Set out nice and early to find the piste to Zagora. It all started well but I soon came across another muddy river so took another more Easterly piste that was fine although I did worry that I’d become lost again. The clutch felt very odd so I got my tools out and adjusted it on the track – think the cable is stretching and may be on its way out.
Anyway, the piste was good. There was a very rocky and hilly section which then turned into an excellent smooth and wide dirt track that was arrow straight and had great views. Finally got to Zagora which is a busy end of the road/edge of the desert town full of opportunists looking to make a quick buck. Had a great lunch and then headed off to take the obligatory photo of the ’52 Days to Timbuktu by Camel’ sign.
Ended-up doing a circle back towards where my day had started, taking the lovely tarmac road up the Draa Valley – a real oasis bringing life into the heart of the desert. I got to Nekob without incident where I planned to find the route, via a mountain piste, to the Dades valley. This short-cut looked excellent on the map as it’s a very long way around on tarmac. As I arrived in the village, I knew the clutch was not right so as I headed out of town I checked into a remote auberge which looked very plain on the outside but was superb inside the sombre shell. Anyway, after some mint tea and a good chat with the owner and his cousin, I got to work on the clutch. As I took the clutch lever off, the cable snapped! Amazingly I had a spare with me and some tools so managed to change it myself in less than 30 minutes (after some swearing and cursing). All good now and enjoying good Berber drum music, food and hospitality.
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