I travel by bicycle to be closer to people.

I like to stop by a small shop to buy a bottle of water and some biscuits,
I enjoy sitting down on a bench to watch life go by. Before long, I start talking to people
who approach me with curiosity. They touch the bike, check the tyres, glance at the odometer,
and lift up the heavy panniers. Then I show them my map, tracing the route with my finger.
I take out the camera and take a few pictures.
Thanks to this type of human contact I mean more to them than just an ordinary tourist
travelling by bus or whizzing by in his car, too busy to stop for a chat.
Human contact is what I look for every time I go on a bicycle trip.

Human contact is what I missed most in Morocco.

I met a lot of people who asked: "how are you?",
"where are you from?", and then inevitably added:
"you don't happen to have a spare cigarette?",
"would you give me one Euro?",
" I have a nice Moroccan souvenir for sale, real bargain…".
Even children's eyes seemed to reflect bank notes.
I spotted many photogenic, interesting, noble faces
which grimaced in anger once I took out my camera.
In Morocco for the first time somebody stole
some of my belongings from my panniers.
That was when I decided never to leave my bicycle
unattended. In Laos, I could leave my bike
somewhere in a middle of a village,
take my camera and go explore the area,
knowing for sure that everything would remain just as I left it.

It was in Morocco where for a first time a kid threw a stone at me,
another pushed my bicycle.
Somebody else woke me up at 5 in the morning saying it was time I went away.

So I did...

 .:. 18 days of travel
 .:. Over 1200 km behind me
 .:. Route from Fes to Marrakesh