Madness to Midelt

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Well the days aim was to visit the Berber Village then head for Midelt. It all started bad when the weather decided to rain on and off when we first awoke, so the tents had to be packed away wet. Once packed up we headed off to find the village, only to reach it and be dissapointed. I think the reason the new lonely planet book on Morocco doesn't feature this place is because its no longer of interest to tourists, and is pretty run down with nothing really to see. So we carried on up the road to the top where there was a nice view point of the valley, in the rain. At this point we studied the maps and decided on a route that would take us to lake tislit.

The route down was stunning as it started off in thick forest, then rocky mountains. But the rocky mountains changed so often it was amazing, one minute you were driving through yellow sand stone then the next you were on mars, with the ground and dust being bright red. So not only was the scenery changing with each mountain range, but the colours were as well, and with such vibrant colours too. As for the roads themselves they were all a slim strip of tarmac with gravel either side for evasion of incoming vehicles, all the while it was still raining off and on, and whe nit was on it was turrential.

The route was slow going, but we made it to the lake at about 3pm. Again the lake and the surrounding mountains were spectacular, something I think, as with all these sights, the photographs will never do justice. Now the real trouble is about to begin. Having achieved our aim to reach lake Tisilit, and in good time, we chose a route to Midelt with Tomtom, giving us a route of 109 miles, 3 hours journey time. Here was our first problem, we believed the sat nav. In Morocco the roads can change in quality within 25 metres, drastically.

The start was swift as we were on a good, wide, tarmac road which lasted 5 miles after the town of Imichil. It then became pretty much a single track road with some very sharp bends and vast drops along one edge, where on occasion the rain had caused small land slides, which covered the entire road in small rocks and debris. This usually occured just before a sharp descent with a hairpin bend at the bottom. Still this didn't stop us, it just slowed us down immensely, to the point where we averaged 25mph. There also wasn't a junction for 40 miles so no other options if we found a problem, which we did. 30 miles down, and in near total darkness, the road became blocked by a large landslide, so we had to turn around and head back to the start. By this point the road ran along side a river, which though it was very low at the moment, had in places removed parts of the road. In the daylight this was ok, as you could see how much was gone and drive a safe route.

That was far from a pleasant experience for any of us, and we were all relieved to reach the main road, where we then headed back for Imichil, as by now two of the trucks were close to empty. This is when we found out that Morocco never sleeps it would seem, especially where theres money to be made, as by now it was very late and the petrol station was in darkness. But when we pulled up two guys came out and served us. Once fuelled up we decided that we needed a hotel for the night, as setting up wet tents on a cold, dark night was never going to happen. As it happens,100 yards down the road from the petrol station was hotel Kasbar, again all the lights were out, until we parked up then the owner appeared and showed us to our rooms. This would have been perfect had the showers actually had hot water, but a nice bed and breakfast was good enough for us, and at £10.90 each who could complain.

The next day the aim was to drive one or two of the routes described in one of the overland books we had. With a nice start to the day we made it down to the Gorge de todra, which was an awesome sight. It looked a bit like a Moroccan grand canyon, with shear rock cliffs either side of th road. Near the end there's a small car park just before all the market stalls begin, so we stopped there for a cuppa. While Alan and I stayed and made the tea, Mark and Dave went off to inspect the stalls, and then we swapped. It was quite interesting to see and like the books say, if you don't like the price of the first stall there will always be another 5 or so with the same thing available.

One thing i did find funny was the fact that just around the corner, out of sight, was a hotel full of tourists. This also meant that for the next mile or so was another load of stalls, all pretty much selling the same stuff. At the end of the gorge is the town of Tingdir, where we picked up some more cash and then started another route from the book. The route started off very stoney but other than that was an ok route. This then turned quite smooth in places till we got close to the top, and we found that they are close to tarmacing the route, as the ground was smooth sand for most of the way to the village of Iknioun.

Once the other side there was another route but, after yesterdays experience in the dark we decided to head for a campsite down tarmac instead. Though even this was an amazing road with some spectacular views, esecially 3 miles from the end where the ground levelled out for miles around, revealling an awesome horizon of mountains, all in a blue haze from the setting sun. With sunlight to spare we found the campsite only to find it was more of a building site with no grass or soil for the guys to pitch there ground tents, so we moved on to the next. This happened to be on the grounds of a really nice hotel, half way up the gorge du dades. Another impressive place.

By the time camp was setup, it was pitch black and the consensus was to try out the hotels resturant. The problem was we hadn't made a reservation, but they accommodated us none the less. For starters we had Soup, which smelt really nice with a hint of spice, but in actual fact had no taste at all! Then for main we had brouquettes, which was served with tuna and sweetcorn rice one side and grilled veg the other. What we didn't realise was that the two skewers of beef each was just the first batch, as next they brought out skewers of chicken with a large plate of chips, all of which was very delicious. By this point none of us could move. Then the waiter brought over some fresh slices of watermelon for dessert, on the house as the hotel was full. All that, including bowls of bread and drinks, totalled 100 dirhams each, so just over £7.

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