Mountain Hospitality

From Fes I rode two days through the Riff mountains, through endless fields of marijuana and olive trees (pictured) towards Chefchawen, a city where you have no freedom of choice in house paint color.  

I stopped at a small cafe in the evening of the first day to get a coffee to push me the final 30km to a spot that looked like good camping.  Apparently by changing my clothes before coming into the cafe I showed great respect (I was told later). I was  Immediately invited to sit at a table where some guys were drinking coffee or tea and smoking hash (as was everyone in the cafe, and every other cafe I passed). through Google Translate we actually had a great conversation, and they were extremely friendly.  The local hash maker gifted me a nice big chunk, and kept giving me more every time he took one of my rolling papers. Eventually the conversation got to where I was planning on sleeping that night, and I told them, although I kind of hinted that I didn't really feel like biking the rest of the way there. Didn't take long for them to figure out which one of them wanted to host me. Said (guy pictured) ended up calling someone from the town that was attending English school to come over and help translate.  Oussama was a really nice young guy, and after all the discussion where I was gonna sleep I ended up just staying with him and his family, which was a really great experience. They immediately showered me with olives and fruit and bread and fish.  Dinner is a late night thing in the summer months in Morocco, so we ended up hanging out, his brothers and father and I, until around one o'clock in the morning. I slept outside under the stars which they didn't find odd at all, in fact the father of the family, pictured, also preferred to sleep outside, and he slept a few feet away from me.  

I made it to Chefchawen  Pretty late last night, just in time to get a nice sunset pic. I somehow got locked out of my phone, so I had to just wander around to try to find a place to stay, which was pretty difficult with the bike, since every street include stairs and is super narrow, and only ment for walking or donkeys. Somewhat out of desperation I accepted the offer to stay in this dudes house.   I was kind of hoping to find a cheap hostel and link up with some travelers,  but this was fine.  I am now taking a day off,  chilling in the hammock,  and later this afternoon I'll bike 25km to a rockclimber's hostel and try to make use of these shoes Ive been carrying around.

Diarrhea persists at a very tolerable degree.    Just enough to remind me this shit is real.