Day 26: Tinehir
Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Tue 30 Nov 2010 21:34
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Day 26: Tuesday 30 November 2010. Tombucto Hotel,
Tinehir. Distance driven 5km around town.
It blew a gale all night, with sand and rain and we were
very glad not to have been in the tent. This morning it was still blowing
strongly and everything in our room was covered in a fine red dust.
I delivered the Land Rover to Mustapha at 0800 and was rather daunted when
he again looked into the engine and noticed the AC compressor on top of the
injection pump and commented "beaucoup de travail". At that point we
resigned ourselves to another night in Tinehir but the weather outside was so
awful that we didn't really feel like going into the desert anyway.
However, much to my surprise, the chief of police
showed up at 1130 to say that the car was ready! Mustapha had found a way
of getting the injection pump out without dismantling the whole AC system and
had found the leak to be coming from a gasket in the body of the pump. He
had replaced all the seals and gaskets in the pump body and charged 730 Dirhams
or about £58 which I thought very reasonable. I took it for a test drive
and a wash and everything seems to be working well with no leak.
By that time the weather was really foul and we
committed to another night in the hotel. Jenny worked in the room while I
had an extended internet session before going out for a prowl around the souk in
the mud. Tinehir is a really friendly place and almost free from hustlers
and touts and I really enjoyed myself exploring the town. I got a Moroccan
haircut for Dh 15 (£1.30) - especially good value when you consider that there's
nothing left! After that I bought a thick woolen Berber cloak, which so
impressed Jenny that I had to go back and buy her one as well! Mine is
sleeveless and hoodless while Jenny's has both a hood and sleeves. They are
certainly keeping us warm tonight.
I guess we will go to Rissani tomorrow, whatever the
weather but we won't be camping unless things improve dramatically.
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