East Across the Atlas Mountains

     Our final night in Marrakesh was indeed memorable, as Ford and Ed braved Djemma el Fna and Asha and Le General had a quiet evening dining at the riad.

     Ed and Ford enjoyed themselves immensely:  two bowls of snail soup (Ford tried it, Ed finished it) began the evening.  (Grab a toothpick, fish them out, and slurp them down.)  Then they walked around and watched the impromptu games set up in the market -- kick the ball through the pins; toss the Dirham coin on the board and hope to land it in a circle.  (We finally built up the courage to join the locals and had a blast for 7 Dirham -- less than a dollar).  Then it was a feast at one of the food stands, followed by wondering in the souks.  (Yes, we got lost, and yes, we had to pay a boy about $1.50 to help us find our way out).

     The next morning, we said goodbye to the local stork who has a residence on the minaret next door to our riad -- note his awesome nest:

     Then we were met at the front of our riad by our new driver, Abdil (sp?).  Abdil is a very nice guy and an outstanding driver.  We are lucky to have him for the rest of our trip.  In our 4 x 4 Toyota Landcruiser, Abdil drove us east, up and over the Atlas Mountains in the direction of the Sahara.  Along the way, as we climbed and descended mountain passes, we drove past numerous Berber Villages nestled in the mountains.  These villages are poor, comprised of homes (huts?) made of a sort of mud or adobe.  They are truly exotic and breathtaking in their beauty, especially given that the surrounding area is stark and devoid of vegetation yet the valley floor (where there is a stream) is a lush oasis.  Here are some photos, but the don't do justice to these simple but beautiful communities:
 

With Abdil



    

 

 

 

     At some point along the way, we had car trouble in the form of a leaky radiator.  Fortunately, this occurred near the stream along the valley floor.  Abdil hopped out, crossed the road, scrambled down the embankment and filled up 7 liters of stream water (with our water bottles) to pour into the radiator.  We continued on our way (Abdil was unconcerned) and have had no further issues to date.

 

 

 

     At around lunchtime, we stopped in the small settlement of Telouet.  We took a tour of the broken down Kasbah -- headquarters of the powerful "Glaoui" tribe until independence in 1956.  This is where the Pasha kept his harem of four wives (the maximum according to tradition) and his prisoners.  He was the richest man in Morocco and the locals lived in fear.

 

     Lunch was at the home of a nearby resident whose family were once slaves of the Pasha -- at independence (so we are told) the slaves were freed and they made homes within walking distance of their former master.  At one point there were also Jews in Telouet, but now they only come back to visit the graves of their ancestors.

 

     A word about food:  we have resolved, in order to minimize the chances of our falling ill, not to eat uncooked, unpeeled, foods such as salads.  This made it a bit awkward when the local, in whose home we were dining, brought out a delicious-looking tomato salad as the first course.  So we took some and pushed it around our plates -- old school style -- until a large tagine arrived, steaming hot, for all of us to share.  After lunch, we had mint tea and our guide, Ali, droned on in very broken English about Islam, hena, the history of the region, dromedaries vs. camels, etc., etc.  Why?  Because it's rhetorical.  (Inside joke).

 

     We moved on about 4:00 p.m., through some tiny villages, but generally in the middle of nowhere, across large stretches of dirt roads and through remarkable geography very much like the American Southwest -- stark, dry, with incredible gorges and views and only the very occasional village.  We began to wonder where we would spend the night and then . . . at about 5:30, we arrived at a small village at which we found our AMAZING riad -- more than we could ever have hoped for and an intense contrast to the semi-poverty of the surround villages.  Our riad is called the Riad Ksar Ighnada and it knocks our socks off that it's out here in the middle of nowhere.  We have two fine rooms with two bathrooms, a private Jacuzzi (albeit with cold, water), three flat screen televisions and a full-sized refrigerator.  Dinner and breakfast are on the house, there is wifi (albeit very slow), and the dining room is as nice as a fine hotel in Seattle. 

 

     It gives us a weird feeling . . . .

 

     A few more pictures round out the day:

 

 

 

      Well, that one last picture anyway.  The internet connection is very slow, and uploading pictures takes too much time.  Too bad . . . we've got some good ones but we'll have to wait.