Day 21: Rest Day in N'kob

March 8, 2023

Cycleblaze meet up with Susan

We start the day with a nice breakfast included in the price of the room. Including the mandatory olives.

We generally have a rule that on a rest day we don’t ride our bikes. Today though, we broke that rule encouraged by Mohammed to ride to a desert camp. Rashid is our guide. As we ride the old road we pass the oldest Kasbah in N'kob.

A kasbah, also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term alcazaba in Spanish, which derives from the same Arabic word. By extension, the term can also refer to a medina quarter, particularly in Algeria. (Wikipedia)

We set out around 1100 and it is already getting hot. After complaining about being cold, we are now in the desert heat. This next week, the temperature is to be in the 90s. Patrick rides all the way with Rashid to the camp.

This was about the point Rachel turned around

Three quarters of the way, Rachel turns around finding her way back to the old road. Then trying to get back to the main road like we did yesterday evenings walk, she ends up in the maze of streets, eventually finding her way back to the old road. There is Rashid. They had seen Rachel at a distance so knew she wasn't lost in the desert and had beat her back to the town.

The “mountain camp” is a quirky place at the top of a hill overlooking N’kob. There are a couple of tents set up, several campfire rings and seating areas. There even is a tent with a row of toilets. The water must be carried up. The main things to see are a lot of painted rocks and mosaics and of course the view. There is not much reason to be here though during the heat of day, at night with the right crowd this could be a fun place.

Women doing laundry in the irrigation canal. Picture at a distance because Moroccan women don't want their picture taken.

We offer to take Rashid to lunch, and following Moroccan customs it takes three tries to convince him to accept the food. He takes us to a place that makes great tacos. It’s in a back alley that we never have found on our own.

The guard kitty as we leave to cycle to meet Susan

We return to our hotel. Patrick works on the bikes and we receive a message at 3pm from Susan Carpenter that she is 24km out. And another message around 5pm she is in N'kob and we arrange to meet up for dinner.

We broke our rule again and rode another 1km to meet up at Susan's Riad. It is so fantastic to finally meet!! Great conversation and sharing experiences. Susan asked about Kim Johnson (our house sitter) whether she was finishing the update to her journal of Africa.

Like most times meeting cyclists and those we follow there is an instant connection like we are old friends. A great evening and conversation! Happy Travels to you!

We see Susan's pictures of her tour. A great tour so far!

She treats us to dinner. Thank you, Susan. We will pay it forward and hope you visit us in Boise someday.

We rode our bikes back to our Riad in dark. There were enough street lights and little traffic we made it ok without lights. Rashid greeted us and made us tea.

Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 696 km (432 miles)

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