The High (and cold) Atlas Mountains

We left Ait Ben Haddou toward our next stop in the High Atlas Mountains.  I was kind of nervous/dreading this part of the tour.  We had a 90 minute climb to a guest house, where we were advised we might need to bring a sleeping bag due to the cold, and we would be sharing a room.  None of that sounded appealing to me.  But we would be staying with a local family and sharing a meal with them so that seemed good.   

But first we had some driving to do through some very colourful hills.  Road pictures!

Yes, those snow covered mountains are where we are going

You might notice a theme to those pictures.  There were a lot of mountains to cross! 

The highest pass we went through was Tichka Pass at 2260 meters.  I can't remember if this is higher or lower than where we stayed.  But there was less snow on the pass so I'm gonna say lower.  

Consider yourself warned!

It really was a beautiful drive but we were getting higher and colder with every mile.  The road was windy and hilly and under construction.  Our driver, Abdul, did a very good job of not careening off a cliff.  

Once we were through the pass, the geography kept changing every time we turned a corner.  

We finally got to our destination, Aroumd.  Actually, now that I think of it, Aroumd may have been the village where Abdul dropped us off to start our hike, or it might be the village we hiked to.  It doesn't matter.  Let's just call everything in the area Aroumd.

I can't remember if I told you about G Adventures recommendation to bring soft-sided luggage because for this part of the trip, mules would be carrying our bags to the gite (guest house).  At the beginning of the trip, Kim had mentioned how much she pared down her luggage, 'think of the mules' she would say to herself as she rejected items.  But as it turns out, we each just packed a small overnight bag which was taken to the gite by car on some mysterious road we never saw.   No we took the 'path'.  I was somewhat disappointed that we did not have a mule to keep us company as we climbed to our gite.  But, we met mules along the way.

Verity, Tom and Rachel, waiting patiently (or not, they were 
too far ahead to be heard)

Those are stairs!

At one point, we had to get past a very pissed off mule who appeared in the path.  Mohammed's guide duties never cease to amaze.  Mule wrangler as well as tourist wrangler.  Eric took this picture.

It was a nice view and the walk wasn't terrible but it was cold.  We arrived in the village of our gite. Crossed a bridge and then traversed lots of very narrow, very rocky little 'streets' full of children and the occasional sheep.

We made it!  Rachel and I shared a room.  We could see our breath in the house.  Even with a heater and the fireplace roaring away.  

Our room. Those extra blankets were not enough

Only Mohammed was brave and hardy 
enough to actually take a shower

Eating with full winter gear on.

We did not get to spend time with the family.  We only saw the women as we arrived, they waved to us from a balcony above.  The only time the children appeared is when the men of the house brought out extra blankets.  I guess some of the group were playing cards around the fire and didn't grab a blanket right away.  The kids appeared and took them back.  Fair enough, they were probably taken off their little beds to make the soft tourists more comfortable. 

I was so cold, I didn't take off my clothes or my coat or toque. Just my shoes.  I just got under covers and tried not to freeze to death.  My efforts were successful, I survived but I did not enjoy this stay.  

The next morning, we all packed up again and headed downhill on a different narrow, rocky path.  But this time add snow and ice.  It was shorter but much worse than the path up.  And then, Catherine fell and whacked her head on a rock.  That was super scary! Bleeding head wound on a very remote location is not to be trifled with.  But she rallied and made it down the hill.  And didn't want to go to the hospital so we just carried on.

Abdul and the van met us on a road somewhere and we all piled on.  I for one, and I know I'm not the only one, was glad to be leaving the High Atlas mountains behind.  

As we waited for the van - kitten!

That's it, a short one this time.  We are getting close to the end of the trip.

Mountains and Valleys and Gorges, oh my!

I have been so remiss in my postings and then I wrote this long one yesterday, snatching minutes between events.  I was finishing up in bed and I managed to delete the entire thing!  So I gave up.  Now I have a few minutes to try again.  

After we left Mergouza, we did a lot of driving days.  We were heading to the High Atlas mountains. But lots of stops and road pictures before we get there.  

A camel in a snow globe.  This amused me.  

Mohammed likes to take us to shops he knows, where he trusts the sellers to give us good products.  Of course this means the prices are higher than anywhere else.  But we get a little tour and explanation of whatever thing it is we can buy.  

We were also traveling through every 'fill in the blank' capital in Morocco.  first stop, the date capital of Morocco.  I bought fig jam, some nuts, some figs and fig coffee.  Why fig coffee, it can't possibly be any good.  I lose my head in these places. 

See how happy this guy is.  He finally
off-loaded that terrible fig coffee.  

Next tour/shopping opportunity was in the fossil capital of Morocco. This was actually kind of cool.  I thought I would be safe, but alas, I bought a fossil plate.  Did I mention I did not buy the camel snow globe.

Polishing the fossil so it is 
shiny and extra visible

Next up, historical wells dug by Sudanese slaves, hundreds of years ago (or last week, what do I know).  There a so many wells, dug by hand.  They are dry now but we stopped to look into a dirt hole anyway. 

Each mound is a well.  There were probably 
thousands of them.

Sand traps to keep the sand off the road.  

A hole.

The very intricate and unsteady looking business 
surrounding the hole.  You can see the bucket at the top

We finally made it to the Todra Gorge.  This is a beautiful green ribbon of an oasis in the rocky desert.  We hiked down into it and had a lovely walk along the agricultural fields and primitive irrigation systems.  It must take a true communal mindset for all of the farmers to get along and share the limited water resources without war breaking out among them.  

After an hour or more, we climbed back up to the town overlooking the river and fields.  

I gave this guy my orange peel

And then we piled back in the van to head over the next hill.  But not without stopping for a panoramic view of the valley.  

This happy kid was the recipient
of some of Kim's terrible apples.  

What goes down, must come up.  We climbed into the mountains to the rock climbing capital of Morocco.  No climbers at this time of year but one can see how the rock faces would be exciting for climbers.  

That's John over there

Moroccan vendors know no limitations to location.  They had strung up wires to hang their wares.  

At one point, we kind of lost Kim.  We had to drive back down the mountain for a wee bit where we found her trying to trade her hat for a carpet. She was out of money but her hat was popular.  She just can't seem to say no to the sellers which is why she doesn't have any money.  When we arrived, it appeared she was trading her hat for a $1 scarf.  We had to go save her and her hat from this guy.

John had stayed with her so only her hat was in peril

We arrived at our hotel which I barely remember but I have photographic evidence so I know we eventually stopped driving.

Off again early the next morning.  Road pictures!

See that snow covered mountain over there,
consider that foreshadowing of horrors to come

Green is a symbol of peace or god or something.  
So there are lots of green doors.  I think they are pretty
(I may have just disqualified myself from the 
cultural awareness award competition)

I had mentioned to Mohammed that I was interested in some Berber jewelry.  We stopped at a road side pull out to see what was available.   I bought two necklaces.  Not the one this guy is holding.  Sadly no brooches.  

A quick pop and shop in the Rose capital of Morocco.  I bought nothing.  It wasn't hard with this level of shop to contend with.

Next up, a herbal pharmacist.  Do you want to cure cold, baldness, low/high blood pressure/sugar!  He has something.  It was actually quite fun and we got to smell lots of different scents and rub all sort of lotions, tinctures and elixirs all over ourselves.  I bought nothing.

Road pictures!

We finally caught sight of our destination for the day. Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, a UNESCO world heritage site.  And also the location where they filmed Gladiator.  A movie I've never seen but it seems like a big deal.  Other things were also filmed here including Game of Thrones.

That is the Kasbah at the top of that hill.

We dumped our stuff in our rooms and headed over to visit the kasbah.  It was on the other side of a trickle of a river but the river bed indicates that is gets to be much more than a tickle occasionally.

A long bridge across the river

View from the top

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Bit of a break there.  My birthday dinner and a drink afterwards so I'm a bit beery.  But must get this out before I sleep!  

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We were coming down the hill when a man waved some of us into his house.  Come look at the goats in my living room he said.  Um, that's normal but sure, let's.  

Goats in the salon, just like everyone's goats in their salon

Poor Mohammed had to come and find us and get us out of the goat house.  I often wonder what he is thinking.  He is a most patient man.  Except for our shopping problems.  There were lots of little shops in the kasbah but he kept a steady pace to keep us moving past them.  But there was no stopping us from taking at least 10 pictures of EVERY cat we came across.

Not an actual cat, but evidence that a 
cat was once here!

Oh wait, sanctioned shopping is fine.  Mohammed dropped some of us off at the women's cooperative carpet store.  It was me, Eric, John and Elspeth.  John and Elspeth, let's be honest, just Elspeth brought actual measurements for the area of their house they wanted a carpet for.  I was carpet leery.  I have no idea why Eric was there but he is a trooper and watched them unfurl a million carpets onto the showroom floor. I bought nothing but they really tried to remedy that situation.  Unsuccessfully.

  No bridge for our return trip to the other side of the river.

And that was it for me.  Half the group went to tagine cooking class but I just went to bed early.  The next morning we were up and in the van at the crack of dawn.  But not before taking too many pictures of this pile of puppies. 

Ok, that's it for now.  You will have to wait even longer for me to tell you about the worst day of the tour.  I have to get up in four hours!