Ouarzazate - Tondra Gorges 10-24-08

Stan and I have arrived in a city of Ouarzarate by the Tundra Gorges.

We sent a quick email from the hotel manager's office. Then walked down the streets at dust to the internet cafe. This keyboard is not English at all and has the q mixed where a should be as well as misplaced m and w. No period, so please help by guessing. We walked about 300 meters down the road to find an internet cafe. The glances as we walked in were amazing from the other people in the crowded internet stations. It was 10 dirhams for $1.25 to type for an hour. Same type of French keyboard so I was catching to the changes a little bit by then. When I paid to leave I told the owner that it was the Best Buy in the City. He didn't understand, but smiled happily.

I will start by backtracking. We spent a long day yesterday crossing the high Atlas Mountains. Up one side, through steep switchbacks, to 7000 feet, then down the other side.

The driver was very careful on the steep turns. One time we passed a smaller bus and all waved madly. It was our bus driver’s father; son in big bus, father, in smaller bus.

Mountains are quite barren of vegetation. They have many stops for rest rooms and some guys selling jewelry and the like on the mountain top. As I look back that was some of the best selections in the country.

The mountains toward the Tundra Gorges are more interesting. The high Atlas Mountains were on the left and the start of the Sahara Desert on the right. We drove by large herds of black goats who scattered in a great gallop across open fields of scrub brush as the bus passed their territory. Some groups of camels grassed along the way.

Yesterday while traveling through the mountains, we stopped in the morning at a Taourrirt Kasbah (mountain retreat). We walked down a steep cobblestone path with inviting shops on each side of the pathway. We crossed a shallow river by stepping on sand bags. A good balancing act indeed. Then up many steeps and rocky narrow pathways and stone steps through a kasbah. A kasbah is like a for or castle in the mountains. Walking up the stairs through many chambers was interesting. The steps were of different heights which made the climb interesting on wore out knees.

The hotel Riad Salam was delightful. Soft cozy beds and puffy pillows with charming navy / gold bedspreads and drapes overlooking a foliage filled courtyard.

We stopped off an overlook in a city with building along the meadows and hillside.
At the Tundra Gorges we had lunch and a walk. The recent rains had washed out the road. I paid a young man with a steady arm to hold my hand as we crossed over the river on slippery rocks. He had his pant legs rolled up and was walking over the rocks barefoot. We ate in a charming restaurant built into the side of the cliffs. We took a walked up part of the gorge. The views were amazing. There were little shops, I use that word loosely, along the way. Tables were filled with trinkets, jewelery, scarves while rugs were hung on ropes on the rocks. Such a deal and what relentless salesmen. They all were filled with stories to boot. Help me. Help my family.

Date palms are prolific in this region. It was raining hard, but our guide ventured out on the top of a mountain ridge to buy a box of dates fresh from the October harvest. He passed the box around for a taste of fresh royal dates. The best I've ever had.

Showers are a real challenge sometimes. One I picked up the shower hose and the head cam off. This was an exploding surprise. Another, the shower hose was placed in the overhead hook. I checked the water, pulled the switch to move the water to the shower head. The water pressure increased ten fold. The shower hose took off like a wild snake exploding water all over the bathroom. I found out later many people also had wet towels and bathroom floors from that same experience.

Finally, after a long days drive through the flat lands, we arrived at our overnight stay. Our hotel this evening was Hotel Kasbah Lamrant. The room was huge that included a seating area. Come on over. The bedspread and curtains were cream colored heavy texture with soft caramel colored horizontal strips. The lamps all had crystals mixed with the cut our metal, reminiscent of the many fossils and rocks available in the nearby mountains.