RALLYE MED 2010 ROUTE NOTES

May 2009

1.

Assemble in Portsmouth to catch the late morning ferry to Santander.

2.

Santander (Spain) - Segovia

From the port, a scenic drive over the Cordillera Cantabrica leads from the verdant coastal belt to the dry central plateau. A small detour on minor roads will pass through two medieval villages before arrival at the night stop in the beautiful small city of Segovia. It is famed for its Roman aqueduct towering 100 feet over the adjacent piazza and a fairy tale alcazar.

3.

Segovia -  Caceres

Time to explore a little of Segovia prior to a climb up to the Sierra Guadarrama, passing Franco’s memorial to the dead of the civil war and the Escorial palace, before visiting the medieval walled city of Avila, highest provincial capital of Spain. Final destination for the day is Caceres where, in the historic centre, Moorish tower houses adorn the narrow streets.

4.

Caceres -  Sevilla

An easy day on main roads interrupted only by a short route section through the best of the roman city of Merida. A lunchtime arrival in Sevilla will provide time to sort out any teething problems with the vehicles. From the hotel overlooking the river, it is a 2k stroll to the alcazar and the enormous gothic cathedral. The adjacent neighbourhood of Santa Cruz is a maze of alleys, small squares of orange trees and tapas bars.

5.

Sevilla (Spain) - Tangier (Morocco)

The North/South traverse of Spain is completed with a drive to the port of Algeciras where regular ferries cross the Straits of Gibraltar to the new port of Tanger Med on the African continent. After negotiating the entry procedures into Morocco, a short journey along the coast will leave time to acclimatise and explore local culture in the medina of Tangier..

6.

Tangier - Marrakesh

The coastal motorway enables a fast transit past Rabat to Casablanca and on to Marrakesh.

7.

Rest day in Marrakesh. A day’s sightseeing should conclude with an evening in the huge square, Djemma el Fna, with its open air food stalls, jugglers and snake-charmers.

8.

Marrakesh - Tinghir

Driving over the High Atlas via the Tizi n’ Tichka pass, the green mountain vegetation gives way to sub-Saharan desert conditions broken only by river valleys and oases. We take a small diversion to visit Ait Benhaddou, one of the best-preserved Kasbahs in the region. The mud-built citadel with adjacent palmery has been used as a set for several major films. The road along the Dades valley leads to Tinehir for a night stop.

9.

Tinghir - Merzouga

Morning visit through the valley oasis to the Todra Gorge where a deep and narrow fault in the mountains has been etched by a crystal clear stream. Then the route leads away from the mountains to Erfoud on the edge of the desert and eventually by desert track to  an overnight stay near the vast sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Camel trips or a night in a sleeping bag under the stars are options..                                                                                   

Then the route leads away from the mountains to Erfoud on the edge of the desert and eventually by desert track to an overnight stay near the vast sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Hopefully we will have organised a dinner feast under the stars with camel safaris into the dunes.

10.

Merzouga - Fes

Travelling back over the Atlas mountains, the route passes through   the charming French-built ski resort of Ifrane. Stop for afternoon tea at the nice patisserie in the square before heading down from the mountains to the religious and cultural centre of Fes, oldest of the imperial cities, and the symbolic heart of Morocco.

11.

Rest day Fes. Pass through the gated walls and explore the alleys and bazaars of this huge, living medieval city. Visit the souks of the dyers and tanners working over their vast cauldrons of dyes. It is an olfactory assault course not to be missed!

12.

Fes -  Tetouan

We take the Route de la Unite - constructed in 1963 to join the Spanish and French areas of the country- which leads up to the Rif mountains that form a spine running parallel to the Mediterranean coast. The economy of this wild, isolated area is based on Kif (Cannabis) which grows wild here, but is also cultivated. After the challenging and spectacular run along this ridge, the night stop is on the coast between Tetouan and Ceuta

13.

Tetouan (Morocco) - Granada (Spain)

Arriving back in Algeciras the route hugs the coast past Gibraltar, before heading into the mountains, past white hill villages, to Ronda with its impressive walls perched on a rocky plateau. A bridge over the dramatic gorge, which divides the city, gives a view of the river 100 metres below. A further excursion on scenic minor roads through the Sierras is planned before returning to the highway to Granada, last stronghold of the Moors in Spain.

14.

Rest day Granada. The hotel is adjacent to its namesake, the Alhambra which is framed by a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada. This  fortress containing palaces and gardens, which represent the pinnacle of Moorish art, lies next to the quaint Arabic quarter of Albaicin. A little further away is the imposing cathedral.

15.

Granada - Benicassim

A long transit day on fast roads and autopistas to the coastal resort of Benicassim, where the wealthy merchants of nearby Castellon built their villas.

16.

Benicassim - Barcelona

A short drive to arrive in Barcelona before lunch. Time to check on the progress of Gaudi’s extraordinary church, (the Sagrada Familia), before taking a stroll in the Las Ramblas district.

17.

Barcelona (Spain) - Arles (France)

A morning on the motorway to reach France, and then a complete change of pace. Take lunch inside the ramparts of a thirteenth century port, now stranded inland, before a leisurely drive through the wetlands of the Camargue, admiring the white horses and flocks of wildfowl. We eventually reach Arles, where the Romans built an amphitheatre and Van Gogh had his most productive painting period.

18.

Arles (France) -  Santa Margherita Ligure (Italy)

By the middle of the day, we will leave the main road to drive through part of Nice, capital of the Cote D’Azur, in order to reach the Corniche road  which passes the hilltop town of Eze and gives panoramic views of the coast near Monte Carlo. We then cross the motorway to tackle the classic mountain run up to the Col de Turini.  After this pleasant interlude, we rejoin the fast road again to our destination, a busy resort on the Ligurian coast which still has a working fishing fleet.

19

Santa Margherita - Rome

The route leaves the coast after Pisa, and takes a meandering course through the some of the best scenery of Tuscany with stops at two of the smaller, less busy medieval towns. We then join the central autostrada passing Orvieto, one the most spectacular of Italy’s hilltop towns, before reaching the eternal city.

20.

Rest day Rome.

21.

Rome - Ravello

After passing Naples, we visit Pompei, the roman town once buried in lava and ash by the eruption of Vesuvius which looms over it. The route then winds round the Sorrento Peninsular, through citrus and olive groves in rocky terrain which plunges down to resorts wedged between cliff and sea. We finish at an hotel high up in the wooded hills overlooking the famed Amalfi Coast.

22.

Ravello - Roccella

After completing the drive along the Amalfi coast from our hotel,  we have a long section on the scenic Southern autopista before we disappear into the wilds of Calabria. In this little known corner of Italy, we pass through time-worn settlements set in the former hunting grounds of King Ferdinand of Naples and visit an ancient town before reaching our hotel, set in extensive grounds overlooking the Ionian Sea.

23.

Roccella - Caltanissetta

After visiting the medieval hilltop town of Gerace, we reach the toe of Italy, cross the Straits of Messina to Sicily and head South to Taormina, which lies opposite the towering, and often smouldering, Mount Etna. It is possible to take a cable car part of the way up the mountain. The route then circles round the mountain and heads West passing the hilltop town of Enna.

24.

Caltanissetta - Palermo

First stop today is at Agrigento, which was once an important Greek city, and has the remains of eight temples set along a ridge, one of which is the best preserved Doric temple of the Greek world. We then take a leisurely drive on minor roads through the centre of the island amidst rolling terrain of wheat, vine and olives with villages displaying a way of life that is slow to change. We pass through Corleone, a town notorious for mafia figures, real and fictional, before arriving in Palermo with time to explore the city.

25.

Palermo (Sicily, Italy) - Tunis(Tunisia)

Early morning departure by ferry to reach Tunis in the evening for entry formalities.

26.

Tunis (Tunisia) - Kairouan

Roman remains come thick and fast today.  Just out of Tunis at Oudna, the extensive remains of an aqueduct, built in Hadrian’s time to carry water to Carthage, lie adjacent to the road, one section with its water shaft intact. Further on are the remains of the small town of Thuburbo Majus, where army veterans were sent and given land to begin their post-army lives. Built on a former Punic settlement, this pretty little town is unusual for a Roman town in having few straight streets. Lunchtime finds us admiring an unusual fountain, fed from mountain slopes where birds of prey soar, and in the afternoon we visit the Roman amphitheatre at El Jem, the largest and best preserved in Africa which held 40,000 spectators.

27.

Rest day Kairouan

The city is the spiritual centre of Tunisia. It has the most important mosque in North Africa, and is a pilgrimage destination for those to whom Mecca is an impossibility. The medina, with its imposing walls and gates, encloses the usual artisan areas, including the finest carpet makers.

28.

Kairouan - Tataouine

A couple of hours passing grove after grove of olive trees on a quiet main road through the Sahel will take us to the busy coast route towards Gabes. We then turn inland to climb into the hills where the Berbers constructed troglodyte dwellings and fortified villages. Many scenes from the Star Trek films were shot here. We venture through wild desert scenery and visit fortified ksars built up with rows of  ghorfas or grain storage rooms..

29.

Tataouine (Tunisia) - Sabratha (Libya)

We cross the border and fix Libyan number plates to our vehicles before making for a beach resort near the first of the trio of important Roman cities. Their commerce enabled Libya to be considered ‘the bread basket of Rome’.

30.

Rest day Sabratha. Originally a Phoenician port, the 3rd century theatre is a highlight of the city which also has several temples and some mosaics.

31.

Sabratha - Misratah

Passing Tripoli, we have plenty of time to enjoy the most spectacular and unspoiled ruins of the Mediterranean at Leptis Magna, where the emperor Septimus Severus (193-211) was born. 

32.

Misratah - Ajdabiya

A very long day on good desert roads passing through Sirt, birthplace of Colonel Gaddafi, where we hope to visit a reservoir which is part of the Great Man-Made River Project bringing subterranean Saharan water to the Libyan coastal cities.

33.

Ajdabiya -  Al Bayda

After Benghazi we pass through the fertile Jebel Akhdar uplands, calling at a museum of mosaics on the way to our hotel near Apollonia, once the port for the ancient Greek city of Cyrene.

34.

Rest day Apollonia.  Before swimming near the ruins of the Roman seaport, time to drive a few kilometres inland  to a lush valley containing the remains of Cyrene, one of the principal cities of the Hellenic world, with its own local school of philosophers. It was famous for its horses and medicines made from herbs..

35.

Apollonia - Bardiyah

After a short spell of contemplation at the Knightsbridge War Cemetery, we proceed to Tobruk which, thanks to its deep port, was of strategic importance during the desert campaign of World War Two. Rommel laid siege to the city eventually capturing it for a few months - until El Alamein. We continue on to a brand new seaside hotel close to the Egyptian border.

36.

Bardiyah (Libya) - Marsa Matrouh (Egypt)

We trade Libyan registration plates for Egyptian ones before driving to a new beach resort. After complicated border procedures, relaxation on the beach with a beer after a dry week will be welcome.

37.

Marsa Matrouh - El Giza

The coast road continues on to El Alamein where, in the autumn of 1942, allied forces broke through the Axis lines and eventually forced them back to Tunisia. Commonwealth, Italian and German war cemeteries are located here, as well as a war museum. The route then turns inland towards Giza on the outskirts of Cairo.

38,9.

Rest days Giza. Time for serious attention to the vehicles at an hotel overlooking the pyramids and the sphinx, which are within walking distance. Let someone else drive you into central Cairo to visit the old city, or the superb Egyptian Museum with its Tutankhamun galleries.

40.

El Giza - St.Katherine’s

Passing through South Cairo, good roads lead to the Suez Canal and the tunnel beneath it to the Sinai Peninsular. After following the Gulf of Suez in a southerly direction, we head into rugged, red, granite mountains to reach our night stop near the Greek Orthodox monastery of St.Katherine’s at the base of Mount Sinai. It is here that Moses is believed to have received the Ten Commandments. Many visitors climb to the summit to meet the dawn and enjoy the view of the monastery on the descent.

41.

St.Katherine’s (Egypt) - Aqaba (Jordan)

It will be possible to visit the monastery in the morning, although it is still in use, before heading out of the mountains to drive to the resort of Nuweiba to catch the ferry for the four hour voyage to Aqaba.

42.

Aqaba - Petra

An early start to a busy day will allow time in the desert landscape of Wadi Rum, where sandstone and granite mountains are cut by deep fissures, which can be explored by foot, camel or jeep. We then drive to Petra to visit the Nabataean city carved out of desert rock between the third century BC and the first century AD. The approach on foot from the Visitor Centre is through a narrow, dark defile which suddenly opens out to reveal the spectacular treasury building cut into a sandstone cliff.

43.

Petra - Amman

We follow the King’s Highway, past hilltop towns with crusader castles and nature reserves, before driving down to the Dead Sea for an afternoon float in the extremely saline water. Night stop is in the capital city, where we hope to meet up with some of the many car club members.

44.

Amman (Jordan) - Damascus (Syria)

We pass through Jerash - which has a fine, compact Roman city - on the way to the border, before taking the main road to the capital of Syria. Early arrival in Damascus will allow a late afternoon visit to the main souk and other sites in the old city which will be closed on our rest day.

45.

Rest day Damascus. Gated ramparts surround the old city where you can walk on ‘the street called straight’ - mentioned in the bible (Acts 9, the conversion of Paul) and explore its palaces, museums and khans.

46.

Damascus - Palmyra

If negotiations are successful with the Lebanese authorities, we will be passing through the beautiful Bekaa valley and calling at the ancient Baalbek archeological site before we head out into the Cham Desert to the oasis of Tadmor. This was the halt for caravans travelling between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean mentioned in Assyrian tablets in the 20th.century BC. Renamed Palmyra, it became an important Roman city, its colonnade of over a thousand columns stretching more than a kilometre to the temple of Baal. A seventeenth century citadel broods over the site from a nearby hill.

47.

Palmyra - Lattakia

We take a minor road through the desert to reach Hama on the Orontes River, where its famous ancient water wheels still turn in the stream. Later, we pay a visit to Crac des Chevaliers, the archetypical crusader castle, with an inner curtain wall up to one hundred feet thick at its base. It was the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades. T.E.Lawrence described it as ‘ probably the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world’. The last night in Syria is at a coastal resort.

48.

Lattakia (Syria) - Mersin (Turkey)

Over the border, the Hatay area of Turkey has much fertile farmland on which cotton is grown to supply the textile factories of some large industrial towns. Night stop is in the large city of Mersin.

49.

Mersin - Antalya

A long day on the meandering South coast road where the rugged Taurus Mountains plunge down to the sea, enclosing remote little ports.

50.

Rest Day Antalya. In a beautiful bay flanked by mountains, Antalya is a popular resort for Turks. The old part of the city, with its renovated Ottoman houses, snuggles round the horseshoe-shaped old harbour. From here, a boat leaves regularly for a trip to the Duden Falls which cascade into the sea.

51.

Antalya - Ephesus

routThe route leads away from the coast up into the highlands, through cedar forest, to a natural area seen on many tourist brochures. Mineral waters from a spring tumble down the rocks to form frozen, white waterfalls and tiers of pools and cascades at Pamukkale. After the visit the route continues through the rich agricultural area of the Buyuk Menderes Valley to a West coast resort near Ephesus.

52.

Ephesus- Ayvalik

An easy day starting with a leisurely stroll through the spectacular Roman remains at Ephesus, just a short distance from our night stop. The impressive Celsus Library and an enormous theatre await at this large site, of which only 15% has been excavated.

Heading North, we pass Izmir, make a brief visit to an old acropolis and stop near Ayvalik, which has an atmospheric old centre of crumbling and neglected Ottoman Greek dwellings.

53.

Ayvalik (Turkey) - Alexandroupolis (Greece)

Further north up the coast is the ancient city of Troy, rediscovered in the nineteenth century. The very complicated site has the layered, scant remains of 3000 years, and most visitors make amends for their disappointment by posing in front of the full scale model of the wooden horse at the entrance!

At Canakkale we take the short ferry trip over the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli peninsular, which was the scene of fierce and bloody fighting during the first World War. We cross the border to spend the night in Greece.

54.

Alexandroupolis - Portaria

It is a long drive across the northern shore of the Aegean past the byzantine castle of Kavala to Thessaloniki and then south to The Pelion, a peninsular dominated by Mount Pelion.

55.

Portaria - Athens

 An easy day after the long run yesterday.  The hotel has superb views over Volos and its harbour and we have time to explore the village and its equally charming neighbour which are typical of the traditional whitewashed villages of the Pelion set in verdant ravines and reached by tortuous roads. After leaving the hills, a fast road will enable a mid-afternoon arrival in the capital.

56.

.Rest day Athens.

57.

Athens - Meteora

This day has been shortened to miss out the Peloponnese coast because the mountain roads require more careful progress, and all  descriptions of the Delphi site include a recommendation to allow plenty of time to savour the magnificent scenery in which the oracle is set.

58.

Meteora - Ioannina

Before too many tourist buses arrive, we plan a morning visit to the amazing collection of barely accessible monasteries perched high on sandstone pillars. We then proceed to the lake-side city of Ioannina with time for an excursion to some of the ancient stone villages above the dramatic Vikos Gorge.

59.

Ioannina (Greece) - Durres (Albania)

Albania is hoping to make a rapid transition from an almost medieval infrastructure to join its neighbours from the EC, which has already financed some improvements to its roads. This will aid our progress to Durres, a coastal resort not far from the capital Tirana. We stop for coffee at Gjirokastra, an ancient town with stone built houses flanking the steep cobbled streets which lead to up an old fortress.

60.

Durres (Albania) - Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Two border crossings will be made on this day. We pass through Montenegro, pausing at Kotor, a walled city on the deepest fjord in Southern Europe.

61.

Rest Day Dubrovnik. Much of the walled old town of this beautiful city on the Adriatic has been restored after the recent troubles.

62.

Dubrovnik -  Zagreb

The Dalmatian coast up to Split has some spectacular driving. After visiting Diocletian’s palace, which forms a large part of the city centre, we take the new motorway from Split to Zagreb.

63.

Zagreb (Croatia) - Gunzburg (Germany)

Heading for home through Slovenia, we take major roads where possible, resting for the night at an hotel not far from the autobahn.

64.

Gunzburg (Germany) - Reims (France)

fIf the weather permits, we will take a diversion through the Black Forest - it was covered in a blanket of fog on the London to Sydney Rally -before finding a friendly restaurant to celebrate our last night together.

65.

Reims - Calais for Channel tunnel

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