3 days in the desert

After another night with Hakim’s parents we set off on the next part of our odyssey. We took the slow way to our destination with many stops to see interesting architecture, animals, people and best of all, the scenery. Our first stop was off road through a small village to a Kasbah that was deserted but if you knew the owner as Hakim did then you could have a look through. It was like a museum. It was as if time stood still and the people had moved out. They even had a solar hot water system. I hope the pictures do it justice. We learnt so much that day about all things Moroccan from Hakim. Day one we travelled to the Dades Gorge and the Todra Gorge. Both were immense in their structure but were both very different. Dades gorge was made from red or more like burgundy stones with huge finger -like rocks standing like sentinels along the gorge walls. They looked like monkey’s fingers or King Kong’s hand. It is quite incredible to see what erosion does and the upheaval of the mountains. We have never seen structures like it. I don’t know how many photos we took but we flattened the battery on the camera. The scenes you see along the way like camels running free, herds of sheep that look like goats with the lone herder in the middle of no -where, donkeys ridden on or laden with all sorts of fodder or bags of stuff. People walking long distances, men and children cycling….women don’t seem to cycle they just walk. Schools are also in the middle of no-where so it seems but they are usually between villages so kids have access. I can never sleep in the car..might miss something. The mountains and the landscape change so rapidly. The roads on this part of the journey are great but a little narrow for my liking. Hakim is a great driver. Very careful. We decided to have an Aussie style picnic along the way. I had bought a few provisions and just needed bread. We stopped in a very small village to enquire if the local hole in the wall “bakery” had some bread for us. He produced 3 of the most delicious warm flat breads we have ever eaten. Hakim found a little bridge leading into a village and there we sat eating our sandwiches we had made from that bread. Great meal to be had watched by some of the local kids. Onto our accommodation in the next gorge. We stayed in a small guest house with only a few rooms. Ours was facing the gorge wall with a little creek running along in front as well. It was so restful except for that noisy creek .Only joking. We drank copious amounts of their delicious mint tea up on the terrace until it was too cold then more tea in the sitting room. All the furnishings were berber style and berber fabrics. It was so cosy. A walk into the Todra gorge before dinner was so special as the light was fading and made the steep cliffs even more steep. Again we stood and marvelled at mother nature. It made us hungry and we were fed Moroccan food with a tagine and accompaniments. Along with the bottle of wine we had purchased along the way from the back door of a “supermarket”. It was a great night. We found out a lot about Joy and Hakim and they about us. It was so dark and so quiet as we were in a small village. Sleep came easily at 9.00pm and awake at 7.00am for an early morning walk through the palms and the very old vegetable gardens with well worn paths into the gorge again for more photos with the different light before breakfast of crepes and Moroccan style breakfast