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It's early in the day and we're heading 100Km east to Taroudant, a tourist destination a little out of the mainstream. The town was first established in 1056. It has the warmest temperatures in the country due to it's location nestled between the High Atlas and Anti Atlas ranges. We entered through the main gate, one of nine. Parked the car and went walking about, checking out the Medina and town center. This town has a much more relaxed feel to it. Not the hustle and bustle that we experienced in Marrakesh or Casablanca; this was certainly more to my liking. The prices in this Medina are lower then what we found in other cities. We looked at lots of brass, silver, clothing, leather goods, and jewelry items. I think it was here we bought some things for Chris, Dave, and Ron: leather pouches, djellabas and strings of Goulimine beads. There were so many beautiful items to buy that it was hard to restrain ourselves. We took a break and had lunch at an outdoor cafe. We hung out for awhile taking in some of the town scenery. But now it was time to get back on the road. We still had a long way to go before we get to Marrakesh. We took a short walk through the town center, then went back to the car and left town through the east gate. We turned off the main road and onto the north road. We're looking straight up into the High Atlas. These are big ass mountains man, {14,000 ft. / 4200 M} the highest in the country, the second highest in all of Africa {the highest is Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - 19,340 ft. / 5895 M} The highest peak in this range is Mount Toubkal, 14,000 ft; but we won't be driving over that one. But we'll be close. The road we're on is going to take us through a pass not too far from the top in order to get through to Marrakesh. This little car is going to work it's ass off. The condition of the road so far isn't too bad, but the climb is quite steep and winding in spots, but not as winding as the Anti Atlas road. As we moved onward and upward, the road was getting a little rougher. As we got higher up the mountain, rocks had fallen off the mountain face onto the road, some were large enough that we had to start steering around them. Driving the higher elevations enabled us to see several valleys that had many tiny settlements scattered about, I think most were probably family communes as there were only three or four small dwellings in each group. It was all quite beautiful and picturesque. We were all impressed by the overall view. It's been estimated that between a hundred thousand and six million people live in the various ranges throughout the country, of which there are four. Not having a better handle on how many people live in the country seemed a bit unrealistic. However, in 1975 there was no accurate census for mountain dwellers. So any number they say it is, that's what it is. The temperature began to drop rapidly as we got to higher elevations. One of the peaks the road was leading us was hidden by a huge ominous dark grey cloud. We drove nervously straight into it. When we emerged from the other side it was winter. The sky was so blue, the sun so yellow and snow everywhere was the purist white ever. This was just too cool, we were completely blown away. In a matter of just a few minutes we went from summer temperatures to snow and winter weather; unbelievable. We got out of the car to play in the snow for a bit, throwing snowballs at each other and laughing our asses off. The air at this elevation was also a bit thin, but unlike the locals, we're not conditioned for it. All the mountain peaks were completely covered with snow; there were even a few mountain goats scurrying about on the slopes; this was all so cool, we loved it. Our ears kept popping from the elevation, which was a bit annoying. But we were having so much fun we just wanted to hang out for a bit longer, but alas......"we have miles to go before we sleep"...... Soon we would be over the top and start heading downward. Along the way we came across a young Moroccan guy hitch-hiking. Silly us, we decided to pick him up. There was already five of us in the car, and it's a small car, a very tight squeeze at best. Luckily the hitch-hiker was just a skinny little guy and we managed to squeeze him in. He was going to Marrakesh, lucky him, so were we,... a free ride for him, plus he gets the pleasure of our company, all jammed into a sardine can we're now coming into the Tizi-n-Test Pass, where in spots can be a very scary and dangerous drive. There are no safety barriers along the road edge anywhere in the area. So there's no fucking around with the driving on this road, it's far too dangerous; and my life is too precious to me to allow someone to be fucking with it; and I made the driver aware of how I felt. So the drive through this part of our route was executed with the upmost care. We came across a little tiny inn, run by an equally little tiny French woman who didn't speak any English; but that was never a problem. She fed us omelettes, fried potatoes, tomato salad, bread and the cleanest water you could imagine. The food was great and the price was just 25 Dhm [six dollars] for the whole lot. Al said the lady was very pleased that we were giving this kid a ride a ride through the mountains. We needed to get going now. It was beginning to get dark and had started to rain, but only lightly, and we really needed to make up some time. As we're driving along the kids' not saying too much. Al was squeezed in beside him and tried to chat him up a few times. He told us he thought the kid was kinda nervous, and it may have had something to do with Mel's driving. Mel is a good driver; maybe a bit fast at times, but still a good driver. A short distance down the road there was a huge roaring waterfall just off to the side, it wasn't wide but it sure was high, and deafening loud. I would've loved to got a picture of it, but the camera was buried somewhere in the backpack, it was too dark anyhow. As we came past the lower peaks the annoying ear popping has almost stopped; that's a relief. We could see the lights of Marrakesh way off in the distance to the north. But it's still going to take another hour to get there... We finally made it to Marrakesh, it's late and we're tired. Somewhere along the way the kid got out, I don't remember the details about that part. We went straight to the Hotel du Sud and got a room for the night. Al didn't want to pay for a room, he was becoming a bit concerned about how much money he had left, so he decided to sleep in the car. The rest of us got a room with two beds. I wish we had got separate rooms, Mel and Aileen were quite active, and noisy about it. Eve and I had a difficult time falling asleep. It had been yet another long tiring day, there's been lots of those kinds of days these past few weeks. Woke up after a much needed sleep. The others got up and went out to the marketplace. Eve and I stayed in bed, we just didn't want to get up yet. When the others returned we gathered up our gear, packed everything in the car and headed north east to the Middle Atlas mountains. Next stop, Fez, the Imperial city. Page #13 Page links 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
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approaching
Taroudant 
the main gate, north side
busy town centre
the walls of Taroudant
one of the many High Atlas valleys
mountain peak covered by cloud
the other side of
the cloud 
main gate to the
Marrakesh Medina |