Marrakech is real nice but Morocco is big, topographically, and linguistically diverse with people speaking Berber dialect, a mix of Arabic as well as French. We found out how true this is on our recent tour of central Morocco.
Our first destination was a gate to the Sahara, M'hamid. This border town sits at the very edge of the desert at the end of the Draa Valley (and the end of the road) about a 7 hour drive from Marrakech. Along the way we passed all sorts of towns during an extremely varied geographical drive.
The Tizi n' Tichka pass was our first crossing through the Atlas heading south east towards the movie town of Ouarzazate, pronounced, "wharsa zat." This pass boasts some of the tallest peaks of the Atlas and makes the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier look like a freeway. The tips of the snow covered mountains were stunning: reds and purples with patches of snow. It was a very rugged landscape that at times reminded me of parts of the Rockies. The road eventually dropped us into the valley of Ouarzazate. A busy town with two movie studios and lots of people.
Further along we crossed the smaller Anti Atlas and into the Draa Valley. The Draa is an oasis valley with towns like Agdz and Zagora spaced along the Draa river. You can follow this river all the way to the Atlantic but we headed the other direction into the desert. This river valley owns about 95% of the greenery around, as up into the mountains it is mostly scrub bushes that eventually give way to rock and sand.
After a quick stop in Zagora for some lamb sandwiches we were ready for the final stretch to M'hamid. It was dark at this point and the one lane road gave very little room for one car much less two. But luck was on our side as we rolled into M'hamid around 9 or so and were greeted by the owner of La Perle Bleue du Desert.
If M'hamid is an outpost town, this was its satelite. Set in the desert about 3 km past town and the end of the road, and consisting of about 7 or so mudbrick buildings, it was a welcome retreat after a long day. We were given food and warm beds to sleep in and treated to some very nice nomad hospitality. We slept well and in the morning were ready to see where we had landed. It was all small dunes and scrub, some stunted trees and rocks with far off mountains visible beyond palms and camels.
After exploring around the camp for a few hours in the hot sun, we piled into a land rover and headed south about 60 km into the Sahara to a sea of dunes, the tallest of which is named Erg Chi Gaga. The drive out took about 2 hours and was incredible. No roads out here just tracks through the many different kinds of desert landscape. Sand, sand with rocks, rocks, scrub and washouts. We stopped at an oasis to drop off a local shepherd who had hitched a ride with us and I thought how incredible it is that any people or towns could survive out here. In the Sahara there are no borders, no police, sporadic water at unmarked sites; it was magical. In the Sahara they say, "water is life."
We reached our destination - a small camp of mudbrick buildings again set at the base of the sea of dunes - just before sunset. We were able to hustle up the largest of the dunes - Chi Gaga with five minutes to spare. This was pretty great; watching the sunset from the top we could see for miles and miles, into Algeria and far out into the desert. We sledded down the dunes and made it back to camp before nightfall. Here we had desert tagine and were treated to a few rounds of nomadic songs to the beat of drums. We said goodnight to the stars and fell asleep cozy and warm in the freezing desert.
Next day we woke to the sun, coffee and bread. After breakfast and a quick goodbye to the dunes we were off again back to M'hamid. We drove back a different way and stopped at a special place where there were fossils lying all over just jumbled around with the rocks. Then we took the desert path back. No GPS required; just make sure your guide was born in the desert and you will be fine. We left M'hamid and the Sahara after a few days and we could have stayed far longer.
Our path took us back towards Marrakech along the same route, and about 170 km shy of Marrakech we took a left up into the mountains. Again it was dark for this part of the drive and we could only see what our headlights would let us, a tiny bit of curvy mountain road. This wound around for quite some time until we finally stopped in the small Berber community of Amzuzette. Our sleeping arrangements were hashed out and we walked the goat path to our little hotel, Hotel Tubkal. This was a friend of a friend sort of arrangement that worked out well.
Morning saw us at about 2000 m in a town of about 250 or so, almost certainly all family. A small river ran right through the middle of the lower and upper sections of town. The roads are pretty rough up here and a 4x4 would have been helpful. There were plenty of kids and animals around and the almonds were just starting to bloom. Snow remains on the highest peaks and the chill of winter could really be felt in the shadows where the ice doesn't melt despite the warm sun during the day.
We didn't do too much in our couple days here except sit by the river and build towers with rocks, eat tagine and couscous, listen to some Berber music and walk around a bit. Our goodbye here felt premature to me as well - another place we could spend more time at for sure. January is not the tourist season up here and we were the only tourists staying there as our hotel was shut down for the season. We were told by the locals that April and the beginning of May are both really nice with the fruit trees in bloom and a large lake about 2 hours hike from town.
We decided to take a different way back to Marrakech and drove out of the mountains to the foot of the Tizi n' Test pass. It is this valley and a bit up into the mountains that lend itself to the famous Argon tree, which grows nowhere else and has goats climbing in them. Tizi n'Test road is the most dangerous in Morocco, which is really saying something. It also is the most stunning. Over the course of dozens of switchbacks on a one lane road, the elevation rises dramatically. We went up and over the mountains. And the road is only one lane; don't ask me how we passed other cars. I am sure I had my eyes closed.
So up and over we went and ended up in Asni for fish and lamb tagine. Asni is about 30 minutes from Marrakech and a fairly straight shot to our neighborhood of El Fadl. The giant Atlas loom above Asni as this town is a sort of gate to the mountains for trekking and day trips. Mt. Toubkal is visible from the main part of town. We rolled into Marrakech just after sunset and washed and returned the rental car before bed.
All told we covered around 1300 km in 5 days from Marrakech to the Sahara and over both of the major passes in the Middle Atlas, as well as stayed in a Berber town that probably hasn't changed in over 500 years or so. It was a lot of driving to do in such short amount of time but well worth it to see such amazing places. And yes, I am tired just reading this. On a sad note, we may have broken the camera; hopefully it is just the battery. We will post pics as soon as we get it going again.
Next up: rest here in Marrakech and then a trip to the beach!
Our first destination was a gate to the Sahara, M'hamid. This border town sits at the very edge of the desert at the end of the Draa Valley (and the end of the road) about a 7 hour drive from Marrakech. Along the way we passed all sorts of towns during an extremely varied geographical drive.
The Tizi n' Tichka pass was our first crossing through the Atlas heading south east towards the movie town of Ouarzazate, pronounced, "wharsa zat." This pass boasts some of the tallest peaks of the Atlas and makes the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier look like a freeway. The tips of the snow covered mountains were stunning: reds and purples with patches of snow. It was a very rugged landscape that at times reminded me of parts of the Rockies. The road eventually dropped us into the valley of Ouarzazate. A busy town with two movie studios and lots of people.
Further along we crossed the smaller Anti Atlas and into the Draa Valley. The Draa is an oasis valley with towns like Agdz and Zagora spaced along the Draa river. You can follow this river all the way to the Atlantic but we headed the other direction into the desert. This river valley owns about 95% of the greenery around, as up into the mountains it is mostly scrub bushes that eventually give way to rock and sand.
After a quick stop in Zagora for some lamb sandwiches we were ready for the final stretch to M'hamid. It was dark at this point and the one lane road gave very little room for one car much less two. But luck was on our side as we rolled into M'hamid around 9 or so and were greeted by the owner of La Perle Bleue du Desert.
If M'hamid is an outpost town, this was its satelite. Set in the desert about 3 km past town and the end of the road, and consisting of about 7 or so mudbrick buildings, it was a welcome retreat after a long day. We were given food and warm beds to sleep in and treated to some very nice nomad hospitality. We slept well and in the morning were ready to see where we had landed. It was all small dunes and scrub, some stunted trees and rocks with far off mountains visible beyond palms and camels.
After exploring around the camp for a few hours in the hot sun, we piled into a land rover and headed south about 60 km into the Sahara to a sea of dunes, the tallest of which is named Erg Chi Gaga. The drive out took about 2 hours and was incredible. No roads out here just tracks through the many different kinds of desert landscape. Sand, sand with rocks, rocks, scrub and washouts. We stopped at an oasis to drop off a local shepherd who had hitched a ride with us and I thought how incredible it is that any people or towns could survive out here. In the Sahara there are no borders, no police, sporadic water at unmarked sites; it was magical. In the Sahara they say, "water is life."
We reached our destination - a small camp of mudbrick buildings again set at the base of the sea of dunes - just before sunset. We were able to hustle up the largest of the dunes - Chi Gaga with five minutes to spare. This was pretty great; watching the sunset from the top we could see for miles and miles, into Algeria and far out into the desert. We sledded down the dunes and made it back to camp before nightfall. Here we had desert tagine and were treated to a few rounds of nomadic songs to the beat of drums. We said goodnight to the stars and fell asleep cozy and warm in the freezing desert.
Next day we woke to the sun, coffee and bread. After breakfast and a quick goodbye to the dunes we were off again back to M'hamid. We drove back a different way and stopped at a special place where there were fossils lying all over just jumbled around with the rocks. Then we took the desert path back. No GPS required; just make sure your guide was born in the desert and you will be fine. We left M'hamid and the Sahara after a few days and we could have stayed far longer.
Our path took us back towards Marrakech along the same route, and about 170 km shy of Marrakech we took a left up into the mountains. Again it was dark for this part of the drive and we could only see what our headlights would let us, a tiny bit of curvy mountain road. This wound around for quite some time until we finally stopped in the small Berber community of Amzuzette. Our sleeping arrangements were hashed out and we walked the goat path to our little hotel, Hotel Tubkal. This was a friend of a friend sort of arrangement that worked out well.
Morning saw us at about 2000 m in a town of about 250 or so, almost certainly all family. A small river ran right through the middle of the lower and upper sections of town. The roads are pretty rough up here and a 4x4 would have been helpful. There were plenty of kids and animals around and the almonds were just starting to bloom. Snow remains on the highest peaks and the chill of winter could really be felt in the shadows where the ice doesn't melt despite the warm sun during the day.
We didn't do too much in our couple days here except sit by the river and build towers with rocks, eat tagine and couscous, listen to some Berber music and walk around a bit. Our goodbye here felt premature to me as well - another place we could spend more time at for sure. January is not the tourist season up here and we were the only tourists staying there as our hotel was shut down for the season. We were told by the locals that April and the beginning of May are both really nice with the fruit trees in bloom and a large lake about 2 hours hike from town.
We decided to take a different way back to Marrakech and drove out of the mountains to the foot of the Tizi n' Test pass. It is this valley and a bit up into the mountains that lend itself to the famous Argon tree, which grows nowhere else and has goats climbing in them. Tizi n'Test road is the most dangerous in Morocco, which is really saying something. It also is the most stunning. Over the course of dozens of switchbacks on a one lane road, the elevation rises dramatically. We went up and over the mountains. And the road is only one lane; don't ask me how we passed other cars. I am sure I had my eyes closed.
So up and over we went and ended up in Asni for fish and lamb tagine. Asni is about 30 minutes from Marrakech and a fairly straight shot to our neighborhood of El Fadl. The giant Atlas loom above Asni as this town is a sort of gate to the mountains for trekking and day trips. Mt. Toubkal is visible from the main part of town. We rolled into Marrakech just after sunset and washed and returned the rental car before bed.
All told we covered around 1300 km in 5 days from Marrakech to the Sahara and over both of the major passes in the Middle Atlas, as well as stayed in a Berber town that probably hasn't changed in over 500 years or so. It was a lot of driving to do in such short amount of time but well worth it to see such amazing places. And yes, I am tired just reading this. On a sad note, we may have broken the camera; hopefully it is just the battery. We will post pics as soon as we get it going again.
Next up: rest here in Marrakech and then a trip to the beach!
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