed with him. We were probably at these services all of five minutes. Nai sat up front and chatted, I capitalized on the moment to grab some sleep. Angel wasn't very interesting anyway, being a Catholic he was looking forward to his weekend off, but other than that I don't really remember much from being in the truck with him. We had dinner that evening at a motorway services, the only time I really spoke to Angel in very broken Spanish, having picked up a few phrases listening to him and Nai speak in the truck.

We spent the night south of Lyon, possibly my worst night's sleep all week. Again, there was no room to sleep in the cab, but this time not in the trailer either, so in the blowing rain I pitched my tent. I'd neglected to bring a coat (I was going to the desert FFS :biggrin:

), so I did so in my shorts and t-shirt. Once inside the tent, it persistantly ruffled because of the wind, and my sleeping bag wouldn't zip up, so I was pretty cold. Before leaving in the morning, I made sure to get a coat from the garage, as well as some flip-flops for in Morocco. I think the garage woman was confused as to why I was buying both these items at the same time. Anyway, at about midday we set off again for Spain, stopping only to get a McDonalds breakfast, and arrived in La Jonquera, just across the Spanish border from France, at about 5:30pm. This is where Angel dropped us off, saying that if we didn't find a ride within an hour we could go back to him and he'd run us further along. We waved goodbye, and wandered off into the lorry park/cowboy town that is La Jonquera.

Reply 10

Mrs_F

Welcome back.
It's like reading your diary! Very informative. :biggrin:

Reply 11

gaijin

Did you get my hashish?

Reply 12

dh00001

i told you not to forget your coat as well ;no; :rolleyes:

glad you enjoyed it :smile:

Reply 13

dpali

My boyfriend's brother is currently in Morocco doing the same thing. Didn't realise there were others doing it too! I'm surprised at successful the hitchhiking appears to have been. I wouldn't pick up hitchhikers, for sure!

Reply 14

Leigh

dpali

I was also surprised. When I first heard about hitching to Morocco, I thought it'd be near impossible, and only a few would succeed, but it doesn't sound too bad.

I'm curious Carl, how much did it cost you in total to get from England to Morocco in four days, and how much do you think the fact that you were doing it for charity helped? Could, for instance, someone just hitch that sort of distance for travel if it wasn't for a good cause, do you think?

Reply 15

Carl

La Jonquera

So it's Wednesday evening, and we've made done 1,833km in 48 hours, leaving us in La Jonquera, a frontier town in every sense of the phrase. It's primarily a stop off for trucks and truckers to refuel, diesel for the trucks, and food for the drivers. It's also full of shops selling electrics, booze and cigarettes, as the French come here to take advantage of the cheaper prices. It's not pretty, nor hospitable, the sky is grey, the wind cold (we're high in the Pyrenées), and it smells of diesel.

Nai and I tour the truck park where we're dropped off, but all of the truckers are heading north back into France. No surprise: Angel's dropped us on the wrong side of the motorway. Realising this we dash across the carriageway to the other side. Again, looking around the trucks everyone, is either sleeping or going the other way. We dive into a café and get chatting to the staff and several other truckers, eventually running into some Moroccans. They are older than most of the other drivers, sat drinking coffee and chatting in Arabic. We chat with them and engage the one who speaks French. They are leaving at midnight, a convoy of three lorries heading for Morocco, and we're welcome to tag along in the truck with the French speaker. Nai and I want to tour the supermarkets to get some alcohol and a meal, so we agree to meet back in the café at midnight, and head off. We have six hours to fill.

Nai and I head across the truck park to a supermarket and peruse the aisles, Nai buys some Franjelico at a stupidly low price, and we buy dinner, consisting of cheese, chorizo, and tomato baguettes, as well as several cans of Estrella Damm, my favourite Spanish beer. We take a seat in the foyer of the supermarket complex, and make baguettes and tuck into the beer. With our bags we look a bit homeless, and everyone stares, but it doesn't matter, because we're having fun. I hadn't travelled with Nai before, but it was clear that everything was working out well, we were getting on fine.

Whilst we are eating we notice a driver come and go with a beer in his hand; he's noticeably drunk. After several minutes he clocks us and comes over, sitting down without invitation. Loudly, he greets us: "Buenas dias, como estas". Nai tries to bat him off, mumbling "No hablo espanol", but he's better than that: "are you Inglish?". I think he's funny, so I introduce us, and he introduces himself, mixing Spanish, English and German. He's Ulli, he's German, and apparently his truck has been broken down for three days, his radiator has gone and he's waiting for a replacement part, leaving him stranded.

Nai and Ulli

Ulli and I

Anyway, we keep chatting, and explain that we're waiting for some Moroccans to take us onward. Ulli doesn't like Moroccans. "No, you stay in my truck, and I'll stay with a friend". We say it's a very kind offer, but no thanks. We already have plans. "No, no, no, no, you stay in my truck, I go somewhere else. You can do what you want and I'll leave you alone". Nai and I aren't a couple and Nai has a boyfriend, so she refuses gently, leaving Ulli confounded. "What's the problem? You can have SEX!!!". He yells it out, and I think everyone in the foyer looked at us, giving us a sudden, inexplicable urge to leave. We head back to the other café, but minutes later Ulli wanders in. "There you are!" he exclaims from across the room, before sitting with us. He watches the football quietly while we chat with the Bulgarians sat on the same table. After the match Ulli turns to all of us, to inform us that he "****ing hates Eastern Europeans", but we apologise to the Bulgarians on his behalf, and upon seeing this Ulli wanders off. Anyway, being Easter they show the Passion of the Christ on TV. Midnight passes, and no sign of the Moroccans in the café. I go to check on my phone, which I'd left plugged in by the bar just before midnight, somewhat predicatably it had gone. Evidently when I plugged it in the alcohol from all the lager we'd drunk had stopped me thinking that in such a cowboy town my phone will inevitably walk. Half-twelve, and it's clear the Moroccan's won't show, so we head back out, me missing one phone, to find another ride. The last thing we want is to be stuck overnight at La Jonquera, as it's too cold, windy, and damned unsafe to camp, and we don't want to pay for a hotel.

We head immediately for several Moroccan trucks that had been parked in one corner of the truck park. All have their curtains closed, although one has left it's lights on, so we knock on the door, but no response. We turn, and are met by a young man with a friendly face. We ask him if he's Moroccan, he replies in the affirmative. We explain what has happened; he doesn't know the Moroccans we met before, but says that we can go on with him. We climb into his truck, and he explains that he's going to get a few hours sleep, but we'll be off at four am. Great, I think, more time in La Jonquera... His name is Tarik, he's heading, like us, for Algeciras for the ferry. Even better, his cab has two bunks, meaning for once we can stay in the warmth of the cab, rather than the trailer or tent. He takes the top, and Nai and I top-and-tail in the bottom. Kinda drunk, and very tired after the poor night's sleep in Lyon, we both doze off very quickly. When I wake it's half five, and we're most of the way around Barcelona, and the sun is rising. Nai is already up and chatting away. Even though it's early, Tarik is animated and lively. After the longer than planned stop in La Jonquera, things are looking up.

Reply 16

dpali

How exciting! It's certainly better than going into the library to revise everyday :p:

Reply 17

Carl

gaijin: no hashish dude, sorry ;no;

dh00001: I only had a big, luxury wooly coat. No way was I taking that. The one I got at Lyon services is nice and waterproof, but rolls up small and light, definitely a good buy.

dpali: about 900 students are hitchhiking to Morocco this year, and about the same again to Prague. You can find out more here.

Leigh

Leigh: as far as I'm aware, everyone will have made it one way or another. On the boat to Morocco there were several other groups who were on the hitch, however, only one other group besides ours had hitched all the way. I'll explain when I get that far.

In terms of costs; we wouldn't have paid a penny for transport had we not stopped to visit a friend overnight in Benhavis, near Malaga. We got a lift to Cardiff Gate services, then hitched two cars, and three lorries, the third of which would have run us right to the ferry port in Algeciras. We didn't pay a penny for any of that. We got onto Dover-Calais ferry for free, because drivers pay per car, not per passenger. Therefore it's free as long as you don't go on foot. The ferry from Tarifa to Tangier was 28€, including free bus from Algeciras to Tarifa. Sleeping in trucks, truck cabs, and erecting a tent in a service area is all free.

This meant that all other costs were optional. We bought Matthias the rum because he'd been really funny and a nice guy. We didn't get Angel a gift because we didn't know what to get, and we didn't get Tarik anything because he wouldn't let us. We paid for food, which was a few €s a day. In terms of costs we incurred above that, all were avoidable. We didn't have to buy Matthias the rum. We paid 30€ for a taxi from Benhavis motorway services to Benhavis, and 3,40€ for a bus from Estepona (near Benhavis) to Algeciras port. We hitched from Benhavis to Estepona, incidentally.

After that, you can spend what you want once in Morocco, I think I spent less than 100€ all week, it's certainly very cheap there, and my flight back to the UK cost £100.

As for whether you go for charity, or your own pleasure, it really doesn't matter. We didn't explain to anyone that it was for charity until we were in the vehicle and moving, certainly at the roadside you don't have time to do so. I'm considering hitching to Istanbul in the summer, and that'll be off my own back rather than for charity. At the same time, it's nice to do the hitch for charity, I've raised nearly £500, as did Naomi, and the Hitch is a good initiation into hitchhiking, as you get loads of meetings and advice, and you get to meet other students who (like myself) have hitchhiked before, whether with the Hitch, or on their own.

For those who can next year, it's seriously worth considering. If Nai and I are still in the UK, we're going to do it again and try and beat four days, because I reckon it's definitely doable in three.

Reply 18

Bubblebee

Hey Carl...just a question, how much did you actually raise in total? This seems like an awesome idea, and I just emailed the web page off to some of my friends to see what they think. It would be something I'd love to do! :smile:

Reply 19