2 days later, at 9:30 am, I am leaving Fes, departing with the same constant drizzle as the day I arrived.
I am on the way to the N8, the main road to Marrakech. Temperature is a good 9 degrees. Unfortunately, the road is going up into the mountains. After 20 km it becomes colder, and further south you can see the snow on the hilltops.
Just be careful, turn on the heated grips, and continue. But it’s getting colder and colder. After 70km I am in Taounza, stand at a road barrier, in a line with cars and busses and wait for something. I do not know what, the barrier is just closed. It starts to snow, and not just a little bit…
Suddenly, a snowplow comes up from behind me, Â the barrier goes up and I follow the plow for a few hundred meters. But the snowfall is getting worse, the road continues upwards. The busses that were waiting with me get turned around by the police, as the pass is deemed not passable for them.
I stop at 1650m altitude and look for an alternative. My boots are slipping badly on the wet snow and I am amazed how well the TKC70 are able to deal with the road condition. I turn the bike around, get a few calls and a single applause at the barrier (hey, the German did finally understand us…), and drive slowly, very slowly, through the snowstorm over the R707 to Meknes on the A2.
As soon as I am under 1400m, after a good 20km, the snowfall is replaced by drizzle, it is 4 degrees – I would never have thought that I would be so happy that it is raining.
At the first freeway I fill up, drink a coffee, meet a coach bus and another car, all of which I have seen before, as they were turned around at the barrier.
This was unfortunate, as the landscape, when I was able to see it through the snow storm, looked very nice. The rest of the trip was easier, and uneventful. Partially scenic, very attractive, seemingly endless green hills on the way to the east, behind Casablanca. It got constantly warmer until I arrived at the parking lot at around 6pm in Marrakech.