Start at SAIDIA End at NADOR (TAXI)
Start at NADOR End at MELILLA (SPITHAS)
Day dist.: 19.74 km
Total dist.: 1205.4 km
Riding time: 1:29
Avg speed: 13.1 km
Mx speed: 35.8 m/h
My window was directly above an open club that was having a program till late. I could not fall sleep till late and then when I fell asleep I did not enjoy it. There were many mosquitos and I remember waking up several times during the night to swat them away. I was up by 10:30 and went for a walk to see the town by day light.
The beach
Islamic ladies swimming
The boardwalk
I walked around entered different shops and tasted a lot of snacks that I had seen being sold on the street all these days but did not trust how clean they were. Now all the stores seemed to be very clean and did not hesitate to try all of them. At around 12:30 after having a long friendly conversation with the owner, I think owner, of the hotel, I followed his directions and biked towards the taxi stand, which was very close to the border w/ Algeria.
VNG, Spithas standing at the border of Morocco w/ Algeria
The border
At the taxi stand there were about fifty cabs waiting for customers. There was a man that was handling the whole thing to whom I talked. He told me to wait and he would find a ride for me and Spithas to Nador. Sure enough, after about 20 mins I had my ride. I would be sharing the cab w/ another three people. Evidently Spithas had to pay his fare too.
I should have taken pictures of the cab stand and Spithas in the trunk but in the rush I omitted to take the necessary action.
The three passengers were friends and fellow workers. They were flamenco singers. All of them lived in France and the parents of two of them were Spaniards and of the third one Portuguese. I learned a lot about Flamenco and actually I heard a lot of it, as one of them, the one featuring in the picture below, was so much into it, I guess because of his gypsy roots, that could not stop singing it.
VNG w/ flamenco singer – Cap de mere
It felt funny to be driving on the road I had just biked in the opposite direction.
I about an hour and 20 mins we arrived at Nador where Spithas and I recovered our usual relationship. I rode Spithas from Nador to Melillia. Pictures at the border are forbidden on both sides, which mean I had to take as many as I could.
Border w/ Melillia (Morocco side)
Border w/ Melillia (Spanish side)
I was left w/ about 700 Dirhams and tried to find a way to convert them into Euros. The problem was that it was Sunday and banks were closed, as well as the money changers did not work on late Sundays. I asked around and when I was almost convinced that the 60 euros worth of Dirhams I had would become part of the 400 euro collection of different currencies that I have collected over the year, I entered a supermarket where the owner changed to money for me, naturally at a rate beneficial to him. I was glad to take the offer.
Melillia
I biked into the port only to find out that contrary to my info there were no boats to Malaga today because today it was Sunday. That changed the equation. Had I known I would have stayed a day longer in Saidia or at least in Nador. Be that as it may I found a nearby hotel with a Spanish name that in Greek means uphill. As expected once you cross the border everything changes, including prices that have a tendency to multiply.
I went to my room, took a shower and went out to watch the final game between Spain and Holland
The Spaniards were out in drones in all the squares where giant TV screens were set up.
I watched the first half and then went to the hotel to watch the rest in my room. The game ended with a draw and 30 minutes extension was given. Spain scored the only goal of the game 4 minutes before the end of the extension, which made Spain the world champion. I had to go out and watch the crowds cheering and feasting.
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