Taroudant to Tafrout

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Clunegapyears

10/11/24 – Breaking a long journey

Ourazazat town is better pronounced as “Owzazat” as in 2 outs in cricket! Or “Owsyerat”. The local Carrefour provided welcome dog food – and unusually – beer!

Leaving “Howsyermate” the clever satnav took us on a major tour of a new road area ready for hundreds of new houses – added a half hour to our journey – “owzourdickysatnav” then?

*Acres of housing development land. Electrics and roads in. But not Barratts mass building. Just the odd 5 storey block randomly here and there. Presumably private purchasers.*

*USA gas station film set along the road*

Saffron area at Taliouine – a stop and purchase. A marquee up for the end of the saffron festival. Didn’t get to go in as outzazate for lunch.

*Taliouine* *had a huge market, bustling*

*Some lovely girls directed us to the ice cream seller in the fun fair*

*Our nights stop was an Airbnb of poor quality – the wc had to be ridden sidesaddle – Thomas Crapper would have been amused!*

*And no day complete without a scenery shot. Lots of long flat dessert today*

11/11/24 – Another Driving Day

Taroudant breakfast in a side street – yoghurt and cake in a quirky small cafe….lots of markets and too crowded.

*The Souks have speciality sections, Brian dubbed this chippie street*

*My twin tub in Jez’s garage is 9 years old, missing a lid and didn’t come with sparkly knobs. Time for an upgrade?*

*Taroudant has the best preserved medina walls in Morocco. You could walk round all 7k; we didn’t!*

*Scenery definitely upping a gear as we approach the Ante Atlas*

Drive to Taftout. Tent up in record time – it gets quicker – we viewed 2 campsites and settled on “le tete de lion” – the Lion’s Head – an indistinct shape in nearby rock. German noisy shenanigans at 2:00 am – K spoke to them at the time. K: I was impressed that I remembered a) to be polite and b) the word for quiet in German.

*The only good thing about the rubbish apartment of last night was the washing machine. Tent up and washing out. Nice pitch with own shady patio*

*The granite glows pink in the evening and you may just make out the lion’s head*

12/12/24 – Rocks and an Oasis

“Chapeau Napoleon” – a massive rock formation that looks like nobody’s hat – and the man never got to Morocco!

However, a drive to “Blue Rocks” was much more impressive – a Belgian artist, Jean Vermame, wanted a worthy memorial to his late wife – in 1984 he painted a vast area of large rocks – blue , pink and a little yellow – bizarre but striking.

*He had help from the local fire brigade to apply* *the 18 tons of paint. Some has been repainted since*

Drive to an oasis via some narrow mountain roads with steep drops and some subsidence – stop for soft drinks and return on the same tracks.

*A harsh barren mountain landscape. No vegetation nor livestock, but the odd hamlet*

13/11/24 – Museums and Motor Repair

We drove a short way out of town to a Berber house museum. This was most informative – the guide had lived there as a child. Three families still live there in the summer but mostly live away to earn a living – due to climate change almost nothing grows in a previously rich land – massive water shortage. In September there was heavy flooding in many areas. Here they had just 10 mins of rain. The first rain this year! Water is piped down from the mountains / oasis we saw yesterday. As a lad, our host explained that water was plentiful for daily washing, crop irrigation etc. A government minister wanted to make the area into a joint protectorate but some of the families fought and the project died. No funding available.

The next museum was the Memorial to the Resistance- 104 exist in Morocco – we visited one – very knowledgeable guide – independence from France happened in 1956 but squabbles continued with Spain. The world’s largest peace march happened in 1975 to free Western Sahara – sponsored by King Hassan II – partly successful but followed by guerilla fighting.

*Dull displays but guide good*. *Shame not more visual for the school trips*

Lunch in Restaurant Nadia nearby was excellent.

I check our not so ancient Mercedes vital signs weekly and the engine oil level needed to be topped up. K met a chap who came to the campsite looking for business – a car and motorhome mechanic. We followed him to his patch – he topped up the oil and sorted our slightly loose foot parking brake – €30 – a good result at the end of an excellent day!

*A bit more dessert off roading to get to the garage. Lots of vehicles being worked on: a motorhome having a full re-spray for €1500*

*Took Corrie a while to clock the visitor*

*Seen lots of these Barbary squirrels scurrying across the mountain and dessert roads*

Scenery, Sandals and Salt

Posted on November 10, 2024 by Clunegapyears

08/10/24: Sandals and Doctor

Stunning drive. Pix no way do it justice. Rather than do the same route back north, we added 2.5 hrs to the trip to visit. Knob, oops N’kob.

*Dust to dust. So many Kasbahs, unless supported by UNESCO, will not be around for future tourists.*

*We had checked the route with our host in Zagora. He’d said check locally in N’kob, where a chap keen to practice his English told us it was fine*

N’kob felt like a rural hill town. I spotted the shoe shop I’d read about in a guide book. Leather and rope with tyre soles. €32 for 2 pairs. Justified as my waking sandals have broken.

Also popped into see the doctor. Thought I’d sinusitis post a cold. No, an allergic reaction to dust causing inflammation of chest, throat and sinuses. J and I had both had this mildly at home in Crete when the Sahara dust blows over. 3 lots of meds and dr – €29. In

Back tonight up at UNESCO Ait Haddou for 2 nights. Wanted to see it without all the Marrakesh day trippers. Lovely hotel … towels were swans on the bed! Dinner ordered and it was good.

09/10/24: More Scenery and Salt

*We didn’t beat the hoards of tourists by walking through the palm oasis to the UNESCO town from our hotel. So we admired from afar with a coffee*

We seem to be doing a lot of drives to see scenery. I know walking in it would be much better. But there are great distances. Lack of paths. It’s hot. We’re lazy and I’m milking the poorly bit.

Another ruined kasbah, Tamdoukte. Also owned by an elite family who chose to side with the French. Oops, come independence, a picture was circulated of him grovelling to the reinstated king. When Glouini died, all his massive wealth was seized by the State.

*Sadly, the only inhabitants were 8 pups and their mother. Sorry Corrie, but your dwindling food stocks were needed elsewhere.*

*If trucks can do this pass, we certainly can in a car!*

*New electricity poles all the way up the valley*

*Mud houses top and bottom. Troglodyte, unused, houses in the middle. A chap on a motorbike passed us just before we got to this bend in the road. Panorama, he had shouted. For sure*

The Mathias Salt mines made the day. A cave where salt is still mined. €2 pp visit. Thank goodness for my French. Lakes which are drained. Salt stalactites. Blasting a couple of times a month. 3 grades of salt. Rock salt in orange sacks goes to snow areas, including Canada. Rock is broken up to release salt for industry. And the lumps are culinary quality. I came away with a large bag for €2.
Hardly mentioned in guide books and only a tiny road sign.

*A tiny sign, which tourists could so easily miss*

Back to our hotel for another bloody tagine! Starting to think UK pub menu food is varied!

Draa Valley

Posted on November 10, 2024 by Clunegapyears

06/10/24 – Tamnought became nought

We were packed up in under 1 hr 30. Pretty slick at this camping lark now. I was taught how to pack by my father on family camping trips. Sadly, this talent will not be passed to my daughter. She’s vehemently non camping.

We had not planned to come down the Draa Valley, but I’d read a bit more and the road looked interesting on the map. It didn’t disappoint. Wide plains. Distant mountains in warm ochres and then black. Different to what we have seen due to the many many ksars – mud villages. It was a main caravan trade route. Most were inhabited but where houses had been restored or replaced with a modern build, often mud covered breeze blocks. So an interesting mix of ruins and new.

We stopped for brunch. The host explained his 2 eldest children attended boarding school an hour away. His eldest daughter is studying medicine. The 17 yr old was home for the national holiday and showed us his maths exercise books. I’ve never seen such neat work from a boy. We gladly praised and I was rewarded with the gift of scarf. A nice encounter.

We stopped at Tamnought Ksar. It had paintings from a film production.

*Corrie saw parked motorhomes and checked them all for Brian and Zoa*

*Gradually returning to dust. Piles of rubble and sand*

*We intended to wander the restored ksar but a guide wouldn’t leave us alone, claiming he had keys, that entry was by ticket, that due to harems entry was by guide etc. Enough! We about* *turned*.

We arrived at Zagora but struggled to find our Riad. A young lad showed me the way through ever increasingly narrow paths. Despite my pre booking enquiry, the car wasn’t going to be very close. It wasn’t so I ended up pulling things from my large and heavy suitcase to a shopping bag. Our room is in a tower. Dark and only two tiny windows. We were both disappointed, but it has air con, a powerful shower and a nice shady courtyard. And is all of €24 pn. We had pre-ordered supper. The best soup I’ve had so far, followed by a beautifully cooked and tasty chicken and veg tagine. Too full to touch the fruit. All for €10 each, so we’re coming around to liking our accommodation.

010/24 – Tamed in Tamegroute

After breakfast (included), we drove South to the end of the road. M’Hamid is a border town now devoted to camel and 4×4 trips to the sand dunes. We just had lunch.

However, on the way down we stopped at Tamegroute. Home to a library of ancient Koran’s and a mausoleum, making the town a pilgrimage site. It is also renowned for pottery with a green glaze. Had we not accepted the services of a guide, we would probably have missed the library and the pottery kilns. We had to buy and pay our guide and so came away several € lighter. With the question as to how to keep our purchases safe from breakage over the next months unpacking / repacking and the bumpy roads!

*Tomb of Mohammed Bou Nasri who founded this centre of Islamic learning.*

*Confusing narrow streets of the Ksar. We would got totally lost without Abdul our guide*

*Abdul in the pottery making area. The local clay is dug from 8m, whereas building clay from the surface. The green glaze is from 3 local pigments*

*A lot of the potters were in trenches. Cool and saves back ache, I guess*

*7 kilns in the centre of the Ksar, owned by one family. Palm leaves are used to fire them up.*

*Morocco* *is much larger than anticipated – today was 2hrs each way.*

Ouarzazate

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Clunegapyears

02/10/24 – Ooh Are Mrs Ouarzazate

Drove from Tinghir to Ouarzazate (try pronouncing that with a mouthful of crushed ice)… just south of the High Atlas, gateway to the desert – no sign of Charles Atlas – some might remember – if a manly bloke didn’t send Chas Atlas money for bodybuilding, he got sand kicked in his face on the beach! The town was built by the French Foreign Legion in 1928 to quell the troublesome south. Didn’t you go to the Foreign Legion to disappear? The town was on major trade routes. There are telltale signs as we arrived – wide roads, lack of rubbish and sense of prosperity – the lack of rubbish is unfortunately not common in Morocco, sadly.

*We passed through a major rose growing area. We only saw a tiny strip of roses but lots of distillation and cooperative shops*

Arriving at Ouarzazate, we called into a good Carrefour, which was full of USA students all cluttering the crisps and cakes aisles. Which, of course, was fortunate as not where I wanted to go!

Brian had preceded us to the campsite – a good size with plenty of room for our tented villa! We took Zoa and Corrie for a walk but had to change route due to wild dogs – another feature of Morocco and they don’t look or sound friendly! Supped and retired for the night…..quiet until some unruly (drunk) behaviour – and the local airport launched an aircraft at 1:00 am!

03/10/24 – Kasbah and in search of the resevoir

Today, we didn’t go far – Dropped the laundry off at the local ‘pressing’ … Two loads c.€7. Straight into breakfast … K went for the tagine cooked Eggs Berbere … again I had a cheese omelette – managed a little Arabic language with Abdou – Salaam a Lekum…

*Omelette berbere served with chips this time! More scrambled than poached but still 😋*

we succumbed to a guide to visit the only historic monument… the Kasbah. Only built since the 1780s. 50 families used to live here. Our guide had very good English but slightly difficult to understand.

All the houses had secure store rooms for the treasure brought on the caravan routes. Hundreds would kip down on any square in of floor. They did have wash before entering each kasbak, thankfully. A Unesco site, but some floors were not accessible as unsafe.

Back to the tent for a bit. Then we attempted to walk to the reservoir, but the path became a mud bath. We found paths to the river.

04/10/24

What a commercial, touristy day! What – us?
The Atlas Film Studios was €8 pp, and the compulsory guide told his he had no wage, just tips. A 45 min tour, which told us not a lot about the film set industry. Just looked at a few sets and were told which films have been partially shot here. Definitely not MGM! Didn’t look like much had happened for a while. One of our tour group acted as Cleopatra for the guide’s video film… There was another studio down the road with high fences and security gate which looked a lot more in business.

We drove up to Ait Benhaddou. We had lunch overlooking the Unesco mud village on a hill. Stunning. Except for all the bus loads of tourists from Marrakesh. And well restored.

*Another typical dish … chicken pastilla. Spicy shredded chicken coated with icing sugar and cinnamon. Actually delicious*

05/10/24

Easy day. Early farewell to Brian and Zoa. They’re off in search of the sea. They are here less than us. Found a replacement SIM for the next month. Brunch … not a proper omelette berbere – basically scrambled with tomatoes and not a tagine or hint of spice.

A bit of tent cleaning … first floor wash shock / horror. New area tomorrow.

Gorging

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Clunegapyears

30th October 2024 …

*Lovely hotel breakfast is a good start to the day. Most left untouched as too much and too sweet, but liked the savoury hot flat breads.*

*Our hotel was the Kasbah Panorama. The only one on a mound with views of the dunes. Very traditional decor, but comfortable. £30, bnb.*

We were later than planned to leave the hotel as we chatted to a French lady, married to a Canadian, living in New York. She was travelling solo to try to cope with grieving. She’d lost her mother to brain cancer in August and her 42 year old sister only a month ago, also to brain cancer. She had thought for years about having a retirement plan / home. Now thinks travelling and experiencing is the way to go.

We thought we were getting omelette for lunch, but delicious tagine of veg with poached eggs. And a no cook day as Brian cooked tonight. Yay.

*I was so taken by this dish that I thought about buying a tagine. But I could do this in a slow cooker. I do NOT need more kitchen gadgets.*

I am still reeling from the amazing scenery from yesterday. Nothing will ever beat that. EVER. But today did not disappoint.

Amazing colours and textures. But initially, so barren. Not life supporting. As we approached our destination, Tinghir, lots of palm date plantations.

Lovely walk up a wide dry river bed with Brian and Zoa. Ladies carrying bundles of leaves up. Two laden donkeys, but all ladies, and one small girl, all laden. Bent over. Baa … we established the greenery was to feed the sheep.

And we’re back in the tent for 3 nights. Glad we brought an electric heater, as the evening has turned chilly.

31st October – Todra Gorge and Palm Oasis

Brian poorly, so we took Zoa. We started with a 7km walk in the date palm oasis. After 20 mins, Zoa settled and stopped trying to go back and look for Brian. The palm oasis is basically a long fertile valley. Lots of predominantly women working the fields. A really lovely shady walk.

*We had expected it to just be palm trees. But most of it was small fields (really small) with a massive network of paths and irrigation channels.*

*Twice we had to wade and J wouldn’t remove his shoes … guess whose shoes are now sodden! Zoa looked for fish.*

We drove up the Todra Gorge. Busses and coaches disgorged (!) tourists at the bottom and waited for them at the end. One side was wall to wall sellers.

It was actually a main road, and we headed up, intending to drive to the next town 26km away for lunch. The road got slower and slower as the surface got worse and worse. At that rate, it would have been dinner time before we ate. And I’d promised Brian salmon fish cakes. About turn. Found a good place for lunch. And into Tinghir for a little shopping in the main dirt track street.

1st November – Easy day

Brian much better, so we walked to the Palm Oasis from the campsite. Of course, there was more river crossings. J had to remove his trainers as he’d no other dry shoes. Brian sensibly wore wellies and I’d walking sandals to slip off.

*This time we were higher than the mud village and then back through the valley*

Two properties had been rebuilt. Presumably, locals still own the derelict buildings and plot of land. It’s amazing how mud houses could support 3 storeys. Reading, they need repair and work annually.
More women carrying massive bails of foliage on their backs up the sides of the valley. One lady explained she does this daily to feed sheep and a cow. She makes cheese. When we have seen men with foliage, they’ve had a donkey.
60c equivalent for 3 ice creams on a stick. 2 mint tea and a coke at the campsite €4. Dinner out in Tinghir.

JEZ UPDATE

He is fixed. Hooray. Much quicker than anticipated. The insurance even paid for the hab door to be repaired … wouldn’t lock. The only problem is that the repairer will charge £50 per week to store it, and we’re not back until Christmas. The insurance broker has agreed that we can store it at a 5 pitch site that we regularly use in Chichester. Normally, they state that any storage has to be cassoa Gold storage compounds. Hard to find and also expensive. Great result as a) it’s a LOT cheaper and b) it will be where we want him for when we get back. I have asked, out of curiosity, what the repair bill was. We only pay £500 excess.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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