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.