Dades Gorge
We stopped for an evening photo opportunity at the start of the Dades Gorge. The gorge lies between the Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains. Berbers built many kasbahs in the vicinity of the gorges with defensive purposes. Today it is more of a tourist attraction for its amazing beauty. The contrast between the high red clay cliffs and brilliant blue sky is breathtaking. At times we were sandwiched between the cliffs which made the contrast even more distinct.
We spent the night in the Hotel du Vieux Chateau du Dades, with the most beautifully tiled public bathrooms we had ever seen. It was nearly dark by the time we arrived. When we checked in, our room was nearly freezing cold – no exaggeration, my thermometer registered just above zero. We went back to the lobby and they gave us a remote for the A/C heater. We turned it on as high as it would go in the hopes that the room would be warm by the time we had dinner. We had our tajine dinner and were anxious to get to bed. It had been a long day of travel. Our room had only warmed up a few degrees because the ceilings were about 3 meters high and all the heat went up. Thankfully there were a few heavy extra blankets. We slept with our clothes on and fell fast asleep. There was a small river just outside our window and the sound of it was a lullaby to our senses.
The next morning we had some time to wander around the hotel while everyone was getting their breakfast eaten and bags loaded. We then could see how the hotel was stuck right in the middle of a huge gorge, with the river beside it. There was a building high on top of the gorge, not too far from where we were situated.
When we were all loaded up we headed up the road toward the building on top of the gorge. And up it was! The road was a series of violent switchbacks and ridiculously steep. Any barriers along the edge afforded little more than token protection. We were driving just centimeters from the side of the mountain,and there was no form of barrier to keep us on the road if anything were to go wrong… This winding road is frequently included in lists of the top 5 most dangerous roads. We were all more than a bit apprehensive as the grinding brakes were still making noise and still smelling burnt. We made it to the top, stopped for some amazing photos (only long enough for the driver to have his smoke) then headed back down the switchbacks. Going back down the switchbacks was even scarier than going up – now we could see just how high we were! The building that we saw way up there from our hotel was actually a hotel clinging to the side of the cliff like a barnacle. I think it would be a fantastic spot to spend a night. I didn't get the name of it, unfortunately.
Tinerhir
We then headed to Tinerhir. The area is one of the most attractive oases in southern Morocco. We had a guide show us the terraced irrigated fields around the abandoned Berber village. The contrast between the lush green fields and the barren red rocks behind was quite stunning. We were then walked a short distance into town where the locals still build their own houses from mud.
We got a demonstration of carpet making. Irene participated in some wool carding. They also explained what the various patterns on the carpets meant – certain patterns belonged to certain tribes and represented everything from sand dunes to basket weaving. The Berber women making the rugs, for our viewing pleasure, kept their faces mostly hidden and we were told NOT to photograph their faces.
We actually bought a few smaller rugs and were having them shipped to London, where we were going to collect them before heading back to Canada. They were to be shipped DHL. A couple days later we called Len to ask if they had arrived. No. So we called the carpet place back to see what the problem was. They had some lame excuse. Our taxi driver at that time, Mohamed, took the phone from us and talked to the carpet man in the local language, in case we were missing something in the translation. When we hung up Mohamed told us to cancel the order as well as call our credit card company and cancel the transaction. He said they sounded suspicious. We heeded Mohamed's advice. The carpet place was indignant. They kept calling and calling trying to promise us that they would be sent in a few days. We finally stopped taking their calls. Mohamed said that the carpet place paid a commission on any sales up front to our guide for bringing us to the shop. The guide won't return the money so now the carpet shop is mad at us for canceling the order. The carpets we bought were already made, so all they had to do was roll them up and ship them. We think 4 days was sufficient time to do this.
Todgha Gorge
We the headed further into the Todgha Gorge. This whole region is stuck between two mountain ranges. Once buried under the sea, when the water disappeared it left the deformed rocks of folds and faults. Wind and river erosion eventually shaped the desert landscape of limestone and clay. The Todgha River widened the rocks, giving rise to canyons up to 160 meters high but in some places only 10 meters wide. The temperature always remains cool, even when the local village is warm, because the sun only shines into the gorge in the early morning.
The Kasbah les Roches hotel is nestled between a huge cliff and the river, which snakes through the gorge. It is both awesome and scary. If there were a flash flood or rock slide you have no where to run.
Someplace along the trip a guide showed us how to tie a turban for ourselves. It was a great thing to learn. It kept the sun off the head, it kept our head warm in the evenings, and it was perfect to hide a bad hair day.
Most guides speak a little bit of several different languages. In Tinerhir that our guide kept talking to 'Kyle' in Japanese. Kyle was from South Korea. He told the guide that although he understood Japanese he was South Korean. The guide kept talking to him in Japanese. Kyle was getting more than a little irritated. That night we were all having dinner together and the subject of which country has the worst travelers came up. Most people agreed that the Americans and Russians were the worst. Then one German fellow said that he didn't like the South Koreans. Gasp! Everyone looked at Kyle, who had a look of “what the hell did I do to you” on his face. Then the fellow followed up with “because they look Japanese,,, but they're not”. We all burst out laughing, including Kyle.
We left Todgha Gorge and headed toward the highlight of our trip – an overnight stay in the Sahara.
We could hear a funny sound coming from the back of the bus and every time he applied the brakes (which was often) we could hear a terrible grinding sound and smell burnt brakes. Something must have been heating up badly because we eventually got a blown out tire back there. Because of his nasty disposition, no one stepped forward to help him change the tire. He seemed quite inept in this department and we soon realized that we were wasting precious time waiting for him, so Ed and a couple of other guys finally stepped in to help. Everyone also took this opportunity to find a bush to relieve themselves.
Our driver got even more surly as he proceeded to drive us to every tire shop he could find along the way, to replace the blown tire. We found out later that we were to get a tour of Merzouga, a small village near Erg Chebbi – one of Morocco's largest sea of sand dune sand our destination. Instead we spent several hours driving around the town while he searched for a new tire. As a result, we got to the camp a bit late.
