さよならモロッコ。道路の無い国境の意味が深い。

さよならモロッコ。道路の無い国境の意味が深い。

We’ve arrived. The Tropic of Cancer. Welcome to the tourist destination, the Tropic of Cancer. Located at 23.4 degrees north of the equator, this is where the sun is most directly overhead at noon on the summer solstice. The reason the sun is most directly overhead is because the Earth is tilted. It’s truly magnificent. If we continue south across Africa, we’ll reach the Tropic of Capricorn, Namibia. I’m looking forward to it. There are long-distance buses to Mauritania, but they don’t stop here. This is a place where you can really feel the atmosphere of a bicycle trip. Hello everyone. This is Asahi. I’m on a 20,000km bicycle journey from the UK to South Africa. I’m currently in Western Sahara, 300km from the Mauritanian border. My long journey through Morocco is almost over, but the desert is still far away. To avoid getting stuck along the way, I need to prepare water and food, and pay close attention to the condition of my bicycle. I broke a spoke. It wasn’t the usual inner one, on the hub side. This side, the rim side, is rusted. It’s reached the end of its life. I’ll repair it. This spoke is fixed. But my front tire suddenly lost air. The hole where I applied the patch to repair the puncture has gotten bigger, like this. I think I’ll try repairing it again. To repair a puncture, you use rubber glue to seal the hole. This melts the rubber slightly and hardens it, but in the high desert temperatures, it takes about half a day to harden. I have a puncture. The sandstorm and strong winds make it quite difficult to repair here. I’ll start the repair there for now. I guess the patch from the puncture repair must have peeled off. That’s what I thought. For now, I’ll put back this tube, which I used to repair the last puncture. Look. There’s so much sand getting in. Repairing a puncture in the desert is very difficult. There are many things to be careful of to prevent sand from getting in and to avoid dropping small parts. And now I discovered another problem: a broken wire. I figured I could fix it with the brake wire I had, but I shouldn’t be doing it here. Since the road is flat, I won’t need the brakes, so I just pack up and head into town. The scorching sun relentlessly dries my throat. I managed to repair the flat tire without losing anything. It’s time to head out. Thank you. I’m so tired. I’ve arrived. Bir Gandouz. No water left. I’ve received permission to camp here. I’ll pitch my tent here. I’ll go shopping in Bir Gandouz. I came here two years ago. I remember. I managed to fix today’s flat, but the patch sticker could come off at any moment. Do they have tubes that fit my tire in this town? How are they? Good? Photo. Chinese? – Japan. Do you speak French? – Yes. Where are the inner tubes? Hotel? – No. Inner tubes. For my bike. Come this way. Over there? You’re buying an inner tube, aren’t you? Probably. Give me some money. No, sorry. Sounds like it. Sounds good. Assalamualaikum. Hello. How are you? Do you have an inner tube? Thank you. Bye. 700 (size). How much? 40 dirhams (4 dollars/600 yen). The tube was 40, so I got 60 change, but the shop didn’t have any 10 dirham coins, so they gave me a discount. It was 30 dirhams (3 dollars), so 450 yen. Thank you. It’s 80km from this town to the border. It’s a five-hour cycling trip. I prioritized getting the brake cable repair done. It was actually three days before Ramadan, and I wanted to finish editing videos before the cafes closed. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. Restaurants like these are closed during the day. For a low-level YouTuber like me, it’s quite difficult to have space to edit videos for a month. Plus, there aren’t many cafes or restaurants in Mauritania. I did a lot of video editing while I was in Morocco. I ended up cycling for just an hour that day and asking for permission to camp at a gas station. Look. Shower. This is a gas station. They let me sleep here for the night. Thank you. I shower. This is how I’ll be staying at the gas station. Probably my last tagine. Tagine is Morocco’s national dish, but not very common in Mauritania. And the next morning. They even served me breakfast. Thank you. This is Morocco. Bir Gandouz. 80km to the Mauritanian border. Today, I plan to stop at the checkpoint town of Guerguerat, just before the border with Mauritania. This is Guerguerat, just before the Mauritanian border. The Western Sahara issue has been a persistent and difficult problem, so there probably aren’t many people living here. I think it’s primarily guarded by the military and police. This is it. I stayed here for one night two years ago. Assalamualaikum. I asked for camping permission here, as usual. I met the same staff member as two years ago, and was shown to the same room as two years ago. This is my last night in Morocco. Moroccan hospitality is truly amazing. Good morning. It’s 10:00 AM on February 28th. This is the border crossing in Guerguerat, Western Sahara, Morocco. Assalamualaikum. I’m doing well. Do you have a visa? Yes. For Mauritania. Do you have a camera drone? No. Drones are banned in Morocco, but I have one. I heard that a cyclist who passed through here earlier was unlucky and had his drone confiscated during a baggage check. I had my drone tucked away in my backpack, but no baggage checks were carried out. I haven’t crossed the Mauritanian border yet. Here, I exchange my Moroccan dirhams for ouguiyas. Ouguiyas? Yes. Are you Moroccan or Mauritanian? Yes, I’m Mauritanian. The fee for exchanging 9,000 yen (60 dollars) is about 250 yen (1.7 dollars). Not bad. 2,500… that’s 20. 25. Isn’t it 35? 2,535, but the one I just got is 2,525. 1 ouguiya is 3.7 yen (0.025 dollars). 35. Okay. 2,535. Thank you. This is the Sand Wall. It’s not very visible from here. The Sand Wall is a defense line stretching approximately 2,700 km in length, built by Morocco, which effectively controls Western Sahara. Morocco claims Western Sahara as its territory, while the Polisario Front, made up of local residents, claims independence and founded the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. This conflict has been going on for about half a century. After 16 years of war in the Western Sahara, a ceasefire was signed in 1991. The area between Guerguerat and Mauritania was a buffer zone where no construction was permitted. However, Morocco’s construction of a paved road there was deemed a violation of the agreement. Then, in 2020, Sahrawi Arab activists blocked the road, halting all traffic for approximately three weeks. Morocco intervened militarily to forcibly remove the protesters who were blocking the road. There are limited routes from North Africa south through the Sahara Desert. This is the only one in West Africa at the moment. Therefore, it’s undesirable for this road to be blocked. This is an area where Morocco struggles to improve roads, even if it wants to. I hope they build a road . However, rather than a problem that closes Guerguerat, I hope they maintain access to the area, even if it’s in this state. It’s the Moroccan flag. It’s amazing to see it here. The significance of the Moroccan flag here is profound. Thank you for watching. This is the end of this video. Please subscribe, like, and comment. See you in the next video. Goodbye. We’ve arrived. Mauritanian border control.

今回の動画では北回帰線から始まり、300km南下して西アフリカ最大の陸の玄関口ゲルゲラットに向かいます。想定外のパンクでチューブに開いた穴が広がってしまい、なんとか直しましたが、砂漠では様々なことに気を付けなければならないと再認識しました。
ゲルゲラットからモーリタニアまでおよそ5kmの緩衝地帯があり、何も建設してはいけない場所となっていますが、、、

ご視聴ありがとうございました。次回もお楽しみに！

【プレイリスト】
★https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIHuErh-dhAtyApw8cu4UE5d0uO-1ErR7

★https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIHuErh-dhAvLMJUOP0ZzCDJO5uujWViH

【オススメ動画】
★アルジェリア

★コートジボワール

★シエラレオネ

★ガーナ