Day 10: Laayoune - Dakhla

It was a hard test our passage of the first part of central Western Sahara. We are pratically doubling the travel distance we usually do daily. Those 550 km in a day made the change of latitudes pass in a faster manner. And though it seems like nothing extraordinary, I have to say that the beauty of riding is that you live your surroundings at its best and worst, and having to live that change so quickly was mesmerizing.

Leaving Laayoune with no certainty of getting to the finish line: Dakhla. Our stolen french map which lays out the possible stops at distances of more or less 120kms from one village to the other was a total sham because this track had 2 villages at a distance of 180 kms from Laayoune and the rest was no man's land.


Visualizza Day 10 in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

Up to now the desert had been very kind to us. Apart from the chill of night that rose before reaching Tan Tan as a post rain effect, we've had no difficulties caused by moving dunes. The first 200 kms of ride was quiet. The desert show us a huge change from rich lands to what arid land would be but the view was mainly flat lands of big nothing then became fascinating, introducing us to what I hoped to see in the Western Sahara. After some turns that the sands would harden and amalgamate with rocks evolving into what seemed to me to be sedimentary boulders.. (a geologist's opinion is needed), it's seems with we were passing through some rock gardens on the moon. As the sun started to set the sky gave an amazing show..





Of course it was not all peachy and dandy.. it's too good to be true and is not the theme of this trip!!
Mid road during our orange juice stop at the unknown-to-us last stop before nothing, Red noticed that I had no lights anymore. It's not safe to ride at night, but we always did it anyway. After the sunset we really started to rush especially when realizing that there was absolutely no village as promised on the map. I luckily had with me a jogging light that we simply placed around the SH 50. Problem solved. Fill tank. On our way.

About 30km later during the last hours of nightfall in front of a passing truck, the Aprilia hits a small hole and its light went out... I don't have 2 jogging lamps for 1 head. So for the those 100 kms to Dakhla, with no promise of a village, I was at a 1 meter distance giving light to Red's path and he with a dynamo lamp aimed at the shadow my light was making against his motorcycle and body.

We arrived at a check up with both lights on because the Aprilia hit another bump just before the police booth and were relieved. Only to have the light die again while another truck was coming at our direction at a curve.

Dakhla was much more lively than Laayoune but oddly enough the Routard mentioned almost nothing about the city. After searching hotels indicated by the police, we didn't find it anyway and went on our own search and stayed at Hotel Tahiti.

Life makes funny jokes....