Got an early start, heading east 100Km to Taroudant, , a destination a little out of the mainstream but still quite popular with many tourists.
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 a wide arched gateway. Parked the car and went walking about checking out the Medina and town centre.
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.
southside wall, Taroudant
The prices in this Medina are lower than what we found in other cities.
We looked at lots of brass, silver, clothing, leather goods and jewelry items.
I’m sure it was here we bought some things for Chris, Dave, and Ron: leather pouches, djellabas and strings of goulimine beads.
Goulimine beads were used primarily as currency in an earlier time, some were used in fashion, and some represented symbols of freedom
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 centre, then went back to the car and left town through the east gate.
East Gate, Taroudant
Older part of town near East Gate
Out the gate, turned left onto the north road and we’re looking straight up the ass of the High Atlas Mountains.
These are big ass mountains, man {14,000 ft. / 4,200 M} the highest in the country, the second highest in all of Africa.
Africa’s highest is Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania – 19,340 ft. / 5895 M.}
The 14.000 foot peak in this range is Mount Toubkal, but we won’t be going quite that high.
The road we’re on is going to take us through a pass not too far from
Mount Toubkal in order to get 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 becoming quite steep and winding in spots, but not as dangerously 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 several 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 with many tiny settlements scattered about the valley floor. I think most were probably family communes as there were only three or four dwellings in most groups. It was all quite beautiful and picturesque.
I’m pretty sure that the whole time we were seeing these beautiful valleys that I was wearing a huge smiley face. I just love seeing all these mountains and valleys.
We were all totally impressed by the beauty of 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 official accurate census for mountain dwellers.
Simply because there are so many people that make the trek through the deserts and across territorial borders into the mountains from everywhere.
And thousands make the trek back and forth so many times a year that it’s impossible to keep track of the number of people that come and go in this manner. The number is so widely random that whatever number they say it is at any given time, that’s what it is.
The temperature began to drop rapidly as we got to higher elevations. The road we’re on is leading us into a huge ominous dark grey cloud.
We drove nervously straight into it.
In a matter of less than a minute we emerged from the other side, it was winter, just incredible. The sky was so blue, the sun so yellow and snow everywhere was the purist white ever.
This was just too cool, we were again completely blown away.
In a just a few minutes we went from summer temperatures to 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 may have even been a few mountain goats scurrying about on the slopes; this was all so cool we just loved it.
Our ears kept popping from the elevation, which was really annoying, as was the bit of a headache we all had. High elevation and thin air were not agreeing with us. But we were having so much fun we wanted to hang out for just awhile longer,
but alas…”we have miles to go before we sleep”…
It was now time to go.
High Atlas valley tier farming, just one of hundreds
Well, we made it over the top and started 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 that’s a tight squeeze; but the hitch-hiker was just a skinny little guy and somehow we managed to fit him in.
Hmm, maybe we should try to fit him into the door pouch, you know, where you put maps and newspapers, he was almost that skinny
When I say skinny I mean almost two dimensional. If he stood sideways and stuck his tongue out, he would look like a zipper. Whatever this kid eats, and due to his lack of body mass, he needs to eat a lot more of it.
He had width, height, but front to back on the “y axis” he was almost as thin as paper.
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; it’s reputed to be one of the most treacherous roads in the country.
We all knew what a “pass” was, but we didn’t know what the “Tizi-n-Test” part of the name meant. Our best guess was that it meant,…hang onto your ass man, because if you go over the edge you’re going to fucking die.
At the time we traveled this road there were no effective safety barriers along the edge anywhere, with one exception. There were a few places that had some broken down remnants of what were once knee high curbs, but only on a few curves; that’s how I remember it.
So there’s none of this -‘it’s just my style’- while 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.
This is not our video. It is however the road we drove on as we navigated through the Pass. These people had the benefit of several curbs and barriers; we had none.
This video is almost 8 minutes long, the actual drive was much longer.
I could have driven this road myself but that would have been way too much of a white knuckle drive for me, and a nerve-wracking ride for everyone else; I sure wasn’t up for that.
So the drive through this part of our route was executed with the upmost care.
thanks Mel
While still in the mountains 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 lots of it, and it only cost 25 Dhm [six dollars] for the whole lot.
The lady told Al how pleased she was that we were giving this kid a ride through the mountains.
We needed to get going now. Dusk was beginning to roll in and it had also started to rain, but only lightly; but now we really needed to make up some time.
The lady’s parting words to us as we left were, ‘bless you all’.
As we’re driving along the kid’s 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, the best driver out of the five of us. The kid had nothing too worry about, but there was no way to make him understand that. He could have got out of the car if he was that nervous, but he didn’t;
so onward to Marrakesh we go.
As we came down from the higher mountain peaks to the lower level foothills, the annoying ear popping has almost stopped and the headache has gone; what a relief; normal air pressure worked wonders for us.
We could see the lights of Marrakesh way off in the distance to the north. But it’s still going to take about a half hour to get there…
We finally made it, we’re in Marrakesh, it’s late and we’re tired.
Somewhere along the way the kid got out, but I don’t remember the details about that.
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 really wish we had got separate rooms.
Once in bed Mel and Aileen became quite active, and noisy about it as well.
It was difficult for Eve and I too fall asleep.
It had been another long tiring day; but we’re young, we can handle it.
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 northeast to the Middle Atlas mountains.
Next stop, Fez, the Imperial city.
Page #13
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