After 3 days on waiting for visa at Mauritania border, it finally arrived. And I was readt to move. The border crossing is an absolute caos! Liuckily there is one guy who seem shonest and will guide you through all the steps (and there are many!) of crosing the bodrder. Once this is finally over, you can enter Mauritania.
At first the landscape seem dull and boring, and it continues all the way to the town of Nouadhibou.
The town of Nouadhibou was horrible for me when I visited it first time. The amount of trash and super busted vechicles, combined with the fact I couldnt even fiund a working atm, made me just want to leave this place.
I didnt want to stay even if I find something because I was staying on the border in Guerguerat for 3 days.
After I barely managed to find working atm (which toook probably 8 euros for withdrawal!) , I bought some food and just cycled of of the town, although it was close to evening and I had no idea where am I going to sleep.
I had no plans and I didnt even had a sim card. On the border they didnt want to bargain so I skiped getting sim card there, now I didnt even find it here.
I was on the way out of the city, with time being about 18:30 when I stumbled on train station and people were still waiting for the train. Usually the train leaves around 16:00 but today I was lucky to find it late.
I only waited for about 45 minutes and the train arrived. I quickly decided to take it (which was my original plan anyway) where I met two other travelers going in same direction. One Moroccan guy and one Japanese.
Although we started at night (which is not the best time because you cant see the surroundings) the whole ride was nothing but spectacular.
Even at night when the train stopped at avroius stations, becuase of the moon, we could still see the background and the whole feeling was ominous.
And the most exhilarating thing about riding this train are the shockwaves which travel through the train everytime the train startes moving.
It takes quite a while for a body to adjust to this becuase is scary to experience this when the whole train moves almost half a meter in a second and it can easily through you off balance if you are not aware.
We spent whole night mostly sleeping (in intervals obviously). I just took out my mat and sleeping bag and actaully got most of my sleep that night, despite crazy conditions.
After this ride everything was completely dusted (clother, bikes everything!)
In the morning train was sitll moving and we got good 2 hours of ride in the daylight, which was the peak of its all.
Until the train finally arived at town of Choum where we had to get off. The trian goes further if you want to continue riding it.
In Choum I took direction to town of Atar which was about 1-2 days away.
Landscape here changed drastically to what I wa used in Morocco.
Evertyhing become so rocky and it was this dark granit looking rock.
Still ocasionally roads were blasted by sands. It was enough of this for me after Morocco.
Crazy rock stone formations.
In Mauritania police controls were frequent.
But this was also a good place to get water. Since I was drinking about 8 liters a day, I would always fill my water at the checkpoints.
Some climbs here but also hard riding becuase of the headwind at some point when the road turned east.
One night I slept in one old school mud wall building.
Poor villages
And lots of oasis clearly showing there is more water here
After the town af Atar, the roud turned east towards Terzit. This was an oasis in the middle of the desert where often people were stoping to rest.
Road were very beautiful in Mauritania since Choum
Villages in Terzit. There is no much here in terms of comfort. There is basic accomodation here like tents or small native houses. And 2 very basic food shops.
There are several spots to take a bath here and its fenomenal!
And the accomodation is not expensive. However there are some limitations like no internet signal and food is very limited.
Still, this doesnt stop others from staying here longer.
I only came here for a day and was eager to continue forwards cycling into the vastness.
My space overnight in the oasis.
The owner of this place speaks English very good!
The road onwards continues through the canyons. I was almost never border with landscapes here!
But the cycling was tough. Food was limited and the day I cycled to Terzit I actually got a heat stroke (because I was not wearing my sun hat enough during the day).
I was not aware of this at the time and only rememebed feeling some stomack issues, thinking this came from some mountain water I was drinking in Terzit which had some strong sediment taste.
I was fighting these stomach issues next 4 days on the road, and some diarrhea because of that.
Once I had met other travelers who were in those large overland trucks, that gave me a ride one day because I was not able to cycle any more at one point, they suggested I actually might had a heat stroke, not water poisoning. Then I remembered the day this stocach issues started I had some headache as well.
Road covered with sand.
I havent had this issue in Morocco but here for the first few days of moving east from Terzit, roads were covered in sand.
This meant you had to push your heavy loaded bike through sand blockages on the road 10 - 20 times daily, which adds up!
Aoujeft, the first and only town I saw next day.
I remember it well, first becuase the whole town was covered in sand, and I had to push my bike though lot of it, and secondly , because there was no bread that day in stores (which I really craved for that day)
One of the lcals giving me water one morning from a well.
Many villages had such well directly in the desert.
Some kind of pumpkin fruit that was present on the side of the roads a lot. Of course, it was not editable, at least not in this form.
Emptying shoes from sand was a common occurence :D
Annoying sand blockages, even the cars were struggling , but for bikes it was impossible.
One day I stopped near some pond (not the cleanest but my air matress was leaking and I wanted to detect a leak).
As I approached the pond, there was dry patch around, then some wet looking ring around the pond. It didnt look like mud, only slight wet.
As I stepped with my both foot, I immediateluy sunk to my ankles with both feet in this deep clay mud. It was like a scene from the movie.
I had to take off my shoes, then tryo to clean them in the pond as best as I could. I removed my socks that day and continued to cycled in completely wet shoes only.
This was not a problem since it was 30 degress outside and the shoes dries quickly but they were still muddy and it probably took days for them to completely clean of this clay mud.
And of course I did not finf the puncture that day, so all this was useless :)
I got really tired from pushing my bike through sand every day.
One great camping spot in the evening, close to the road but completely hidden behind sand dunes.
In this wastness there was nobody around for miles (or more).
Also cars were very rare on the road, and not like in Morocco.
Strange looking vegetation was present constantly with the sand here.
I met 4 or 5 overlanding trucks here on this road stretch from Atar to Tidjikja, which was a nice welcoming because the traffic on the roads here was rare, plus they would always give me some food and water, which was great!
As the days progressed and the cycling was tough becuase of my stomach issues and the fact I was cycling in the headwind as I was going east to Tidjikja, on the day 5 and 6 my body was just not performing well, and although I wasnt feeling sick (except for this stomach issue) I still felt weak and I just couldnt cycle and more in the headwind.
Plus the road clicmbs towards Tidjikja constantly. Climbs are not big (maybe few percent) but still present.
Becuase of that I decided to try to hitchhike this last stretch to Tidjikja, but this proved not to be easy at all. First, there were not a lot of cars on the raod, second, not all cars could take my bike, and third not everybody actually wanted to stop.
Only on the second day (6 th day in a row) I had luck to met another overland truck with 2 Germans who were able to take my bike and kindly offered me a ride to Tidjikja for the last 75 km.
so what I initally thouhg it woudkl tak 4 days or so for me to get from Atar to Tidjikja, it ended up being 6 days plus I had to take a rid in truck last 75 km.
Thats how hard all this was for me. But it was an adventure and one of the best parts of my Africa journey!
Whilei n Europe machines clean snow from the roads, here they clear sand!
Camels were ever present in Mauritania.
I hope I will see them again in south Africa.
On the 6th day I finally managed to get a hike to Tidjikja in an overland truck.
Lovely Germans who I traveled with.
Once I finally got to Tidjikja, the road turned towards Senegal border and it became easier to cycle since there was no headwind any more.
Random villages
A,mazing landscapes continued almost all the way to Senegal border close to town of Aleg.
I was so dirty in Mauritania (never took a hotel here for several reasons).
One of them being lack of money (I only withdrew some cash , not a lot in Nouadhibue and after I went east, there was no ATM any more, and this was a big problem not just here but also cycling other Africa lonely landscapes! )
Sleeping in one of local resting places (forgot the name of such buildings) where people would stop and have a break from the sun.
This one was abandoned but this was good because I could stay overnight here.
I had sirius issues with tires constanlty getting punctures (from outide and inside) and I was running out of tire glue, patches and tubes all together.
One of the all time lows on this trip happened here because of that.
I felt helpless (because I was not in Europe where you can just buy whatever parts you need for your bike) and really wanted to just go home many time, and I probably would, if I could just instantly sit on the plane and go home.
But for this to happen, I would need to hitchhike with my bike probably 500 km to get to nearest airport so this was out of the question.
Good Samaritan to the rescue.
As. Iwass itting that day on the side of the road with both of my tires deflated thinking what to do next, somebody in the car stopped, come to me and offered to help.
He sat in his car, visited the next town and bought me 3 new tubes, came back and didnt even ask for money.
The tubes were shite but they were new and I ws suppery happy to chnge them and continue cycling that day.
I never imagined this shitty day would end like this.
Sunset on the descent towards the town of Rachid.
Landscapes super exiting here!
Camping that night some kilometers out of the town in the desert.
Fixing tire puncture next to the road you get company sooner than later.
Trashed towns, makes you wonder how people can live in all this trash.
Trash bins basically do not exist (except in largest of town but even there you struggle to find them).
Sleeping in one of those shepard resting points next to the road.
I lowered the curtains over night to block the wind and it was super cosy inside.
Crossing the river into Senegal
After some days I reached the border.
Roads were super exciting in Mauritania until maybe day or two until I got close to the Senegal border.
Border crossing requires a boad and some bargain with locals working these boats.
I left last bills in my wallet here (spending rest on food) hoping it would be enough for the boat.
Of course its never enough (although some cyclist paid even less) but I still left enough money, knowing how much they usually ask.
Crossing was without issues, little bit fiddling with getting bike on and off board.
And in Senegal I was.
Mauritania was great for me, but only because I went east, the idea I got from Whatsapp group Cycling West Africa.
In fact it was so good maybe one day I visit Mauritania again and explore other hidden gems on the east of the country.
I will definitely visit Morocco again!
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