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.

27 to 7.5C

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Clunegapyears

26th October 2024 – a climb in altitude, but plummet in temperature

We drove up to the Middle Atlas. Leaving sunshine and my shorts behind. To fog and some rain. J still in shorts! Shopped at Mr Bricolage to buy some nylon rope to replace chewed and knotted guy ropes, damage courtesy of one of the campsite dogs.

Stopped at Ifrane. Built in 1920s by the French. Ski resort so orange pointed roofs as against the standard flat concrete ones. Could smell the money – nice villas and a Maserati.
Picked an empty restaurant for lunch, hoping they would let Corrie in. 7.5C and J still in shorts! A good lemon tagine. €20 incl tip.

*Ifrane, built in 1920s … a weekend destination for Moroccans.* *And skiing here from December*

Changing landscape and monkeys onto Azrou.

*Onions piled up, drying on long stone walls, covered in plastic*

Met Brian at the luxurious Emerates Euro (! – name covering all bases) campsite – chat about routes going south – and we repossessed our wine stock, which is slowly dwindling….. winedling… Then on to Azrou for the booked accommodation – very spacious with bright pink living room!

27th October – Dayet, Day-not

Sunday dawned like a brass monkey at 6.0 centigrade!!! Summer Time finished in UK but no actual summer time here… we breakfasted and drove to look at waterfalls, lakes and rocks. The waterfall had disappeared – the lakes were dry (apart from me peeing on the side – J obvs). Arabic for lake is dayet. Apparently, most of the water is re-directed for irrigation. We saw a LOT of apple trees.

And the rocks were not exactly rocking in the distance, blurred by fog. But loads of sheep and hungry wild dogs..

*Rocks, just visible top left. The others are lost in shrouds of mist*

Back to the apartment for lunch. Tomorrow will race up to 10 degrees centigrade – whoopee – bikini time?

28th October -Another bloody cold day

A short drive to the Tioumiline Benedictine monastery. The King had inaugurated it as a museum to bring Muslim and Christianity closer. There’d obviously been some investment, but now the museum was shut, and looking through the window, some displays were on their side. Testament to global peace and understanding!

*The monastery had originally been been a boys boarding school for colonial drop outs. And then a large conference centre. Finally closing in 1968. https://www.archnet.org/sites/20485*

The place is now inhabited by monkeys and dogs. The joint barking and squawking were unpleasant. A tiny thin puppy. We gave him the dog biscuits we had. As we left, we spotted another dog, with what looked like entrails hanging out his bottom. Animal welfare here is worse than I’d anticipated. I read that Islam states that if a dog licks a plate, you should wash it 6 times and then with soil. 😔

The cedar forest museum was also shut. We drove and walked the track to a dead tree! Notable for its size and age. More monkeys and dogs.

*Lovely blue green of the ceder trees and grass*

Back at Azrou, the local museum was open. A few artisans were working in a neighbouring building. Lovely smell of the ceder being worked.

Being cold (c. 10C) with the promised rain arriving, we had lunch out. Well in, and Corrie allowed in. My tagine was full of potatoes and acted like porridge, warming from the inside.
Lovely landlord brought us an oil filled rad for the apartment!

*Azrou rock which gives the town its* *name*

Mountains and Caves

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Clunegapyears

21st October 2024

The first stop was Grottes of the Pigeons. No pigeons, but the car park(€0.30) money collector’s chickens. They were allowed inside. We weren’t. Peered through the fence and could see that there was a vertical excavation section. They’ve found evidence of human life from 100,000 years ago!!! Findings show that the cave was used as a workshop, for cooking, a necropolis etc. A major find is the oldest trepanned skull ever found- (medical procedure, drilling a hole – I googled that!).

We attempted to get to the grottes des Chameux but the whole road was closed under repair. Probably land slip. So we continued along the Zegzel gorge. It didn’t live up to its hype. Problem is, yet again, spoilt by gorgeous Greek gorges.

*We had our picnic just by the interesting section*

With the road closed on our end, I reckoned there had to be a way to join it part way along. The other option was to drive into Berkane … with no guidebook mention. The lure of ice cream almost swayed the decision, but I held out for the mountains. Anyone who knows me, will find ice cream loosing out, unbelievable.

So we took a non motorhome road with fabulous views, as well as steep twists. J wouldn’t look down! Back to the apt in Oujda.

21st October 2024 – Driving day

To be honest the only thing comment worthy was that the scenery was of 2 halves. The first half was a massive expanse of flat dessert. Not sand as such but dirt and small stones. Very few habitations. I commented to J that I wondered what they did for water. Outside one house, I spotted a tractor hooked up to a water tank. Don’t know what the other properties did for water. A few herds / flocks of goats / sheep, although who know what they grazed on as no scrub. A tough area to live.

The second half had a hilly national park to our left. We could’ve diverted to walk to a waterfall, but it would have added 1.5 hours in driving time to our journey. We saw crops and green things. Truly a drive of 2 halves.

We bypassed Fez to a campsite North of Meknes. Mostly motorway on our 5 hr drive and €11.90. Our destination was where Brian and Zoa were already encamped. Arriving before us is proving useful, as Brian scopes toilets, showers etc. We arrive and are greeted as long-lost friends by the owner, as Brian has pre-announced our arrival.

*This is the green half. It’s all relative.*

Chefchouan

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Clunegapyears

12th October 2024 – Chefchouan

15th October dawned dry after a night’s heavy rain – so tent de-erecting (new word?) was good. Each time (only 3 so far) it gets quicker. When K and I got together I was an apprentice for multiple erections – woops! No double entendre intended. She grew up camping. Interesting mountain drive – not for motorhomes! Lots of farming ladies walking laden with branches of trees – K thought one group was a donkey trail, until closer inspection revealed 4 bent over ladies of burden.

Arrived at the campsite in Chefchouan (phonetic pronunciation Shefshooan). The only suitable tent site with electric would have placed us in the way of running ground water! Manager offered us a hostel – beyond basic – we declined! Booking.com produced an apartment 300 metres away – 2 bed very comfortable – booked for 4 nights for €100. Delicious hot and powerful showers! Worth every penny. We drove into town and dropped laundry, ours and Brian’s – early supper – K and I had excellent chicken and lemon tangine – Brian had chicken with veg – Zoa was entertained by wild cats – they are everywhere

More Shefsauntering tomorrow Inshallah …..

*I only just managed to pull Corrie away from the bottom tray in time!*

16th October – Dressed for Rain

Another bad night. K ended up reading till 3.00am. Grr. Mindfulness daily Calm this morning was about appreciating unexpected moments of inactivity and trying not to fill them.
We collected Brian. Drove down to the centre. Collected the laundry. €12 for what must have been 3 loads. 😊

Did a mapmycity app walk, which took us through a couple of squares, along the fortified walls and to the source of fresh water. People do laundry done at the top. Then, the water is collected in the town as drinking water! All the walk was through pretty streets. And lots of crafts such as knitting, weaving, painting, pottery etc going on … evidence that not all the handicrafts are shipped in from China. And all the while, it rained. Full body wet weather gear, including wellies. Even the backpack has a cover.

*Complete fluke to capture the canopy and man str*ipes

Easy p.m. back at the apartment… to appreciate the inactivity!

17th October – a short Shef walk

I’d even packed a lunch. Didn’t get a chance to eat it as the walk was so short. But in the time (embarrassing 1 mile in 1.5 hrs) we could have done 5 on the flat. It was steep. Not helpful to watch a young chap stride up and disappear from view within minutes. Down was worse for me … I slide and my knee started to give out. Did at least one section on my bum! Ho hum. Refreshment at the water source!

In the afternoon, J, Corrie and I had another town wander, an ice cream and a tea. I found a lady selling knitted hats and jackets. I bought 4 big balls of wool from her … €15. Unbelievable value.

Friday 18th – Magic Moment

We had thought 4th night here a waste. We’ve been into the city 3 times now. But we had a luxuriant slow (as in up at 11.00) start. I even unrolled my pilates mat and, even better, used it!

Drove to near the Spanish mosque. The path started as steps, then became a scramble. I was thinking I’ll be on my bottom coming down again. And I’ve only just bloody hand washed the trousers after yesterday! But once at the top, we spotted the easy route down.

There are unexpected magic moments. And this was one of them. Great views. A cafe with chairs facing the sun. And a lovely traveller singing with her guitar. Not for money, but for sheer joy. We sat. Basking in the sun, and the sound.

*The Spanish Mosque up there. Some folk go for sunset*

A short drive back into town. J had an oj whilst I went into the castle. Unremarkable at €8, but a tower with views. My drink was apple juice … I was offered it with oj or milk?!? Supper on the square people watching.

Car now 70% loaded. And off along the N coast tomorrow.

And Breathe … Tangier

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Clunegapyears

Thursday 10th 2024

I’d pinned some sights in Tangier. Off we set with Brian and Zoa. the Hungarian Vislar. He (Zoa!) got sooo much attention from the men … cos he looks butch. Little do they know that he is a girl’s blouse. Most women and kids seem to be terrified of all dogs, even our puss, Corrie. And it’s obviously very unusual for Moroccans to see hounds out with their owners.

Tangier was a good intro to Morocco. Walked the medina and old walls. This side of Morocco is much more European due to proximity to Europe and occupation. Spoke to some young ladies during our coffee stop. “This is Morocco, so women are liberated and we wear what we want”. These ladies worked in expensive restaurants and wore Western clothes. One displayed her midriff!! When pressed … married women tend to cover heads. And in the country, women are scared not too. It’s shameful not to comply.

*So many British,* that an Anglican Church was built. Garden very much in the style on an English country garden with Mediterranean plants. Entrance gate guarded by a seriously viscious cat who wanted to take chunks out of our dogs.

*Hotel Continental top left. The place to partei, during French occupation*

Carrefour hypermarche on the way home. Booze in a separate section. A bottle of mediocre red €14. A young chap ahead of me needed a thick blue bag to conceal his bottle of vodka! But I do like the prices here for veggies.

*Two large tomatoes equivalent to €0.27*

Friday 11th

Do not trust any weather forecast. Weather here seems to be totally contrary. Parc Perdicaris called us for a walk. Interesting drive up along Rue de la Montagne. Super sized walled and gated villas. Security guards on many. I googled … min price >€2m. Rebat is the capital, so presumably the Ambassadors live there? So who lives here?

*About 30 street sweepers along millionaire’s row*

*Lots of locals out too … including* *solo runners* *and walkers of* *both* (*main)* *genders*

Walk was progressing well. Nice paths. Nice scenery. Till we felt the first drops of rain. Rain that wasn’t forecast till late pm. It turned into a monsoon. Having set out in sunshine, we’d no jackets. Suffice to say, we drive carefully back through standing water to the apartment … stripped off every soaked garment and had hot showers!

After lunch the sun came out. Forecast was rain! Back up past the huge houses to Cape Spartel. Every place we go has “officials” who “help” you park. But for a euro or so, we’re happy to have the car watched.

*Not much there other* *than* *where Med meets Atlantic. But busy with locals.*

The next stop was the Caves of Hercules, where he is reputed to have stayed before accomplishing his 11th labour. And the Barbary Apes are said to have navigated underground passages to inhabit the Rock of Gibraltar. Super busy with locals, and another €1 private car park.

At €8 pp entry, they were a little disappointing, except for the patterns where the rocks had been carved out

Last stop of the day was Asilah. Two brothers had a vision of lifting the town out of depression. In the 70’s, they invited artists to paint the town. It now has an annual mural (graffiti!) festival.

*To be honest, all this geometric stuff ain’t to our taste. Bristol has a graffiti festival and that is art!*

*The walled old city was worth wandering. However, there seemed to be only 2 gates. How on earth would folk evacuate if a fire, let alone fire tenders get in?*

Having eventually found a gate to exit the old town, we walked to the Jewish cemetary. Closed sadly. Retraced our steps for refreshment. I had a milk shake … a novel version as it was whipped cream, two ice cubes and smothered in caramel sauce … I coped!

The rush hour drive home was like being in a video game, but with higher stakes. No rules and nerves of steel! Clare and I have cancelled the hire cars when the family comes over to celebrate my 60th in Marrakesh we’ll get taxis!!!

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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