Camping Asada
Asilah
Morocco
2 Nights
We were in bed by 9pm last night for an early start this morning. I set the alarm for 03.30 but woke up before and the kettle was on by 03.00. Just tea, no breakfast and we were on the road by 3.50. It was only about 6 miles to the port and there was next to nothing on the roads. Even as we approached the port it was quiet with only a couple of lorries passing us. We very slowly made our way into the port, past the huge container cranes. We followed the signs to Tanger and eventually came to a barrier where a guy checked our tickets and let us through.
That was about 04.05. We didnt move again until 08.38 and made our way onto the ferry which eventually left port just after 10am. By then it was pouring it down with rain. Once on board we were both given an immigration card that we filled in. We then had to queue to give it to a police official who sat at a table with what looked like a portable device that had a nuclear missile launch button in it. He then takes the immigration card, stamps and writes some numbers in it and job done, and then It’s about 1.5 hrs on the ferry. Now we all have to get off, but unlike a ferry we are used to, this one only has one way in, so we are all facing the wrong way and most of these are big motorhomes some with a sizable trailer. We were tucked right in a corner behind the funnel and the last one off, but we backed up 1/2 the way so we went down the ramp forward, another police official checks our passports and we were off.
As we were last, everybody else seemed to have disappeared and we kinda felt left behind making/guessing our way out if the port. Until we caught up with them all at the customs check point. Here we needed to do the usual customs checks, anything to declare plus he asked if we have we any guns or a drone (you can’t take a drone to Morocco). We then had to hand over my passport and the vehicle V5 to temporarily import the vehicle. This all took about 20 minutes, then they give you back your passport and V5, together with a credit card sized piece of paper called a D16. Very important, don’t loose it as you cant leave without it.
And after all this we were finally away at around 14.30 on a Moroccan motorway bound for the coastal town of Asilah. Rain absolutely hammering down, thunder and lightening. Roads good, duel carriageway. Interesting road repair practice we witnessed. Instead of coning off miles of road, turning 2 lanes into 1, they had a bloke or two with a wheelbarrow and just the 1 cone for protection and no prior warning signs. We then came across a lorry that had hit the central reservation, jackknifed with the cab caved in. One lorry in front of us just managed to get round it. Then we went round it too. Little further down the road we saw emergency services coming the other way.
Eventually we arrived at our chosen site for the next two nights. Interesting place, drowning under water from the rain. We daren’t check out the services yet and the EHU appears to be only putting bout 200 volts. We established our fee for the two nights , £10 and then walked into the town to get two SIM cards. That was a bit of a challenge with communication when asking for directions, even with Jo’s excellent French, as the locals seemed to speak Maroc French. Guess it’s gonna be down to me to speak Arabic. 😜
