Day 80: 3 Nov ’91 Waiting in Ouzazerte

I got up at 7am and went out to get egg, milk and bread for breakfast. The local shop had Quaker Oats so I bought some too. The presence of these British foods felt like a luxury. We had porridge, scrambled eggs and cowboy coffee (made in a saucepan).

I slept after breakfast and Dan went up onto the roof. Brian came in for a while to see if Dan could mend his speedometer for his bike. I went out into town to buy lunch and walked a long way to find the fruit and vegetable market.

I returned to find Brian’s front wheel off and his rack undone with the two of them fiddling with the components of the speedometer. But, they couldn’t fix it. Sarah was still in bed recovering from their trip the day before. Brian and Sarah went out for lunch while Dan and I ate children’s tinned spaghetti, corned beef and yoghurts (I had not found the market). They had left us their room key so we could use their hot shower. I took advantage of this wonderful offer.

In the afternoon, Brian and Sarah returned with a bagful of dates (of which I was a bit suspicious of their fitness to eat!) and shared them with us. We talked for a couple of hours about Morocco and what we were going to do when we got home. Brian and Sally were very nice and easy going. We got along with them very well. Dan started to look tired and they left.

We cooked up some food we had bought that afternoon and Brian and Sarah dropped off their key again so we could use the shower. We were about to eat when Hussein knocked on the door twenty minutes early. He came in and chatted with us while we ate. We showed him pictures of our family.

Hussein and I then walked up to the Hotel Azghor for a coffee. It was another expensive hotel, quite modern with its bar half full of Moroccans drinking beer. Some of them were rolling around after what seemed like only a couple of beers. We sat outside in the cool air next to the pool overlooking the town.

We talked for over two hours about his fiancée, Penny, British colonial influence, the relations between the French and the English and travelling. It was interesting but tiring trying to think and speak in French for all that time.

I went back to our room after saying good night to Hussein and found Dan lying on his bed. Brain and Sarah had given us a Mars Bar each, plus some soap powder and their address. Despite no cycling for a couple of days, I was shattered.