Tam n pups winter trip 2022

[ivorantony]

Deleted

 

[nicholsong]

Tam

Thanks for all the great photos.

Now I don't have to go there.

 

[Gingernuts]

Tam thanks for all the photos cannae wait to go!
Alex

 

[CaptainPaul]

None of that wild camping carry on for CaptainPaul!......

 

[CaptainPaul]

OK I've hijacked your thread enough again so I'm away for a week or two more and see do I make it up over these High Atlas mountains 🏔⛰⛰🏔

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[Northernraider]

OK I've hijacked your thread enough again so I'm away for a week or two more and see do I make it up over these High Atlas mountains 🏔⛰⛰🏔

I think I might try to avoid the high atlas mountains, my van does not like these hill climbs .

 

[Langtoftlad]

Would you like a few more pennies in the doggy fund?
How long are you going to stay in Morocco?
Presumably you'll come across the strays again when you venture back north.

 

[Gingernuts]

Cmon

None of that wild camping carry on for CaptainPaul!......
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Cmon Captain Paul, start your own blog and revel in the reflective glory of a job well done. Excellent photos

 

[Northernraider]

Would you like a few more pennies in the doggy fund?
How long are you going to stay in Morocco?
Presumably you'll come across the strays again when you venture back north.

That's very kind but I think this bag will do a wee while and I leave morroco in 18 days so if I need more food I will just buy a bag for them .

I think up till now we've fed at least 300 dogs and some have had a few days meals so I think that's a good effort .

 

[Feltwell]

None of that wild camping carry on for CaptainPaul!......

Is that actually a site? If so, make us sick, how much a night? I bet it's still cheap.

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[Langtoftlad]

That's very kind but I think this bag will do a wee while and I leave morroco in 18 days so if I need more food I will just buy a bag for them .

I think up till now we've fed at least 300 dogs and some have had a few days meals so I think that's a good effort .

Well just shout if a top up would be helpful...

 

[Feltwell]

Is it not possible at all to get fully comp insurance for Morocco then?

Tam's pictures are tempting me. I was wavering a bit on the coastal ones, but inland is looking superb. Could be one for the future, once retired....

 

[Otter Spotter]

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When did you model for the portrait Tam?

 

[Northernraider]

Today has been interesting. Yesterday both the couples I'm travelling with spent all day at the garage , Allan was getting his rear leaf springs bent and a second leaf fitted to raise the suspension. I tried to advise him against this but so €320 later and his van looks like a 70's dragster. The garage told him to come back today and they would put shims in his front struts free of charge to even it out . He has been here all day ...they've removed his struts added a bit nylon between the strut and the body which means the 3 locating studs no longer go through the body and its now only 3 bolts on each taking all the strain. Again I advised this was not good idea but hey hi he let them do it and they charged him another €300.

Last night we had a big disagreement over the Austrian couples van because the same garage want to change their gearbox ... I had said personally I would leave it as I don't trust the garage but Allan argued the work they had done on his yesterday was good ( probably feeling different today now he's paid twice ) and convinced Martin to go back. I decided after the disagreement to just leave them to it.

But today I got a message from Martin and Teresa saying the garage could not get a gearbox but they were having the front wheel alignment done as one tyre was wearing slightly on outside edge . Their van had 4 new continental all season tyres fitted just before they left Austria in January. They were also having their rear springs reshaped and all season tyres fitted.

So I came round to the garage just to see. And it's just aswell I did . The full rear axle is off their van , the garage are beating the shit out the 33 year old leaf springs , Martin asked for 5 new offroad tyres , the garage have removed his perfectly good all season tyres and fitted some budget brand I've never heard of summer tyres on his wheels and are attempting to charge 1000 euros for the job. Neither him or Allan have a clue about vehicles

So after me and Martin having a lot of arguing with the cowboy mechanics he is only buying 2 of the crap tyres and having these springs refitted....Still costing a whopping 750 euro though for work he didn't really need bar the tracking and Allan has succeeded in spending 600 euro to make his van unsafe.

This is a garage with loads of reviews mostly from French and German tourists who also probably know nothing about vehicles it's actually devastating to watch


I could have just shut my mouth and left them to it but I can't stand by and watch this.

I love the scenery in Morocco but I honestly can say I do not trust a single person in this country. There's zero integrity even the food shops in this town take the piss. I was overcharged again today just buying a few things...

 

[Langtoftlad]

Life's rich tapestry eh...
Today might have been depressing but I really don't think you'd be any happier in a sanitised homogenised 'safe' destination.
I love the Far East but least favourite has to be Singapore - attract the tourist hoards, and the corporations, all the real culture has been sucked out of the place. It's almost like how Disneyland would imagine the place.
You wouldn't want your Maroc experience to be like that, would you Tam?

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[scousebird]

You're not selling Morocco to me Tam.

 

[Lenny HB]

Today has been interesting. Yesterday both the couples I'm travelling with spent all day at the garage , Allan was getting his rear leaf springs bent and a second leaf fitted to raise the suspension. I tried to advise him against this but so €320 later and his van looks like a 70's dragster. The garage told him to come back today and they would put shims in his front struts free of charge to even it out . He has been here all day ...they've removed his struts added a bit nylon between the strut and the body which means the 3 locating studs no longer go through the body and its now only 3 bolts on each taking all the strain. Again I advised this was not good idea but hey hi he let them do it and they charged him another €300.

Last night we had a big disagreement over the Austrian couples van because the same garage want to change their gearbox ... I had said personally I would leave it as I don't trust the garage but Allan argued the work they had done on his yesterday was good ( probably feeling different today now he's paid twice ) and convinced Martin to go back. I decided after the disagreement to just leave them to it.

But today I got a message from Martin and Teresa saying the garage could not get a gearbox but they were having the front wheel alignment done as one tyre was wearing slightly on outside edge . Their van had 4 new continental all season tyres fitted just before they left Austria in January. They were also having their rear springs reshaped and all season tyres fitted.

So I came round to the garage just to see. And it's just aswell I did . The full rear axle is off their van , the garage are beating the shit out the 33 year old leaf springs , Martin asked for 5 new offroad tyres , the garage have removed his perfectly good all season tyres and fitted some budget brand I've never heard of summer tyres on his wheels and are attempting to charge 1000 euros for the job. Neither him or Allan have a clue about vehicles

So after me and Martin having a lot of arguing with the cowboy mechanics he is only buying 2 of the crap tyres and having these springs refitted....Still costing a whopping 750 euro though for work he didn't really need bar the tracking and Allan has succeeded in spending 600 euro to make his van unsafe.

This is a garage with loads of reviews mostly from French and German tourists who also probably know nothing about vehicles it's actually devastating to watch


I could have just shut my mouth and left them to it but I can't stand by and watch this.

I love the scenery in Morocco but I honestly can say I do not trust a single person in this country. There's zero integrity even the food shops in this town take the piss. I was overcharged again today just buying a few things...

Jesus and I thought Fiat Professional garages were expensive.

 

[Jays2]

Totally agree with you on this.
I think folk get caught up in, Morocco it will be cheap.

 

[Mikey RV]

I expect the Moroccan guys that did them jobs on their vans are going to retire now at those prices.

 

[Northernraider]

You're not selling Morocco to me Tam.

If you can stay away from people it's bliss lol

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[Northernraider]

Totally agree with you on this.
I think folk get caught up in, Morocco it will be cheap.

Yep and lots of people keep spreading the lie with reviews etc . It's not cheap at those prices and the quality of the work is extremely poor . The bodywork repairs they had done in tafroute were also really poor .

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

There were a couple of vanlifers on youtube that hit a donkey in their orange sprinter, it was fixed through a mercedes dealership to a good standard and cost, don't follow them and can't remember their names but it is possible.

 

[CaptainPaul]

Awk Tam just let them Fiddlesticksing edjits work away there with their money wasting, I can honestly say I've never been ripped off in Morocco for anything, you go with a price in your head and if its not close to it you just don't buy... I've found the Moroccan people lovely especially the Berbers areas where we all are now.... I'm in a campsite now and an English boy who's cycling around Morocco is staying here too and the site owner has put him up for free in 1 of the spare wee chalet houses told him not to bother setting all that tent stuff up and he was telling me that yesterday he was battling a real strong headwind and was a few hours behind his schedule to be at his next destination when it started getting dark and he ended up in this remote village arse end of nowhere and some locals brought him to a kind of village mayor boy who put him up in his own house and fed him a good breakfast this morning and sent him on his way with a bottle of water and some buns that he said looked like baby octopus! but he's here in this camp now and said he's loving his Moroccan cycling trip and has found the people to be lovely too so it's like the old saying goes there's good & bad everywhere but there's also Fiddlesticksing edjits like them ones your travelling with! Lol

 

[Conal]

Tam, I know you said no but just a little for the dogs….

 

[CaptainPaul]

Cmon

Cmon Captain Paul, start your own blog and revel in the reflective glory of a job well done. Excellent photos

Lol I'm rubbish at all that blogging stuff, that's for the young ones

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[Lenny HB]

Lol I'm rubbish at all that blogging stuff, that's for the young ones

Age is no excuse I'm an old fart, spelling & gramme is crap and I get away with it.

 

[CaptainPaul]

Is that actually a site? If so, make us sick, how much a night? I bet it's still cheap.

Yes definitely is, it was 80 MAD per night (approx £6.00) including electricity, showers swimming pool etc
you wouldn't get looking over a campsite fence in UK for 6 quid!

 

[CaptainPaul]

Age is no excuse I'm an old fart, spelling & gramme is crap and I get away with it.

OK I can't be arsed so I just jump onto to Tams pages cos I'm his mate and he's young lol

 

[CaptainPaul]

Is it not possible at all to get fully comp insurance for Morocco then?

Tam's pictures are tempting me. I was wavering a bit on the coastal ones, but inland is looking superb. Could be one for the future, once retired....

Yes Saga do fully comp insurance for Morocco only stipulation is you give them your arrival and leaving dates

 

[Conal]

CaptainPaul It would cost you more in France too. We did a “budget” tour of France last year and stayed on two Aires separated from the parent campsite by fences, and both cost more that £6.

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