Todra+Gorge-Essaouira

TODRA GORGE Our accommodation was nestled in the Todra Gorge, a deep date palm filled river gorge with very steep rocky cliffs towering above. This was intended as a rest stop for a couple of nights and we took full advantage – it even had a pool! Although, as luck would have it we have experienced the two coolest days since we arrived here – we still had a swim


 * On the second day we walked to a nearby village (about 45mins) for lunch in a private house – yummy food – and were then shown the berber carpets made by the family (there’s always a catch eh?). We succumbed and bought one! The price was much much lower than we’d seen for similar in the bigger towns – obv no middlemen here and it was great to actually meet the two women who had made it (mother and daughter). In all our group purchased 7 carpets of varying sizes so we figured it would be quite a feast in the household that night. ||


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AIT BENHADDOU Ait Benhaddou is a famous Kasbah town (what do you mean, you haven’t heard of it?) It has featured in many films eg Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Indiana Jones. It was built in the 11th century to control the palmerie (oasis) and the salt trade from Mali to Marrakech and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. A Kasbah is basically a fortified town or fortress. The whole surrounding area is a dry stony desert for as far as you can see so control of this oasis would have been crucial to control of the trade route. Our guest house overlooks the Kasbah and is very comfortable – esp after a walk through it and being caught in the rain (yes, bloody rain in the desert! – hopefully the river will be running in the morning) Yes…. Its morning and the river is flowing – really rushing noisy last night AND … there is snow on the distant peaks!
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AREMD A 6 hour drive through the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi ‘n Tichka Pass (highest in Morocco) took us to the small village of Imlil. From there we trecked uphill for 40 minutes to our overnight stay in an even smaller village called Aremd. Some, including Gail, opted for a ride up on a mule – she actually enjoyed it! We saw little of the village as I joined the other 3 who had previously picked up some bug and spent the night and following morning in bed. Another 2 in the group went down next day so our trip down the mountain and on to the next destination, Essaouria, made for a very l o n g day – quite a few unscheduled stops ! ESSAOUIRA Originally settled by the Portuguese 500 years ago as a trading port, Essaouira was completed as a town 300 years back by Sultan Hussein 2. The introduction of modern ships, which required deep water harbours, saw the end of trading from here and now it is basically a fishing and tourist town. Until the mid 20thC there was large Jewish community here that outnumbered the Berber population. They controlled the trading, especially salt, but the demise of trading and world events (eg formation of Israel) has seen it all but disappear. The Medina is the only one in Morocco which was planned so it has wider streets with “square” intersections – you can actually use a map in it! Unfortunately Gail has now succumbed to the bug and requires a restful afternoon. Hopefully she will be up about tomorrow.
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