Going to Market

Day 54 didn't exist.

I somehow contracted food poisoning. I woke with stomach pains during the night, but put it down to gorging myself at dinner. After going back and forth to the toilet block to be sick a couple of times (once narrowly avoiding throwing up in my tent) I decided it would be better to sleep next to the sink. In my delirious state I forgot my roll mat, so ended up sprawled out on the concrete next to the sink. Max and Caroline found me in the morning, practically unconscious in a pool of my own fluids. They packed all my belongings, cycled them to the nearest hotel, put me in a taxi and then to bed. I slept for 19 hours straight.

Day 55
Distance: 85 km, Top speed: ?? kmph

I woke at 0700 feeling amazing! Max and Caroline, like the beautiful people they are, ended up spending the day in Asilah, partly so they could check to make sure I was ok. I left my hotel and wandered down to their camp site, rejoiced, had a bit of breakfast, and we were off!

We passed some fruit merchants on the road (or "road", in parts) and even managed to harvest some cactus fruit on the way. The mass exodus of carts told us there was probably a market up ahead, and we were right. Ksar-el-Kebir was full on hectic Morocco. An overwhelming myriad of sights, sounds and smells.

We stopped for lunch, and were warned about local thieves. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, Max looked down and his bag was open. He managed to chase down the young boy who stole from him. His loot, a pair of gloves, was haphazardly thrown into the air as he tried to make a getaway. He was stopped by locals, and soon a crowd of 30 - 40 people gathered round him, pushing him to the ground and lightly clipping him in the head. The spectacle was big enough that it stopped traffic. The locals asked Max if he wanted them to take the boy to a police station, and upon his declination of their offer, the boy was so relieved he picked himself up and smothered Max's hand in kisses.

We ended up camping on some family's land in the village of Tatoft. The owners seemed friendly enough, but did not speak French and there was some confusion due to the language barrier. We camped undisturbed, and managed to catch glimpse of a few shooting stars over dinner.