Rock the Kasbar...

Africa » Morocco
January 9th 2007

Published: January 16th 2007

Edit Blog Post

Gulabo

View over the valley

This was taken from low on the High Atlas mountains looking in the general direction of Marrakesh. The land is quite fertile.

Hey hey everyone, I'm in Morocco!!!
I arrived on the evening of the 6th, and with a delayed flight didn't end up getting to the hotel in Marrakesh until 1am. I had joined a small group tour for 9 days as I thought since I know no Arabic I wouldn't get too far by myself. This meant that we were getting up at 5.30 the next day to set out on the biggest drive of our tour,over the High Atlas Mountains. I didn't really get much of a chance to meet many of the 15 people the next morning as I ate breakfast (French Pastries, which we had at almost every breakfast the entire time!) half asleep. There were 15 of us in all, spaced out in age from 19 to late 60's. We also had 3 drivers as we travelled in 3 Land Rovers (adapted to sit up to 7 people) and 2 tour guides. We left Marrakesh as the sun was rising, and headed straight for the mountain passes. In the car I was in the driver seemed to love traditional Berber music, so the drive up over the red dusty mountains became very atmospheric. The land scape is

The High Atlas Mountains

Looking up to the pass from our first tea stop.

so completely different to anything I'd ever seen before. Rocky, dusty terracotta coloured earth planted with olive trees, almond trees and date palms. Every usuable bit of land seemed to be terraced into cultivations (which on this side of the mountains were reasonably fertile.) Mud/straw brick houses were clinging onto any available surface on the mountain sides, as flat land was used for crops.
We stopped for morning tea at around 10 in a small mountain town which seemed to have the local market going on. On the way towards the town, we passed groups of people walking up to the road from seemingly no-where. This was a sight we got used to in Morocco, people walk or bike hours across desert to get to the nearest town or mosque. In a local cafe, where we were the only foreigners (actually we were the only foreigners in the entire town it seemed) we had a first taste of Moroccan mint tea. This is just a huge heap of fresh mint in a tea pot, covered with boiling water and poured into small glasses after sitting for a while. Sugar is optional. The first taste was strange, but surely enough mint

In the Mountains

Moroccans are opportunists, they cultivate anywhere they find fertile soil. This is high up in the Atlas far from anywhere.

tea grew on me, and I became an avid drinker of 'berber whiskey' as it is called. We also experienced the first squat toilet in the cafe. At first glance, when I walked in, I was a bit revolted by the look. The floor was damp and grimy, and there was just a little bucket by a tap to hand flush the toilet (there was also no toilet paper.) But after using it, I became convinced that in places like this, where I couldn't be sure of the frequency of cleaning, I would much rather the squat toilet than actually having to sit on a dirty toilet seat.
We continued the drive higher and higher up the winding road, and began to pass patches of snow which hadn't melted in the sun as yet. Up high, the sun was shining strongly, but it was cold in the shadows and the air felt very crisp. We stopped for lunch on a terrace of an unused cafe sitting by itself on the mountain side. It was a picnic lunch of Moroccan flat bread with sliced tomato, red onion, tuna, olives, boiled eggs and oranges. Despite the fact I really wasn't that hungry,

The mountains

Looking out over our landrovers to the Mountains. In the centre you can see one of the mountain houses.

I ended up going back for another sandwhich as the olives were the best I've ever eaten, and the bread was fresh and delicious. We also recieved our major briefing by the tour leader Abdul. He showed us on a map of Morocco where we would be going, and also explained some history and cultural information about the country. We were handed a list of words and phrases in Arabic which would become invaluable in the souks when we were bargaining.
Early in the afternoon, after crossing over the top of the Tizi n' Tichka pass and driving down into the more arid, desert like side of Morocco, we drove off the main road and across dirt tracks for about half an hour to visit our first Kasbah at Telouet. This was our first opportunity to see the buildings of the Berber people up close and the Kasbah was certainly impressive. Despite the fact that the crumbling Kasbah appeared to be centuries old, it was actually built in the early 1900's. The mud/straw building requires maintanence every 1 or 2 years, and as the Kasbah had been unused for over 40 years the outside was very degraded. However, the inside

Kasbah Telouet 1

Outside the Kasbah

was still beautiful and we looked around while Abdul explained to us the layout of a typical Kasbah and how this one served the community in it's time. We then walked up onto the roof to look out over the valley and neighouring town. All the surrounding land had once been owned by the Kasbah and the town was built for servants. Now those in the town owned all the land and worked it co-operatively.
We still had quite a way to drive to reach our final destination and on the way passed through the hollywood of Morocco, Ouarzazate. There were a number of film studios on the main road and Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here among many other films. We continued driving, stopping briefly off the road at the ksour (walled village) of Tamnougalt. We were shown around the interior and the Kasbar there, before having another mint tea sitting on a high terrace. We looked over the paths from the cultivations into the town and at this time women, children and men were walking in with baskets of crops, or donkeys.
The last hour or so of driving was spent in a light slumber by almost everyone

Kasbar Telouet 2

Looking up to the outside of the Harem from a courtyard.

in the Land Rover, as it was basically dark. We arrived in Zagora, the 'gateway to the desert' around 7pm utterly exhausted. After a rather quiet dinner everyone headed off to bed. The next day was spent looking around the Zagora oasis area. We walked around the hamlet of Amazrou drinking in the atmosphere of the town. Many times we had to jump off the narrow pathways as small groups of donkeys or camels came past with their owner. We also visited a traditional silver manufacturer who learned their craft from the Jews. We looked on as they cast silver pendants in a traditional clay casting method. I then tried my first turn at bargaining in the shop to get some gorgeous silver earrings. In the afternoon we drove a short distance to the town of Tamegroute and looked at the zaouia, a shrine built around a holy mans tomb. This was attached to the mosque, although Abdul was anxious to point out the shrines were against Islamic teachings. We also visited an incredible Qu'ranic school which included a library of ancient arabic texts. Books from the 12th century were sitting on shelves to be read by all who studied

The family quarters

This is looking through the doors to the family quarters upstairs in the Kasbah.

there. It was a totally different attitude to these treasures than that of Western museums who lock up books like these in humidified chambers.
The highlight of the day had to be the time spent out in the desert at Tinou. This was a short 5 min drive from Tamegroute and I went on a camel ride!! My camel was a lovely docile creature who did not smell, spit on me or give me fleas. So my concerns about that were unfounded. After an hour on the camel (I did develop a rather painful rub between my thighs however) we walked up a high sand dune to watch the sunset over the desert. Some French tourists had also made their way to this point with a guitar, and we were treated to Bob Marley by sunset. After returning to the hotel to change, we went to a Kasbah which has been turned into a lovely restaurant. It felt very Moroccan, with low tables, couches and pillows in a riot of red and gold tapestry. We had also discovered our hotel had a bar so after dinner, a group of around 6 of us got stuck into some Moroccan wine and

Family Quarters

Our guide Abdul explaining to the group about life inside the Kasbah

beer until midnight.
I was supposed to wake up at 6 with the rest of the group to go watch the sunset from the top of a small mountain, but I have to admit I rolled over and went back to sleep after the wake up call. It did mean that I was in the most cheerful mood for the rest of the day though! We headed off straight over the desert after breakfast. There was no road, just dirt 4WD tracks and the ground was at times rocky like a river bed, at other times sandy. It was slow driving and we were glad to get out a few times to walk some of the way ourselves. The land was completley parched, with almost no vegetation visible. From time to time we past young children shepharding a herd of goats or camels and wondered both how the animals survived, and where on earth the children had come from! Later on in the morning, we began passing nomads, who ran out from their tents to wave at us as we went past. We finally hit the road in the early afternoon and motored on through a few towns and oases

Looking Up

The Kasbah had a lovely open roof in the family room.

to Tata. We arrived mid afternoon which gave us enough time to wander around the town before dinner. I enjoyed a cold shower in a very sub-standard hotel room, but it all seemed to add to the charm of the town. As we discovered on our walk, ours was the only hotel in the town. The town itself was charming. It was quiet and dusty, with a paved main street and small dirt tracks leading off it. There were shops selling live chickens, fruit and vegetable stalls, a market with traditional clothing and kitchenwares and a mosque. The town was also full off people walking around, the women in beautiful colourful long dresses and cloaks, and the men in Moroccan cloaks. I was very impressed with these cloaks, which are floor length, long sleeved and with a big pointy hood. It made all the men look like Yoda!!
Anyhow, I will update on what happened over the next few days in another blog as this one seems long enough already.

Additional photos below

Photos: 24, Displayed: 24