From the Desert to the Mountains

Last night was very cold. My three blankets and thermal pajamas weren't enough meaning I didn't get much sleep :-( 

The plan today was to climb to the top of the sand dune just outside camp to watch the sunrise. Thus meant another early start!

About halfway up the sand dune I started to regret not eating anything yet and felt as though I wouldn't make it to the top. Stu took my bag and we slowly ascended the remaining, steepest part of the sand dune. Just before 7am we were at the top!

We walked a little further along away from the gathered crowd and settled down to wait fit the sun to appear over the mountains. About 10 minutes later it appeared, rapidly rising into the sky sending it's golden light over the desert, dunes and occasional plants.

In the other direction we could see the sun's rays slowly lighting up the towns, hitting the mosques minarets first, making them appear to glow. No matter how small the town or village is, every single one has a mosque.

Having made it to the top and enjoyed the sunrise we started to make our way back down to camp. As we looked at the noisy camels we saw Hitash attempting to run around. This was quite a feat as the night before the guides had tied their front and back legs together to stop them wandering away. With his legs still tied Hitash proudly galloped around the other camels, stopped in a green area and started to munch.

My stomach was also rumbling by now so we quickly made our way back down, filling our shoes with sand as we went.

After breakfast we packed up our bags and asked if we could take a 4x4 back as we were both still quite tender from our camel ride the night before.

We took the same road back through the mountains. By mid morning Stu was feeling quite sick again, but much worse than yesterday :-( Our driver for a while drove more carefully but then quickly forgot and was back to his old tricks. By mid morning Stu was green!

Our first stop this morning was the Draa Valley, the largest oasis in the Sahara. Palm trees extend for miles in all directions with little towns scattered around the edge. Not what you'd expect to see in the desert!

We stopped at the same cafe as yesterday with two resident camels that supposedly like coke. The pen was only just big enough to do a single pace before reaching the other side.  Given that the gate between the two pens looked broken and had a pile of rocks up against it, it doesn't look like they got out of their pens very often :-(

All along the main road were police road blocks. Rashid said it was normal at this time of year (new year) as there is an increased threat. At one of the road blocks Salid came to a tentative halt and called out the window. Rashid then joined in. We were told afterwards that the signs were confusing. Nothing was telling them to stop or slow down and the main sign was upsidedown! Looking out the back window we could see one of the officers quickly running towards the sign and turning it the right way up.

From driving through these road blocks the past two days it seems that they were mostly stopping the small flat bed trucks.

For lunch we stopped in Ouarzazte, the largest Berber town in the Atlas mountains. Here there are several film studios which cater for Hollywood films such as the new Misson Impossible film. From the road we could see one of the huge sets for Kingdom of Heaven in the middle of the desert, behind one of the studios.

We stopped a few more times on our way to the mountains. At one view point Stu bought a trilobite. Interestingly the people up here are far more easy going and don't push for a sale. They also don't haggle as much, offering a fairer starting price. At one point when we were pushing for a lower price the guy helpfully suggested we could trade something, and then pointed at Stu's (wedding) watch!

Rashid later explained that the pushy nature of people in Marrakech is because they have descended from Arabs whereas the Berber culture is quite different. He also said that in the Berber villages, children learn to speak Berber first, then when they go to school they learn Arabic so they can communicate with the teachers. Then they learn French!

School isn't compulsory here and to attend college (age 12 upwards) kids often have to travel 10s of kilometres each day. If they're lucky they'll manage to hitch a lift. As a result many drop out at the age of 12 and few girls attend college.

As we drove over the top of the mountain pass there was a distinct difference in fauna. Palm trees were replaced with birch trees and the odd olive tree and everything looked much greener.

For what seemed like hours of driving (10 hours including stops) we arrived in the Toubkal National Park. By this point it was dark and even I was feeling queasy from the irratic driving on the mountain roads too.

Our Riad hosts were lovely, with dinner already prepared for us, although neither of us could eat much, or keep much down :-( On the plus side a lovely warm fire was burning and our large room was properly heated - a real treat after last night!

We got to bed early and won't start our walk tomorrow until 10am giving us plenty of time to catch up on some sleep.