Doc on tour, France, Spain, Morroco.

[Al n Val]

You can get the whole bbq here , cow ,goat. Sheep View attachment 1015200

ooh! fill ya boots their Tam

 

[Al n Val]

I am weird in that I will not eat meat if I know where it has come from take for instance our local pig farmer, I could not eat his pigs after I had looked them in the eye when passing on my dog walks.

you don’t know what ya missing

there’s some lovely tasty meat around the rear eye

 

[Lenny HB]

I've seen some terrifying sights on Morocco building sites

In India bamboo scaffolding tied together with rope even on high rise, standard garb shorts & flip flops.

 

[Northernraider]

In India bamboo scaffolding tied together with rope even on high rise, standard garb shorts & flip flops.

They don't even have scaffolding here ...balancing on boards hanging from ropes

 

[Langtoftlad]

Big pot of home made Scotch broth tonight ....just like ma wee mammy made .

May thor bless her soulView attachment 1015116

Good looking soup there
...and an impressively clean hob.

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[Langtoftlad]

In India bamboo scaffolding tied together with rope even on high rise, standard garb shorts & flip flops.

Hong Kong is the place for serious bamboo scaffolding

 

[WESTY66]

Hong Kong is the place for serious bamboo scaffolding

View attachment 1015208

 

[Dutch 68]

Arrived in chefchaoun around 10.30am , I managed to find a parking spot on the roadside that had no psuedo guards and a 5 minute walk from the blue medina. This was another town I liked two years ago and whilst it is very touristy its kinda unique so well worth a visit , the downsides as always is the constant harassment to " view my shop view my shop" or if you are unlucky enough to look like the stereotypical maryjoanna user as I must do then it's constant " my friend you want weed/hashish/ ganja ?" And Arabic men do not understand the word no ....so you spend 5 minutes with each telling them you don't smoke ...... but that doesn't stop them either. I'd hate to be a woman in this country.

If its not hash then it's fcekin carpets, something you will never ever be caught short of in Morocco. And in chefchaoun every second shop has carpets for sale. There's a lot of art , and a lot of stunningly beautiful hand crafted wares on display, the smells are lovely perfumes and incense, the annoying thing is IF they'd leave you alone to browse and not pounce on you before you've a chance to look at anything there are things I'd buy .....but I'm not one for hard selling it just makes me rush by , as I've said before I'm anxious in crowds etc and often I don't want to engage I just want to stroll through and take it all In ....if there's things that catch my eye I will then ask the seller about them... but here you're just met then with pressure to buy even if after looking you decide its not what you want. I had this with goatskin today ...I'd saw a pile of them over a wall outside a shop.. the seller wasn't there .. I asked in the shop near to them and instead of pointing me to the seller he told me he had some for sale too ...only his were not soft the leather was hard and the skins were not the right shape .. he was asking 200dh

I paid 50dh each for 4 goat skins last time and they were lovely and soft so I said no thanks ....well he followed me about 50 yards still calling out prices .

I also wanted a nice macrame dream catcher. Found a shop selling hundreds of them but the seller was nowhere to be found , I can only imagine he had a good sale earlier and was celebrating with mint tea somewhere. So he lost a potential sale .


Saw a couple of sheepskins but they weren't the nicest so no good for uncle Lenny HB I'm sure I'll find him better in tetouan , so in the end I bought nothing but I took lots of photos and spent maybe 90 minutes to 2 hours looking around.
It's a nice town but it's hard work and very hilly , lots of stairs etc.

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That’s the nicest looking place I’ve seen so far in maroc, great pics

 

[Lenny HB]

Hong Kong is the place for serious bamboo scaffolding

View attachment 1015208

And Thailand.

 

[Langtoftlad]

And Thailand.

Never noticed it there tbh

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[Jays2]

It’s a growing area walk up into the mountains and see the places selling it

 

[Gina M]

And Thailand.

We saw that scaffolding in Thailand and India too Lenny. We were gobsmacked

 

[KASPAR]

When growing up in Singapore there were concrete nannies, grandmothers who would carry 2 buckets of concrete up and across bamboo scaffolding. A rare skill. They went home safe every day, unlike the industry I work in here in the UK.

On the waterfront there was ship building where the guys would use their big toe as the guide to shape the keel beam with axe.

We have gone soft in the supposed first world

 

[Sedge5]

Brilliant pics today Northernraider - thanks

 

[Barchetta47]

Were you mostly on campsites ?


Because I don't understand how the folk on here who visit Morocco seem to not have the same experiences as everyone I've met here and the folk commenting on park4night etc , read the reviews on there and nearly every one talks about constant hassle

OK you have asked the question so I feel as if I should answer.

Please do not take this the wrong way as has often been the case on this thread. I’m not intending this response to be in any way confrontational. So here we go.

I’m been visiting Morocco since 2020. My impression is that despite Morocco looking like a hippy commune where everything goes that is absolutely not the case. Police and Army roadblocks and checks tell you everything you need to know. Places that we used to wild camp over the years have systematically been blocked off to prevent their use. The Moroccan State wants all visitors to adhere to a sort of loose structure, even if that structure is what seems at times a disorganised guardian parking spot. We have over the years used a mix of wild camping, guardian parking and campsites (campsites in the loose sense of the word, more like basic aires).

To get back to your question on local hassling it’s fair to say that the more wild you go the more hassle you encounter, my experience. My thoughts on this would be that if you go against the ‘accepted practice’ you are more likely to attract local interest from those that operate outside accepted norms if only by a little. In that sense I strongly believe that what might be accepted in Spain and other countries as wild camping is stretching a point in Morocco. I know there are many people doing exactly that but I also feel that it is generally against what is the accepted norm.

I know it’s not what you want to hear but I think the Moroccan authorities want to exercise a degree of control over their motor home visitors. If that’s the price for continuing to visit then I for one am happy to conform.

As I said I only answered because you asked a question. I like you and many others will be interested to see how things develop. I’m currently in Sidi Ifni, on a campsite/aire before you ask, but I am heartened to see the change on the beach over the last six years. In 2020 there was a rubbish issue, today there is none. Things are changing, slowly but surely.

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[Northernraider]

OK you have asked the question so I feel as if I should answer.

Please do not take this the wrong way as has often been the case on this thread. I’m not intending this response to be in any way confrontational. So here we go.

I’m been visiting Morocco since 2020. My impression is that despite Morocco looking like a hippy commune where everything goes that is absolutely not the case. Police and Army roadblocks and checks tell you everything you need to know. Places that we used to wild camp over the years have systematically been blocked off to prevent their use. The Moroccan State wants all visitors to adhere to a sort of loose structure, even if that structure is what seems at times a disorganised guardian parking spot. We have over the years used a mix of wild camping, guardian parking and campsites (campsites in the loose sense of the word, more like basic aires).

To get back to your question on local hassling it’s fair to say that the more wild you go the more hassle you encounter, my experience. My thoughts on this would be that if you go against the ‘accepted practice’ you are more likely to attract local interest from those that operate outside accepted norms if only by a little. In that sense I strongly believe that what might be accepted in Spain and other countries as wild camping is stretching a point in Morocco. I know there are many people doing exactly that but I also feel that it is generally against what is the accepted norm.

I know it’s not what you want to hear but I think the Moroccan authorities want to exercise a degree of control over their motor home visitors. If that’s the price for continuing to visit then I for one am happy to conform.

As I said I only answered because you asked a question. I like you and many others will be interested to see how things develop. I’m currently in Sidi Ifni, on a campsite/aire before you ask, but I am heartened to see the change on the beach over the last six years. In 2020 there was a rubbish issue, today there is none. Things are changing, slowly but surely.

I looked over one of the balconies in sidi ifni ....that's where the rubbish is now. And on the roadside as you drive out of it.

I've not had much bother by the police whilst wildcamping only locals but I have to say I haven't any interest in how it develops I can only see it getting less desirable .

It's not my style of travelling

 

[nicholsong]

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Tam, you know by know that Moroccans hassle so you must expect it if you walk down a shopping street, steer clear.

 

[nicholsong]

I'd say Turkey was a far better choice .. yes its further away but you don't get the hassles you do here.

You do in some tourist areas, e.g. Antalya. When I worked there we used to walk down the same street from the taxi station and the same guy hassled us every night without remembering our constant NO.

 

[jongood]

On balance, I'll avoid the place. And if I were ever to end up there I would definitely be in camping areas with guards or on actual campsites. Wouldn't one avoid almost all the harassment by doing this?

A lot of the French long termers do exactly that, I was talking to another French guy yesterday, been coming here for 10 years, same pitch, books it again as he leaves, stays for 3 months. He has a lovely 2CV which he had completely restored in Morocco and uses as his runabout. If all you're after is wintersun you can get off the now quite modern ferry(90 minutes) go through Tanger Med (less than an hour last 2 trips) and get on a very modern motorway to within proximity of several pretty good campsites, and then you can explore if you want to, its a much less stressful experience if your brakes work properly.

We've done a lot less stops this time because we've had the buggy to play with and we've come prepared to bake stuff we miss. Sunday we did a cream tea for a french couple we've met over here (totally powered by battery and solar btw).

This year the weather has been superb- mostly mid twenties and sunny every single day, just the wind to deal with. I even swam in the sea last week.

No its not the same as Europe and you are going to see things you dont agree with but if you want a winter experience in your own motorhome then this is a good option.

 

[Langtoftlad]

the same guy hassled us every night without remembering our constant NO.

Ever hopeful you might have changed your mind overnight .

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[nicholsong]

Ever hopeful you might have changed your mind overnight .

Turks have never got anything out of me. At the end of one month, with low operating standards and not liking Antalya, I took my $4,000(1990) and ran off to my boat in Greece. The Med is better seen at sea level than 35,000ft

 

[Northernraider]

In tetouan today , a lot colder this morning and sun is trying to make an appearance but struggling for the clouds .

I've spent an hour or so hunting sheepskin in the medina for uncle Lenny HB , that was quite a mission as I first went to the old tannery and looked at a few but the guy there couldn't negotiate as not the owner ...he told me to come back , stepped out the tannery and the first shop had 3 or 4 on display....but hitting me with crazy prices , I told him I wanted 2 very similar colour etc and we'll get then said I have more in my other shop ....opened that and he had about 100 skins in there ...starts pulling them all out then says I have more next door. Opens that door and there's another few hundred ..

He was pulling out that many and lying them on the floor I was getting confused as hell lol

Anyway I found 2 that are similar and a good size ....they fit a whole seat which is ideal ...

So uncle lenny is sorted . I'm now going to see if I can see any shops that make curtains nearby but it's a very busy city this and not the best for driving around

 

[The Coops]

I've not tried it

Because I am wary of having the van attacked after dark etc.

Imshi pronounced imshee is all you need, its go away in arabic

 

[pjay]

Don't mean to bleat on about it but I hope you haven't exceeded your customs allowance for bringing sheepskins back to the UK?

Pete

 

[Northernraider]

Don't mean to bleat on about it but I hope you haven't exceeded your customs allowance for bringing sheepskins back to the UK?

Pete

I have less skins than I did last time. I had 4 goatskins too last time lol .

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[Onemanandhisdog]

I'd say Turkey was a far better choice .. yes its further away but you don't get the hassles you do here.

When I've given up work in the next couple of years I want to go to Greece so Turkey makes sense.

 

[nicholsong]

I have less skins than I did last time. I had 4 goatskins too last time lol .

Excuse my ignorance but what does one do with a goatskin?

 

[Northernraider]

Excuse my ignorance but what does one do with a goatskin?

Well in my case lol stick them in a suitcase and stick it in your sisters loft.




But they're quite ornamental. Quite expensive in the UK

 

[Northernraider]

Well I didn't have any success finding a shop that would make curtains...I think the opportunity is missed and would have been better to do it further south .. no matter as I think I can just order curtains and pelmets online in the UK from one of the various places that do them for trucks.

So I'm now on the med coast, you can see the difference here from the rest of Morocco its obviously popular with wealthy Moroccans and Spanish etc as summer holiday resorts , its very clean , and lots of hotels and apartments being built. I spotted a currency exchange place on route so I stopped and changed most of the dirhams cash I still had ....exchange rate not bad I got 280 euro for 3000 dirhams. I'm left with just over 400dh in cash just in case I need to buy anything between now and getting the ferry ....probably on the 20th now maybe the 21st depending how parkups go and the weather . Its cloudier up here and rain forecast tonkght . A heavy rainfall would actually be appreciated to take some of the dirt off the camper.

Did a last shop in carrefour for some fruit n veg ,croissants and some more spices of the ones I use regularly.

Parked right on a beach tonight south of fnideq I'll drive up to the town of fnkdeq tomorrow for a last look around a souk .. then I've another beach parkup planned tomorrow night where I stayed before .

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

Never best to let the youngest take the wheel

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