Hassi Labied to Tinerhir

This morning we woke to the news that despite the rain that fell during the night it was possible to get out using a grand taxi to the edge of the flood waters, then change transport to cross the flood waters and once on the other side get in another grand taxi to take us through Efroud then on to our destination.  The only catch was the road between Efroud and Tinerhir was flooded and still not possible to pass even in a four wheel drive.  It was still possible to get to Tinerhir but we would have to take the longer way around and backtrack through Er Rachidia.

Esther and Lilian came back in from their camel trek and after some consultation we all decided to hire a Grand Taxi between us to get us to Tinerhir since we were all going that way and it would certainly break down the cost for us all.

The Kasbar Mohajut arranged and paid for the Grand Taxi to the edge of the flood waters which we all thought was a nice touch.  They also called ahead and arranged the Grand Taxi to be on the other side and negotiated the price for us.  So to all the guys at the Kasbah big thumbs up and thank you!

We said goodbye to Dena and Joani earlier in the dining room over breakfast and after the girls had a chance to shower and change we all bundled into the Grand Taxi that was waiting for us.  When we reach the edge of the flood waters it was an amazing sight.  There we were on the edge of the desert with water stretching out in all directions.  There were massive trailers hooked up to tractors and our Taxi driver herded us to one of the trailers and we climbed up.  He explained to us he’d already been paid and he would go with us to the other side and show us to the taxi waiting for us.  There was a long line of cars waiting at the edge with tow trucks waiting to get them across and we had a small bus hitched to the back of the trailer to pull it across.  It was filled with travellers who were busy snapping photos of us all perched up on top on the trailer.  I’m thinking the farmers who owned the trailers and tractors were having a great time though they were charging a fair price for the crossing.

Once across we were shown to our taxi and we were off towards Tinerhir.  We had a few stops on the way to take photos and then a stop in Er Rachidia to get some lunch.  Ended up getting a sandwich cooked at a little stall at the markets.  It was quite funny since Louise decided to be good and got some bananas and a bread roll.  I stopped in front of this little stall and watched the man cook up a storm making sandwiches filled with mince or chicken and salad and chips all for about 10 dirham.  That was me settled, it looked good to me so that is what I ordered.  Lou’s mouth started watering so she promptly decided the bread and banana could wait and she ordered one as well.

It was like a dam had burst and suddenly all these other travelers were converging on the little stall and ordering some food.  The poor man and to get help in!  Lilian and Esther made it back from their expedition to the ATM and ordered one as well.  Let me tell you it was as good as it smelt!  Not that you can smell it you’ll just have to trust me on that one!

We ate on the run and got into Tinerhir late afternoon.  We found a room without really looking all that much and we discovered that it was a little chilly!  We were told the gorges were flooded so after some discussion decided to head to Ouarzazarte tomorrow and possibly double back after that depending on if there was more rain or not.  We were a little disappointed not to get to see the gorges but it is not like we can control the weather.

Dinner that night was interesting.  It looked and sounded like we were the only guests in the hotel and we were up in the lounge having a drink.  The waiter came out and asked if we wanted dinner because the cook would be going home at 2100 hours and since there was no food in the kitchen if we told him what we would like they would go and buy the ingredients for it!  Talk about fresh food.  it was great!

Tinerhir to Ouarzazate

Well we are now in Ouarzazate and about a week or so behind in the journal. We’ll try and catch up when and as we can but some of the internet connections here are a little unreliable an quite frankly most of the places we have been of late have not had any internet.

We went to Hassi Labied and went on a camel trek in Erg Chebbi staying in Berber camps which was good if a little wet. No you do not have to read that again and no I did not use the wrong word. It was a little, um, wet. How many people do you know who go to the Sahara to do a camel Trek and it rains on them? But as Lou kept saying in a monotone voice while rocking back and forth ‘Its an adventure, its an adventure….’ Anyway we’ll fill you all in on that adventure in due course.

When we got back from the camel trek it was just as well we’d decided to stay an extra night in the Kasbar and booked the room before we left since due to that ‘wet’ problem I mentioned we got rained in and the road was flooded. We got out the next day using a combination of Grand Taxi and a tractor with a great big trailer on the back to get us through the flooded part of the road. I must say the tractor ride was lots of fun in an absurd kind of way.

We then headed up to Tinerhir thinking of some trekking in the Todra and Dades Gorge, when I say we I should say we’ve hooked up with a couple of American girls for a few days as we all seem to be going the same way. Unfortunately also due to that ‘wet’ problem while it is possible to get to the gorges or so we were told it was also a little dangerous, as in flash floods, rock slides etc etc. So that is when we decided to come here.

At least this morning timing wise things kind of went well. We checked out of our hotel and walked down to the CTM bus office that we had seen the night before. There was a bus out the front and we asked about the next bus to Ouarzazate. The attendant pointed to the bus out the front and said 5 minutes. So no sooner were we on the bus and headed out of town.

The scenery was nice and the water coming down the rivers was flowing quite strongly.

Comment of the day award has to go to Esther who piped up on seeing a bunch of people doing a tour of Morocco by push bike complete with suport cars ‘Tourists!’ said in a little tone of disgust.  We all laughed at that one.

We got into town just after midday and after checking into a hotel we checked out the quad bikes that Lou had been interested in. The prices have gone up slightly so we are going to give them a miss.

So that is the really condensed version of our last week and you are kind of up to date as of now.

Ouarzazate

Our day started of trying to fulfil a great idea that came to us over our 2nd bottle of Moroccan Cabernet Savingon the night before. We, that is Cath,myself and our two new friends Lilian and Esther, had all been sitting around the little living area between our rooms pouring over our guide books trying to decide where we were going to head after Ouarzazate. After a couple of hours of no luck and no decision being made the idea was thrown up to hire a car between the four of us for a few days and travel the countryside at will and ending up in Essouria where we would unfortunately have to part company. We had found a good quote on the internet the night before but we dismissed it as they wanted to charge us 3.5Dh per kilometre. Yeah like we were going to agree to that.

So that’s how we ended up this morning walking into the Ouarzazate office of Avis and telling them what we wanted and asked for a quote. Surprisingly it was quite good - better than the online price - and included unlimited kilometres. So that how we came to get Gary. Gary Golf that is - the lovely little VW golf that was ours to command for the next few days. And yes - of course we had to name him!!!!

It was as we were all piling into Gary - me in the driver’s seat, Lil - front passenger, console operator, munchies supplier and navigator, Cath and Es in the rear - Route planners and DJ’s - another car suddenly pulled over in front of us the occupants waving. It was only once they had got out of the car that we recognised Yussef, Dena and Joanie’s guide, and their driver Brahim. We had a good chat and arranged to meet up with them a half hour later at the Atlas Studios outside of town. We gave it half an hour as we figured it would take me that long to work out how to drive Gary from the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road. That was Lil’s other job to keep saying the following things to me every time we approached an intersection - “Keep right”, “Look left”. Between that and attempting to wind the window down every time I wanted to change gears made for an interesting morning.

We made it the 7 or so kilometres to the studio complex, met up with Joanie and Dena and joined in the tour of the studios. Here’s the image for you - large plot of land surrounded by open plains of desert with mountains in the distance, goats and their shepherd wandering the site at will, a few odd buildings and a gate. It was very simple but interesting as the guide explained the different sets and the movies that had been made there - Jewel of the Nile, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Cleopatra, Kundun, etc. The idea of bottling some of the dirt that Russell Crowe or Orlando Bloom had stood on and then selling it on EBay was floated a number of times.

The highlighted comment for the day did not come from me for a change but from Joanie. We had all been draped around a sitting lion set which had been used for a number of movies including ‘Cleopatra’.  Yussef had his arm covered in all our cameras as he was acting as the official photographer.  As he began to take the photos he called out to us, ‘Say Cleopatra’ to which Joanie commented, “What’s cleopatra?”. Once we had stopped laughing we dutifully explained.

After our studio tour, we followed the others (ie Joanie, Deana, Yousef and Brahim) 30 kilometres out of town to Ait Benhaddou which is a beautiful and well preserved Kasbah on the side of a hill which had been the setting for many films such as Gladiator (the scenes after he is captured as a slave and begins his Gladiator training), Jewel of the Nile, Lawrence of Arabia to name a few. Let’s just say that there are going to be a few DVD nights when we get home just so that we can have the perverse pleasure of saying “I’ve been there!”. Thankfully the Kasbah is now under Unesco (or heritage) protection so that it can be preserved for many generations to come. Only about 10 families now live within the kasbah itself as it does not have any running water, electricity, etc. The remainder of the occupants now live in the village just across the river.

Ah the river - it all comes back to water for us doesn’t it! Remember in previous journal entries, Cath and I may have mentioned that we had come across a spot of rain whilst here? Well as a result of that little drizzle the river was flooded and we could not cross by ourselves. Now when I say flooded we’re not talking about raging torrent that swept away half the town but a river at least 10 metres wide, deep enough to come up to mid thigh and flowing quick enough that there was a good enough chance that I would slip and end up on my butt. So how were we to get across and over to the Kasbah I hear you ask. It was by this time that we were literally surrounded by young boys and teenagers clutching the reins of various camels and donkey’s. Yousef busily negotiated a 10dh fee for the return trip and allocated us our ‘drivers’. I was given a boost up onto this huge donkey, the teenager vaulted up in front of me and off we go at a fast walk verging on a trot down the embankment and into the river with me on the back saying repeatedly in a high pitched voice “slowly please slowly” to which the driver replied through laughter “yes slowly”.

I’ll give you all a minute to stop laughing…................................

After several minutes of again imaging myself on my butt sitting in the middle of the river, we safely and dryly I might add made it to the other side and hence commenced an exploration of the kasbah with a local guide who showed us some restored living areas including bedrooms, well and kitchen within the kasbah. After exploring the kasbah, we again ventured the river on our donkey’s and headed but up to the top of the hill for lunch of a tangine, omelette and of course Moroccan bread, on a patio overlooking the kasbah.

We moseyed back into Ouarzazate, stopped at the supermarket for some more wine, cheeses, salami and other ingredients for a carpet picnic dinner as well as the laundry for our clean clothes and headed back to our hotel and planned our next day as we had decided to backtrack a little now we had the car so that we didn’t miss out on seeing the gorges.

What a great day it had been and the car had already proved it’s worth allowing us to see sights that we ordinarily may not have seen due to their location and the cost involved in trying to get transport out there.

So far this trip has been a real eye opener for me and I have had a number of ‘FIRSTS’ already including:
- first time backpacking with only 2 pairs of shoes and no hairdryer
- first time in hotel without hot water - wasn’t that a fun one
- first time experiencing the joy of turkish toilets (for those confused they are the squat variety) though it did take til the second attempt before I correctly worked out what the bucket and tap were for. Before all you experienced backpackers roll your eyes, Cath had dutifully explained the etiquette of squat toilets for me but had forgotten to mention that that was for Asian countries and did not apply here…...
- first time on a camel
- first time peeing behind a sand dune and hoping that the people sitting on top of the high dune nearby cannot see or recognise me
- first time driving on the wrong side of the road sitting on the wrong side of the car
- first time a foreign official from another country has unsuccessfully attempted to get a bribe out of me
- first time (and hopefully only) time being rained on in the Sahara
- first time crossing flood waters in a trailer being pulled along by a tractor and then by donkey
- first time walking down a dry waterfall

........... could keep going but it would only bore you. If there are anymore embarrassing one’s that I have forgotten I have no doubt Cath will add a comment to this entry to let you all know.

Ouarzazate to Agdz

Dadés Gorge

This morning after another surprising breakfast of bread, we paid up the hotel bill, loaded up the car and backtracked the 180 or so kilometres to the Dadés Gorge which took us a little over two hours to drive. Now that we had the luxury of the car and the ability to plan our own itinerary and route, we decided that we really did not want to miss the opportunity of seeing at least one of these sights. We had spoken with Yussef, Dena and Joanie the day before about the gorge road and they advised that although there had been a few rock/landslides the road was far from impassable and if we had the time was definitely worth the drive.

After the initial few minutes of me again trying to wind down the window every time I wanted to change gears and Lil reminding me, ‘Keep right look left’, I think I was finally getting the hang of this driving on the wrong side of the road thing. We found the turn off to the gorge quite easily but from then on we had to slow down to between 20-40 km/hr due to the condition of the road. Due to the recent rains, some parts of the road had been swept away entirely and others were covered with rocks and dirt - the obvious remains of a rock slide. But the scenery was worth it! We stopped part way through the gorge for a photo opportunity and spoke with some other ‘tourists’ - french people that we on their way out and tried to tell us the road was blocked about 5km further on and we couldn’t get past.

No idea what they were on about as about 10 km or so further along the road, we were driving parallel with the still fast flowing river and had come to a switchback road up the side of the cliff which we could see led to a cafe or similar at the top. So up we went.

Realising that it was a cafe restaurant, we stopped. At first for the photo opportunity but then when we realised that it was nearly lunchtime we decided to kick back there for awhile and enjoy the views over our shared lunch of Tangine and berber omelette.

We headed back through Ouarzazate on our way to the Dràa Valley town of Agdz where we intended to stop for the night. However it would have been remiss of us not to stop at that little supermarket we were so fond of to replenish our stash of munchies (and of course the red wine).

The drive to Agdz again took us through some spectacular country and up some sizable mountains. However I do have to note that I can no longer complain about roadwork problems at home anymore. Not when we saw that a deviation had to be built on the side of this mountain as the road had just fallen away to nothing. Made me think twice at times about the stability of the mountain roads here but as I kept saying to myself, ‘It’s an adventure, it’s an adventure….’

We managed to score a couple of rooms in the Kissane Hotel so after unpacking the car, Cath yelling at a boy who was trying to sell her some illicit substance and settling into our room, which by the way had hot water and a balcony overlooking the pool, we got comfy in the lounge area outside our rooms and proceeded to have a late afternoon carpet picnic with some red wine. Dinner was a tame affair of tangine in the hotel restaurant and I retired early for the night leaving the girls to plan tomorrow’s itinerary (just tell me where we are going and what direction and I’ll drive there I said) and to stalk the guides of the tour group who were also staying at the hotel with the intention of quizzing them about the local roads - but I’ll leave Cath to tell that story if she so wishes.

Needless to say it was a very happy Lou that went to bed that night after being able to see the stars decently for the first time in the whole trip from the back balcony. Does life get any better than this?

The Plan that Louise eluded to from last night

Just on a side note there is not really much to tell regarding Lilian, Esther and yours truly sitting, ready and waiting to pounce on the guides that were accompanying the idiots….. I mean adventurous souls that were riding around Morocco by push bike.  Still the guides that were with them would certainly have their uses.

Louise as she said went to bed early leaving Lillian, Esther and I to plan where we would be going next.  Now that is not really all that hard since we only have really a couple of more days before the car is due at Avis in Essaouira, we can not take the car on unsealed roads and we do not want to travel through Marrakesh since that will be where we are going after and we have all been up North to Fes etc.  In reality that kind of whittles away the options to one.  A little further South.  So we chose Taroudannt. 

The only problem being which way to get there.  Now we could go back the way we came the day before travelling through Ouarzazate again before heading down or we could go a different road entirely bypassing Ouarzazate and seeing at least a different part of the country side.  The only problem we had is that our map indicated that the road was unsealed but some digging from Esther revealed that the road should have been sealed or at least in was supposedly near completion towards the end of 2004.

Still we needed confirmation since we did not really want to start out on the road and then have to back track.  I went down to the receptionist at the hotel and asked her.  Now my efforts were hampered by the fact that she does not speak English and I do not speak Arabic, Berber or French but with hand signs and map pointing she ‘told’ me the road was sealed and the exit for it was just down the road. 

We were not 100% happy though because sometimes when people do not understand you they kind of say anything just to get rid of you.  Lets face it hand signs are great for pointing at various things but complex conversations are a little harder.  So the three of us hatched our plan and decided that Lilian would ask someone or at least attempt to ask and we would see if we got the same answer.  Now the guides of the group were still down in the dining room so we figured since it was their business to drive in their support vehicles beside those insane, um, adventurous types on the push bikes they should know the roads.

At fist we wandered off down stairs but the guides had moved and were now surrounded by members of their group.  Lillian had second thoughts of approaching them.  We milled for a bit, just a little bit obvious I think before one of us, not sure who came up with the plan.  So upstairs we trouped again in retreat before sitting down in the central lounge area outside the rooms.  The plan was simple.  The guides had to go to bed some time.  After all they must have been tired.  Wouldn’t you be if you had to watch those mad western types ride push bikes all over the country side all day?  We decided to wait for them and pounce on them when they came up and tried to get to bed.

Simple.  It worked too.  They were very helpful spoke English, among a multitude of other languages and confirmed that the road was sealed and that it was a good drive and would be nice for us to see rather than going over the road we had been over that day.  We thanked them.  Nice people.  Even if the people they are guiding are quite mad.

Agdz to Taroudannt

So this morning after a drive around Agdz to find breakfast and coffee, I didn’t really care about breakfast I just wanted the coffee, we ended up getting bread, gee that really is a suprise for the others.  The coffee situation was looking a little bleak until we pulled into the services station and a nice man at the cafe attached to it made me a coffee.  Now the day was looking brighter already.

So off we went and the road was nice and sealed just as promised and sealed all the way.  The scenery was also good to drive through winding through the mountains and the road while not that wide was better than the day before.

I took over at one point and did some driving, spent quite a bit of time with that whole trying to wind down the window instead of changing the gears thing that Louise has noted.  Driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road is just, well, wrong.  Lillian was a great help chiming in with her ‘stay right look left’ advice.

Louise took the driving back over at our aborted efforts to stop for lunch.  Not that there was not food available but it was all Tanjines and we were all getting a little tanjined out for one thing and Louise and I decided we did not want to stop that long.  Tanjines are very tasty, do not get me wrong but they take awhile to cook and when you have them on a daily basis for lunch and dinner you start to want something else to eat.

We arrived in Taroudannt with out much problem.  There was one oppss moment but Lilian and Esther did not notice since they were napping.  I think we can absolve Louise and blame Lilian since she fell asleep on duty and forgot to mutter her mantra ‘stay right, look left’ and Esther the back up was also sleeping.  So you see don’t you it was so not our fault.  Thankfully there were no on coming cars, or maybe not since it would have effectively pointed out the problem sooner.

Anyway after checking into accommodation Louise decided to have a rest and the rest of us went for a walk around Taroudannt since we would be leaving the next morning.  A guide at the hotel tried to con us into accepting his services telling us all about how bad it all was and how much we would be hassled.  We all indicated we would be fine.  He tried to sound all authoritative saying ‘Maybe, maybe not, you will be fine if you take me the children and men will not hassle you.’  Now we just walked off and I’m pleased to report that we did not get hassled at all by children or the men.  The only one who hassled us was that man at the hotel!

Taroudannt was lovely.  The wall was quite well preserved and unlike the other Medinas the streets were quite wide and a lot of the buildings looked fairly new.

After looking around we headed back for what has become custom over the last few days.  Bottle of wine and some snacks to pass the time until dinner.  This time we stood on the balcony over looking the garden.  We talked about the trip tomorrow and kind of had it settled then went for dinner.  This time we had a change from Tanjine.  Steak with potatoes and pepper sauce.  Good food and a good evening.

Thankfully the bar at the hotel closed about 2300 hours and the hotel was finally quiet.