We left our oasis home and said goodbye to Ibrahim after a good breakfast. There was fog and a very fine mist all around us. Unexpected but nice. A good, unique way to get the day started.
The anticipation of going deeper south and into the Sahara region was palpable. New worlds ... that is what this motorcycle adventure is all about : )
The road south was a beautiful 4-lane road with perfect pavement. It mostly followed the coastline south.
As we made our way south, small crumbly rocky hills with sparse vegetation become shorter until it felt that they had been completely pulverized into sand. Flatlands followed. All there was was sand and desert on the left and a beautiful turquoise ocean on the right ... a beautiful ride with almost non-existent traffic.
The few vehicles we saw included a few European camper vans, European bicycle riders (?!?), Moroccan families, commercial trucks, and even a tour bus ... all heading south somewhere.
As you go through places like this ... remote, inhospitable (120+ degrees in the summer), and sparsely populated ... you realize that humans have a built in need for adventure and travel ... a need to see what is over the next hill.
In these parts, and against all odds, people have been crossing this desert for millennia ... to trade, to see new lands ... connecting sub-Saharan Africa with the rest of the world ... camel caravans, Tuaregs, Berbers ... all exchanging goods and thoughts and cultures across a tough divide.
We broke today's long stretch by stopping for tea in Tan Tan and for lunch in Akhfennir. All the towns and villages we visited seemed prosperous, nice, clean, with good infrastructure ... I imagine the pristine road connecting North and South has helped.
Some of these parts reminded me of the deserts of Southern Peru, Oman close to Yemen, even the Southwestern United States ... one world after all.
We finally made it to Laayoune, the de facto capital of Western Sahara. A large, modern city ... clean, orderly ... with great infrastructure, parks, treed avenues, fountains ... a real surprise.
It was interesting to realize that there was not even a marker at the border between Morocco and Western Sahara. Are they all fully integrated now?
After checking in at our hotel, we went for a walk around Laayoune and to dinner at a very nice, modern restaurant with a huge menu from around the world ... pizzas, tacos, burritos, pasta, sushi, fish, meats, noodles.
Tomorrow, we have a long ride (500+kms) to Dakhla where we will spend 2 nights recovering and planning the Mauritania part of the trip.
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