25. March 2023

“Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end.”

Simit Patel said that, Hotel Manager in the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die.

This is the end of our journey. The end of a dream, of a bucket list dream. "Before I die, I want to make this trip." - that's what I said. And thanks to my family, to my wife Susanne, and thanks to my friend Omar and to his wife Katrin, this trip became reality. This blog was my way of sharing my story and of expressing my gratitude to all of you that participated in the journey, one way or the other.

I am grateful to all the people, that helped us on this trip and that offered their hospitality. The hospitality in Morocco was overwhelming, in particular the love and care we received from Omar's relatives and friends. Thanks to all of you, again. It was an honor to meet you and to be a guest under your roof. My thanks also go to our friends in Los Montesinos, to Bernd and Brigitte who got us the garage for the bikes and looked after me in times of acute illness, and to Mark and Isabell who looked after our house.

I just scanned through hundreds of pictures of this trip, and I picked just a few that emotionally touch me to this very moment. Here they are.

And here the final closing comment from Omar:

I will miss this time Pete and I wish we could just stay on the road to provide all the followers with new updates from our adventures…. We are more than happy to have now comes to the end of our travel without any damage or dangerous accidents…it was unbelievable and beautiful experience with so much amazing time… thanks a lot Pete and all our hosts and all my friends and family for the support. Big hugs

24. March 2023

Man, am I sick. How shall I make it to the airport, through the three hours flight and the another 2,5 hours train ride to the North? My body is empty and yet there are these violent attacks when I have to go to the loo in the next 10 seconds.

Yesterday I got some charcoal tablets from the pharmacy, an old household remedy for diarrhoea. The pharmacist doubted their effectiveness in my case, but I insisted. 

This is the remedy that saved me. I overdose the intake of the charcoal tablets and slowly an effect shows. I have severe stomach and kidney pains, but I no longer have to run to the loo all the time.

Slowly I tidy up my home and prepare to leave the house. Outside, glorious sunshine touches my skin and soothes my spirit, the blue sky is like balsam on my soul.

I drive off to the airport. I arrive there without a disaster. To check in Omar's suitcase, I look for a self-service baggage drop-off. There is none. I have to stand in the long queue at the counter. Normally this would not be an issue, but in my condition it was hell.

It was then time to go to the counter. In the check-in process, a somewhat bitchy Ryanair attendant came up to me and said: "Your suitcase is too big. Please come with me to measure it." I had travelled with this cabin suitcase several times before without any problems. Well, the suitcase was the right size, but the feet and wheels were too long. "Seventy euros!" the clerk snarled. Fuck. Seventy euros for an old suitcase that I'll have to dispose of anyway. I run to a handbag and suitcase shop, see a cabin suitcase for 59.50€. OK. I quickly paid, and then unpacked the old case and repacked the new one, and returned to the check-in queue, that was slowly dissolving. The counter was due to close in a few minutes. 

Finally I am on the plane.

Meanwhile, Omar dashed through Germany, in the rain 

We left on time and arrived in Hamburg 20 minutes early. The almost three hours in the air had passed without further embarrassment. My kidneys hurt like hell.

To my greatest delight, Susanne had given up her university lecture to prepare for exams and had come to the airport to pick me up. How nice a warm hug would have been, but the fear of infection made us cautious. 

Luna, our little dog, was beside herself with joy when she saw me. Dogs are like that. I guess that is what makes them man's best friend.

Omar's wife Kathie was also supposed to be at the airport to pick up Omar's suitcase. To my great joy, however, Omar himself suddenly approached me. "I just got home. Everything ok." - He had driven through Germany in one big stretch, from Strasbourg to Hamburg, in order to be at the airport in time. What a guy. I was glad he had made it through the trip on his own. The German motorways and the rainy German weather couldn't have bothered him.

Susanne drove me home safely and told me on the way that our son Ben-David had been in a total loss accident. Fortunately, nothing had happened to him. That is the main thing. Jan-Eycke was in the process of cooking a great meal. In his adolescence he really got into cooking. What a joy! But right now, I couldn’t eat anything.

When we got home, I went straight to bed with a hot water bottle. During the night, I woke up several times to the sound of rain hitting the roof and the windows. "You're home," the rain whispered, "Sleep now. You're home."

23. March

First thing when I woke up at 07:30 was to check Omar's position. Where was he? How was he?

Well, according to the "Where is" function, he was in the middle of Barcelona, but on the highway already. Good to know.

Meanwhile, I am still knocked out by the diarrhoea. It is amazing how such an infect can weaken you. I still feel sick, and on the other hand, I must eat something to get back to my old strength.

I took it slowly. My objective for this morning was to eat at least a sandwich with cheese, maybe with some jamón serrano. I had to eat.

The other objective was to get the bike back to my garage, where she is safe. 

Before I would do that, I would want to clean her from the worst dirt we collected in the last three weeks. And while doing that the washing machine could run and was the bed linen. And the dish washer could also run, so that my house is clean and tidy.

A message from Omar arrived.

He had left Barcelona at 07:30. As expected, the traffic there was quite heavy, but still civilized compared with Tangier or Marrakesh.

While we was on his way again, I was at home. I felt a strange tension inside myself. Part of me was really happy to be in my lovely home, another part of me wanted to be with my friend Omar, on the road.

Omar had arrived in Barcelona yesterday afternoon and had decided to sty with his nephew over night. The thing was that his nephew lived right smack in the middle of Barcelona, close to the old town and the harbor. So, this is where Omar went with his Adventure. It all worked out well.

I would have loved to go to Barcelona together with Omar. Now, it is him alone on the selfie. Omar expressed the same feeling. "I miss my companion. I miss Pete driving with me."

Back to my home and my own situation.

All in all there is quite a bit of action before I could drive my Black Betty to her garage. I call Bernd and Brigitte and ask them if they are at home. They have the garage key. I feel really weak due to the diarrhoea

At last I take off at home, sitting on my bike again. It feels great. She feels light and easy to handle. I stopped over at a super market to buy some baguette, cheese, ham and shoe polish for my dirty boots. I have to eat something. I am falling apart. 

Coming back to Bernd and Brigitte was another part of arrival, of closure. Here we took off, here we said good-bye before we left for Morocco.

I have a bit of a breakfast with B&B, telling stories about the trip, the decision to go in the first place, about the right time for certain actions. Bernd knows that feeling best, having had a stroke in the spine at the age of 65 and being paraplegic ever since.

Then I have to leave. I have to rest. I am falling apart.

Then I drive my Black Betty home to her garage.

Everything worked out well. 

This adventure is over.

"There and back again" as Bilbo Baggins called his adventure book.

15:30 pm. Omar just called, from Lyon. "The highway is extraordinary! The highway is exceptional. 650 km of driving at its best. I am quite happy to pay 30 Euros for that." Omar is still at his strength and will continue for 2 more hours, towards Strasbourg.   

Omar, the crazy man, made it to Strasbourg!

This was a trip of f**ing 1000 km. He let's all of you know that he is in good shape, although tired and with some sore muscles.

No wonder.

And he went nearly out of fuel on the last few kilometers. Well, even the huge tank of the Adventure eventually is drained. But the pre-warning in the display helped and everything worked out well.

As a little reward, he found a nice little hotel.

That's a great shot! The oldtimers and next to it the futuristic 1250 GS.

Great shot, Omar!

I feel increasingly bad. Maybe I have a serious infection. I hope I can return tomorrow. i will see a doctor.

 22.03.2023

The trip is over only when it is really over. 

Omar left this morning at about 08:30. I was still suffering from diarrhoea, but parting like that without going on together was quite painful. However, even if I wanted, I couldn't do the tour. I was way too weak.

Ten minutes later Omar was back again. After he left he stopped over at the nearby supermarket and double-checked if he has everything he needs for the last stretch. Fact was that at the last hotel we were asked for our passports, and for some reason I had both passports in my dedicated package. So, after this short second good-bye, Omar took off. On our "Where is" app we always can see each other, and I saw that Omar is making great progress. 

In the later afternoon he called ma and also sent me a message that he stays in Barcelona over night, with a relative. Omar seems to have relatives all over the world.

21.03.2023

From Malaga we moved on to Los Montesinos. We had a great breakfast at this simple and friendly hotel, and then we packed all our cases and stuff, for the last time, onto our bikes. The trip was wonderful. The weather was beautiful, quite chilly though. Driving in Spain on the autobahn is really relaxed. The people behave, no aggression, no horn-blowing, the speed limit is adhered to, it is just great fun.

For lunch, we had a stop at the restaurante MIRAS off the autobahn Autovía del Mediterráneo, 5, Km 618, 30850 Lébor Alto, Murcia. Nice place, friendly personnel, good tapas, very reasonable prices.

The whole trip we were dependent on Omar's two iPhones as he still had capacity on them. My Spanish contract did't cover Morocco, and my German provider 1und1 told me that my data volume is finished. They offered my an upgrade for a ridiculously high price. So, Omar had the lead all the time. Now, being back in Spain, my phone worked again and I could take some burden off Omar by leading. Also, it was a kind of coming home. Actually, I couldn't way to come back to our house in Montesinos.

And, finally, we made it. I had imagined the quietness of our veranda, the good smell in the house and just sitting there, quietly, winding down. And so it was. Now, that everything was quiet, the impressions of the last few weeks came back like a tsunami. It was wonderful.

My helmet covered with insect victims from todays trip.

The Schuberth helmet was worth every single penny. As Omar has the same helmet, we were able to communicate all the time. To set up communication, it is very advisable to download the Schuberth app and use that for setting up the connection. Using the plas / mins buttons for that is a pain in the back.

The downturn of the day was, that first of all the logistics company that Omar had a contract with told us that they can't make it. Really bad business practice, because this came only out after I called them, asking if they have room for a second bike on that truck.

The second unfortunate thing was that I had a strong stomach pain already the whole day. Arriving at home, I had pretty bad diarrhea. We just made it in time to get home, for me then spending extended times in the bathroom ...

Brigitte, our friend here, jumped into action, drove to the pharmacy and brought medication. Omar worked out alternatives to get the bike to Bardowick. In the evening, he told me that he will drive home, alone. I felt so sorry, as this is quite a trip on top of what we planned. 

But the weather here is great, so, the first few tracks should be OK. 

The pain is Germany. We still have winter there. Unbearable. My family tells me that it is cold, it rains and there is a lot of fog.

That is why I love it here.

 Monday, March 20, 2023

Omar's sister and family gave us a warm good-bye, with hugs and smiles and all the best wishes.  It was really nice to be here, they are wonderful people.

We took off at about 08 am. The ferry was about to leave at 10 am. As it was Monday morning, start of the week, time to drive to school and to work, Tangier was packed full with cars again. To drive through this chaos with two bikes, without loosing each other is a bit of a piece of work. But we managed well. I was really relaxed and felt safe on my bike. If you see or feel that other drivers and their vehicles are attempting funny moves, like bumping into you from the side, ignoring your right of way or nudging you off your lane, just blow your horn and - as Omar sometimes does - shout at the stupid drivers or pretend to run over them. That usually works out well. If in Rome, do as the Romans - so, I adjusted. Driving becomes much more relaxed. Omars Google navigator showed all sorts of funny directions, so that Omar decided to drive from his memory and gut feeling. That worked out quite well. Soon we saw the harbour, we found the right entrance and in we were, being checked by police, customs, drug sniffing dogs and all that. All parties involved were very friendly, no stress.

Finally, we were allowed to drive into the ferry. Also, no sweat this time. All easy. Since I reduced the dosage of my anti depression drugs, I slowly become the old myself again. What a pleasure!

Here you see the fastening belts that are used to fasten the bikes at the yellow knobs on the floor. The sea was a bit rough, about Beaufort 6, so, it was good to fasten the bikes well.

Omar, giving you a view of the latest motorbike clothing fashion. Please note the attractive bra-like camera holster around the chest, and the stylish little antenna-like camera holder on top of the helmet. These very useful camera applications were probably the reason why we were never stopped at the frequent police controls. The special biker jeans from the fashion house Louis (no, not Vuitton) had proven to be of extraordinary quality. Omar performed the "slide on the road" test without any complaints., neiter from him nor from the jeans.

Here you see the attractive young man from the side ...

... and here from the front, sceptical, but very convincing.

There are people even more mad than we are. This guy from Bielefeld did the Morocco tour on bike, alone, in exactly the outfit you see here on the picture. No protectors whatsoever. He wants to look nice.

Well, he actually is a very nice person. On his bike, he carries one minute tent and a sleeping bag, two t-shirts, and some medicine. That's it.

Not my cup of tea, if you ask me.

As mentioned, we had quite a bit of wind. The ferry is a 60 meter catamaran though, (built in Norway, 24 years old), so, Some rougher sea is not really an issue.

When we left the ferry and entered Spain again, the weather was beautiful, blue sky, lots of wind. I remembered when we arrived here two weeks ago, in pouring rain and dense fog. What a difference now!

I was in a really hyped up mood, "happy like a pig in mud" as a New Zealander would say. We took the highway. The streets were in good condition, there were long-stretched curves, no mad drivers, the traffic was pretty civilized, the landscape was beautiful and life was great.

Omar was hungry, so, we took an exit and drove to a Spanish supermarket, the Mercadona. I love these markets. We bought ourselves Hamburgers and fresh strawberries, and I finally got an alcohol-free beer again, a Cerveza Sin 0,0. I don't know why this stuff is not available in Morocco. There you usually have the sugar-loaded drinks, or plain water (which is fine of course).

Later on we stopped again at a petrol station. Omar suggested that we don't drive through to Montesinos. That was OK with me. We checked out a hotel nearby, where we are right now. We had a really good, hot shower and in a minute, we will have some tapas.

Our last destination for today: the Las Pedrizas Hotel. A bit off the beaten track, but still OK to reach.

The starlight sky is just about to develop. It is a beautiful night.

Our bikes will sleep outside today, on the carpark. We attached our security alarm locks at the front wheel brakes. If someone tempers with the bikes, a nerve-wrecking alarm goes off.

Here they are, our beauties. Tomorrow we will be home.

My boots, at the end of the journey. They were brand-new when I started. They lived trough accidents, through deep water river crossings, through the desert dust. Now they look a bit like me: pretty much used, bruised, mature and experienced.

This is (nearly) the end ...

Tangier, March 19, 2023 

Still at the hotel, we met two guys from Berlin that will do our tour in the reverse direction. 

Really cool, these guys.

Beautiful sites, along the shore.

The last track from Tétouan to Tangier was most beautiful and very relaxed. We rode along the cost line. Ah, there is was again: the sea. How much I love the sea! This is my inner home.

In this video I express my joy in being back to sea.

We were very relaxed, enjoying the day, the moment.

Omar, busying his selfie stick.

Nice settlements, really like in typical sea resorts.

This guy from India is an engineer building pipelines here in Morocco. He is a big motorbike fan, and he loves the GS. Well, so do we.

In the marina, we met a busload full of engineers from India. They had so much fun. We joined them dancing, unfortunately there is no video about our sharp moves.

Relaxing in a marina, in the Café Extrablatt.

Cool drinks. The salade du Chef was not that great, rather sandy and drowned in sauce.

This beautiful little cat ate the cheese and ham of my salad. She is sooo cute.

We moved on to Tangier, passing by some beautiful mountain views ...

... and then finally, we made it. Through Tangier again, this time the traffic wasn't too bad. And we were welcomed by Omar's family again. And again, an amazing meal waited for us ...