Morocco - Van Painting, Taghazout and Agadir

On Wednesday morning we drove 15 minutes from Taghazout to Aourir- commonly known as the banana village.  It would be at the mechanics here that we would spend about a week getting the rust repaired on the van and a new paint job.  Not really something we were looking forward to, but a necessity as the van was showing more and more wear and tear since we bought it 2 years ago.

Things were made a little difficult when I (Nicky) woke up in the middle of the first night and was very sick.  Once it was out of my system I began to improve, and a day or two later I was back to normal.

Staying at the mechanics was hardly paradise and we were very happy to go to Agadir for the day with Graham and Sue.  A quick stock up at the Marjane supermarket and then it was on to the souk.  The souk is Agadir is great- the best we have been to.  It is in a walled enclosure and contains everything from fruit and vegetables, to household items, clothing, furniture and food stalls.  We shared a chicken tagine and mixed plate of fried fish for lunch.  We bought 3 pirated DVDs (10 Dirhams each- 90 euro cents) and a new mat for the van (20 Dirhams).

The weather turned for the worse and we were grateful to have the van in the garage.  We have had some heavy rainfalls which no doubt would have given us a few leaks in the van had it been outside.  At least we weren't missing out on any good weather, and they are still able to do their work, rain or shine.

The weather picked up and the guys continued to work pretty well and they managed to finish the van in 6 days rather than 7.  They have made a good job of it and everyone was impressed when we got back to Taghazout.  There is the odd imperfection with the paint work, but they don't have a spray booth and the price they charge is extremely affordable.  There was one final scare when they were almost done and I pointed out they hadn't put the windscreen sprayer nozzle back in.  Well of course they had lost it, so after some vain searching and then a little wait one thankfully appeared and we were sorted.

  

Whilst basing ourselves back at Taghazout we returned again to Agadir, this time walking along the promenade to the marina.  The promenade is lined with flash restaurants and has a feel of a European city, not a traditional Moroccan one.  Also on recommendation we stopped at Snack Pacific- a small, tidy restaurant in the downtown area, where a burger and fries was an extremely low 18 dirhams (1.60 euros).

The next day we had a problem with our water pump (it was going but no water was coming out) and thankfully Roley was here. He had it out and opened it up and cleaned it out and put it back and it started working, so here's hoping.  Also that day we walked to the village but by a long route up into the hill behind us.

Today we drove up to the Kasbah which overlooks Agadir (this provided some great views) and we also went back to the Valley of the Birds.  In the morning we'll be going out to breakfast in the village because Graeme and Sue and Roley and Anne are going south and we are heading north.