MOROCCO BOUND

A Solo Motorcycle Journey to North Africa

(Rough Guiding in Midelt, Morocco)

After changing rooms and into clean clothes, I came downstairs to where I sit right now. I am on the rear terrace of the hotel, enjoying another ice-cold beer, and a delightful plate of olives. The first beer made me feel like a new man, but it evaporated quite quickly. The second beer I am savoring now. Halfway through it, I had a gentleman come over and ask me if I was on the motorcycle. He asked what I was doing in Morocco, and what I was writing (he had been watching me for over 30 minutes). When I told him that I travel all over the world and keep a journal of each trip, he immediately assumed I was a journalist for ROUGH GUIDE, and asked if I would please visit his Berber Shop. Not being able to dissuade him of his assumption, I agreed to go with him in one hour’s time. It turned out to be a great cover. We walked downtown, literally, since Midelt is situated on rolling hills. As I had thought, he was not the owner of the shop, but was the typical English-speaking “hook” whose job it is to bring the tourists in for the hard sell. But with my newfound “profession” I immediately took control of their entire spiel.

With my digital camera in my hand, I soon had them posing all over the shop. I had them explaining the different dye techniques, the weaving, and the type of rugs by region. They served me the ever-present sweet mint tea. I plied them for information continuously, and didn’t give them a chance to try to sell me anything. All they wanted was some recognition on the Internet, which I am happy to provide.

By using their own misperception, I managed to completely side step the entire Moroccan hard sell and yet learn everything I wanted about rugs and Berber textiles. They even thanked me as I walked out without spending a dime. I think I will remember this in future travels. However, to fulfill my promise, if you are ever in Midelt, Morocco please stop by and visit them. They are just off the main square in town.

The shop is called, La Maison Berbere at 15 Rue Mohamed Amraoul. Their telephone number is Midelt (058) 26 32

I am now back on the terrace and enjoying my final beer of the evening. To say I am exhausted would be an understatement. But what a day it was. I cannot continue writing, so I’ll just close with these short observations of the day:

- How Moroccan kids can appear out of nowhere in the desert if you simply stop for 30 seconds, and the looks of surprise and joy on their faces when you give them a toy.

- How no one can believe that I am an American, traveling solo in Morocco.

- How life east of the Atlas Mountains exists only near the water that flows out of its foothills.

- How you can have a mini-sandstorm INSIDE a closed, full-face helmet.

- How they got that herd of wild camels to be right next to the only “Camel Caution” sign in a 100 mile stretch of desert.

- How absolutely desolate 99% of Morocco is, and how you can go from 100F in the Sahara, to near freezing in Midelt in one day of riding.

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All photos and text are property of Jeff Munn.

Please do not use without my permission.