Morocco, Part 4

Turns out to be easy enough to get up with the dawn when the alternative is hanging around in a freezing tent... so, back on the camels and out through the desert, certainly is pretty cool watching the sky brighten and then the sun come up over the dunes.  Back at Erg Chebbi we find the place rather deserted, there is a woman wandering about who doesn't deign to talk to us, plus what looks like somebody under a blanket on a sofa in reception.  Ho hum.  We search around and find the key to the room with our bags in, and manage to get a (cold) shower and return to find that that the blanket guy is now moving about.  Some breakfast maybe?  While we're waiting I go to check the car... it's unlocked - they asked for the key the day before in case it 'got windy', so OK - turns out it is also contains some empty cigarette packets, a bag of food waste, and a whole load of beer cans.  The car in fact stinks of beer, and it even looks as though somebody has urinated on the side of it (actually there seems to be not much taboo about this in Morocco, people seemed happy to use the historic ramparts of Marrakech as a toilet, and in the desert we are told, 'use a dune' - I guess, it does dry out quite quickly here).

Sunrise in the desert.

So, I put our bags in the car, finally we get some breakfast, and after they return our car key we have a few choice words.  Maybe if they apologised and offered to take some money off the bill we'd accept that, but instead we're just given a bunch of excuses.  Well screw this, Chris and I walk out and drive off, rather expecting a horder of camel-riding Berbers to start chasing us.  At least it's an early start, so we have time to head into Merzouga, which unsurprisingly is not much of a place.  There should be a lake nearby, maybe with some interesting wildlife... well driving there over the desert is certainly interesting.  But it turns out the lake is only there in spring, maybe... we do however find a mummified camel corpse, I extract a tooth for each of us to take home as a souvenir.

And now we have a long, long way to drive - all the way to Fes, back in the North of the country.  At least this will put some distance between us and the Erg Chebbi, although I remember we did say we were off to Fes and so worry that at any time a rusty van will pull onto the road and start chasing us.  It never happens... sure is a distance though.  We break for coffee in Errachidia, then for a decent lunch in Midelt - this time the 'typical meal' is soup, beef Tagine and yes, fruit.  Really starting to fancy something different to eat now.  Our journey seems to be through mountains most of the way, not as high as the route we took heading South, but stretching over a longer distance it seems.  Certainly makes for a difference in climate compared to the arid desert we've been in for the last few days, up here it is almost alpine - indeed, we pass through a small town named Ifrane which it turns out the French built back in colonial days in the style of a Swiss resort.

Heading back to the Erg Chebbi.

The mountain roads make for slow progress though, with lorries, tractors, and vehicles belching so much smoke as to seem to be on fire crawling along.  Straining to overtake one such on a short straight bit of road, I am a bit annoyed to turn the next corner and find a police road block.  Ah well - I had a feeling this would happen at some point.  The 300 dirham fine is only £22 or so, think I can handle it.  And we roll into Fes, not too long after dark - once again we are in a riad in the medina, but Chris does a sterling job to navigate and we park up, and once again dive down an alley to find the rather impressive Riad dar Guennoun.  Hot water!  A choice of food!  I finally get some cous-cous, having several times seen it on menus with a warning it'll take hours to prepare.  And not only do we get a decent bottle of red with it, but also a second one to drink up on the roof.  Who needs to leave the hotel!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Morocco, Part 3

Todra Gorge.

Day three, and it's time to focus a bit less on the cultural and architectural side of things, and a bit more on the glories of nature.  We drive a short way up the Todra river to park in the famous gorge, where I drag Chris on a six mile hike up the side, around, down, and along the river.  It is certainly very impressive, reminiscent of the Grand Canyon but if anything even bleaker, at times the terrain resembles photos I've seen from Mars rovers... pretty hot even in mid-November also, nonetheless we make it around and down, returning to the river in time for some lunch.  This time we're back to salad, then the main is a Berber Omelette, chopped vegetables with an egg or two poured over, once again cooked in a tagine.

The route along the river is interesting too, with a network of irrigation channels through the fields allowing crops of various kinds to be planted, while olive groves and date palms seemingly grow wild.  Again managing to avoid being sold carpets and so forth, we get back in the car for a long drive East and South to Merzouga and the edge of the Sahara.  At this point our lack of a working satnav - it still hasn't charged, looks like there is no current through the cigarette lighter - becomes a bit of a problem.  I have a map on my phone, but navigating around on the small screen is not easy, and we end up getting the route a bit wrong.  Ironically, the police close a road and direct us on what is actually the correct way, but we stubbornly go wrong again... it is 8.30 or so before we reach the Kasbah Erg Chebbi, where at least we can get some food, and even a warmish bottle of rosé.  I am starting to get a bit tired of the 'typical meal', here it is salad, again, chicken tagine, again, and fruit, again.

In the desert, you can remember your name...

The next morning, we have arranged with the hotel for a 10am start out in the desert for a full day and night of camel riding and who knows what.  Shame there is no hot water as I reckon I need a shower before heading out - well, a cold shower it is then.  A quick breakfast - the usual bread, jam and so forth - then we head out to meet our mounts.  I've never ridden a camel... the way they kneel to let you mount is cool, the way they stand up back legs first, tipping you forward alarmingly, isn't so great.  We have no reins, rather a home-made looking metal handlebar at the front, with the camel pulled along on a rope by our Berber guide.  Initially I find the downhill sections quite tricky, especially when my camel decides to kneel down unexpectedly... eventually though I figure out that leaning back is the way, and I can pretty much dispense with the bar.

The desert is an amazing place to be sure... a landscape sculpted by the wind, dunes rising to sharp crests then dipping like waves, into another dune, and yet another, stretching to the horizon which is itself formed from mountainous piles of sand.  Our camels make their way up, down and along the dunes for an hour or so, then groups of tents start to appear, initially these form square blocks around a courtyard, clearly related to the riads and kasbahs we've seen.  Then over a ridge, there is a cluster of single tents, and we are led towards one.  And asked 'when do we want lunch?'  It is only 11:30 or so but there is not obviously anything to do here, so I suggest midday, at which our guide looks a little disconcerted.  12:30 then?  You are supposed to be the guide old boy, how about just tell us when it will be ready?  We do at least get some tea and some nuts, and so while away an hour or so, investigating the area which seems to be a Berber camp, complete with a few donkeys and what I assume are at least semi-domesticated pigeons.

Dunes at sunset.

Lunch arrives, and, yay, another 'typical meal'.  More salad, another Berber omelette which is basically the salad, warmed up with an egg... and of course fruit.  One of the younger locals sets up a display of various little camels, allegedly locally made... we buy one each, no way to avoid it really.  And then our guide tells us he'll be back to take us to the oasis - which is fully two hundred metres away - at 4pm.  It becomes clear we should really have opted for the trip starting at 4, but never mind.  I have a go at 'dune boarding' - somebody has left a snowboard near our tent - but dragging it up a big dune in the desert heat is too much.  Instead I leave Chris, and my shirt, to take off on a hike through the dunes, up and around the oasis on the biggest one I can see.  It uses up an hour or so and does give a feel for being out in the desert with no water - I don't see any mirages though.  We then take a tour of the dunes on camel back, which is kind of fun I must say - one day I have to ride one with actual reins.  Then we're abandoned again, with the suggestion that we climb the big dune to watch the sun go down.

Well - it is very pretty I must say.  Can't help but feel that this day is turning out to be not quite as packed with excitement as it might have been though... sun having gone down we head back to the oasis, and again the guide seems to want us to pick a particular time for dinner.  Screw it though, I am not eating before 7pm.  We drink some more tea and generally chew the fat, in a little tented area that we have all to ourselves, with blankets spread on the sand there is clearly room for many more.  Looking around, the entire oasis seems to consist of such places, all better equipped than ours though.  Dinner arrives, and isn't too bad - yes, it's the same again, but at least the chicken tagine is less chicken and more an interesting assortment of veg.  We get joined for dinner, not for the first time, by a cat... otherwise it is just us though, and indeed after dinner our guide puts a couple of candles in one of the tents and says, 'you sleep in there'.  OK... not quite sure what idea he has got here.  Can't say I want to go to bed at 8pm, and certainly not in the same tent as Chris who, I hope he doesn't mind me saying, snores a little.  I move some of the blankets to a tent on the other side, and then we wander around the oasis looking for something to do.  There isn't much... we peer in each of the other tented areas, many of them have fires going and in several cases there is drumming and 'singing' going on - often tourists drumming away while their guide sings or indeed takes photos.  It does seem odd that there are each of these little places, with only two or three tourists in each, why not combine their resources?  Moreover, why have we been left to our own devices?  Well, dammit, these people have a fire, we shall too - I've been using a long stick I found to feel ahead in the darkened oasis, don't want to walk into a camel by mistake.  So, we return to our tents, and I break up the stick and burn the thing - the heat is quite welcome as the desert in November gets a bit chilly at night.  You get a good view of the stars mind, and we spend a while trying to take photos of them before reaching the point where sleep may be possible.  Not that sleeping under a pile of hairy blankets is going to be that easy - though, on the plus side, sort of, we do have to be up at 5.30am the next day!

Luxury accommodation at the oasis.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Morocco, Part 2

Kasbah Telouet.

Second day in Morocco, and we have a bit of a journey ahead.  After a continental breakfast and another rather scary drive out of the medina, we're off up a winding road into the mountains.  Up and up we go, above the snowline until there is even snow on the road, at least we have a decent car for it... I had planned on stopping to try to summit one of the many mountains, just a little one near the road.  Turns out my planned turn off may have been a river, we do manage to park but scrambling to the mountain top from here would take all afternoon.  Of course we could totally do it I'm sure... the driving has taken a little longer than hoped too, so, off to our next scheduled stop, not far away to Telouet.  Here we find our first proper Moroccan food - parking outside a run down looking building we're brought into a large, cool, and comfortable room, where we are fed salad, an excellent fig and chicken tagine, fruit, and some kind of date and almond smoothie.
What we came here for though is the Kasbah, once home to the Glaoui clan, who under the French ruled the lands south of the Atlas, to their great profit.  After independence however the place was left to crumble, and now presents an amazing expanse of crumbling mud brick built towers.  The size of the place is comparable to the Tower of London, though much doesn't seem to be accessible.  We look into the most intact section, reaching the roof to see still intact tiling and glazed skylights - looks like some kind of restoration is happening here.  Back inside and, incredibly, we find rooms full of ornate tiling, plaster and carved wood, a match for anything we saw back in Marrakech.

Telouet - inside.

We're not done with Kasbahs though, by a long chalk.  Continuing south we reach Ait Ben Haddou, a much more ancient fortress, dating back to the 13th century at least as a hub for caravans plying the trade routes across the mountains.  The atmosphere here is rather different to Telouet, not least this place is inhabited, at least during the day, by a variety of people who of course want to sell us various things, from tea to art to the ubiquitous Moroccan tourist items, tagines, lamps and so on.  We wander through the maze of alleys and stairs, once again rarely pausing for breath to avoid hassle.  Thankfully on the other side of the river there is a cluster of restaurants and cafes, so we have a break for a coffee before driving on again, still a long way to go to the evening stop at Tinghir.

Ait Ben Haddou.

This gives me my first taste of driving through Southern Morocco at night, and it is an experience to say the least.  The speed limit is 100kph, but any vehicle travelling below 20kph is allowed not to show lights, this means we regularly come up behind cycles and put-put mopeds, not to mention pack animals of various kinds, donkey carts, and just people wandering about, with little warning.  They seem to have no concept of getting out of the way for their own safety, the cyclists and the pedestrians will often be two or three abreast.  Meanwhile the roads are narrow, and traffic coming the other way seems to have little idea of moving aside as well.  It is all fun, and I'm a little weary by the time we reach Tinghir, and check into the Hotel Tomboctou - yet another Kasbah in fact it seems.  Thank goodness, they have beer, and the food is decent - soup to start this time, and then the tagine is of vegetables and what I suspect are beef meatballs.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Morocco, Part 1

A week in Morocco then.  My first time in Africa, fortunately I have my old mate Chris along, and he has at least been to Egypt a couple of times so should be able to show me the ropes to some extent.  Being me, rather than going on any kind of package I've planned out an itinerary involving lots of driving where we get to see a fair bit of the country - what can possibly go wrong?

Riad dar Saba.

Well, we have a little bit of fun with the flight, we circle the airport a few times and have a false start at landing - happens in Europe too of course.  Then when we get the car it seems OK but the GPS 'needs charging'.  Still, it is only a few miles to our hotel, Chris can manage to navigate using my phone surely.  Well, just about... we pass a fair few entrances into the old town, or medina of Marrakech, before realising we do in fact need to drive into what look like alleys suitable for pedestrians only, once in we crawl along at walking pace as bicycles, mopeds, donkey carts and people on foot weave around us with no regard for safety.  Eventually we reach a car park of sorts, with various vehicles jammed together.  A local indicates a place we should park, telling us to leave the handbrake off and the car out of gear so it can be rolled about if necessary.  OK... he then guides us to our hotel, down narrow alleys and eventually ducking under an arch to find the door.

Jemaa el Fna, in the heart of the medina.

Inside is a welcome bit of peace, an eighteenth century Riad, built on three floors around a central courtyard, open to the sky except for a tent like affair over the top.  We relax in the courtyard with some mint tea and a biscuit or two,  before heading out to find an ATM and some food.  This means leaving the medina, walking along the impressive ramparts and then into the newer part of the city.  We get a decent tapas style meal with a variety of hummus, kebabs and so forth, plus some Moroccan red which is drinkable enough.  Speaking of drink, this is clearly a pretty dry country - we spot precisely one bar, the 'British Pub' not far from the restaurant.  Feeling like the worst kind of tourists we tramp inside, but in fact it doesn't feel very British, with the table service and shisha pipes this could be any Moroccan cafe, except the drinks are beer rather than coffee.

Bahia Palace.

The next morning we head out into the souks - neither of us especially want to buy anything but it has to be done.  And in fact, I'm not sure if I'd ever buy anything here on the spur of the moment, since it is impossible to stand still for a few seconds without being hassled, either by the traders, or people offering to guide us, or simply begging.  It is best to keep moving, though at least we can stop for a coffee at intervals.  It is certainly an experience though, with all manner of things on sale, in many cases with the craftsmen working away in their stalls.  The crowds and the ever present smell of manure get a bit wearing though, so we head out to visit the city's cemetery, and particularly the Jewish section which is testament to the large number of Jews who lived here back in the days when they weren't quite so welcome elsewhere.  We take in the Bahia Palace, realise we forgot to have any lunch, and head back to the riad to make plans for dinner.

Our plans go a little awry however... we're after some traditional Moroccan food at a well reviewed restaurant, so head for one in the medina.  But of course we get lost... eventually hitting the main square, there are restaurants here but are they any good?  And moreover, will there be wine?  We end up walking around for a fair while, giving up on the medina and returning to the modern city, finally we find a rather classy French restaurant where Chris consumes snails.  Still haven't found any bars other than the nearby 'British Pub', so we head back there after dinner.  Have to say that while I'm glad we came to Marrakech, I'm also kind of glad we're getting away tomorrow morning, leaving the crowded souks behind to head into the Atlas mountains.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.