DAY 6 Imlil to Taroudannt
04 December 2005
We were running low on food, and so had a breakfast of chocolate biscuits and a mandarine orange each. At least no sardines! When we stepped out of the refuge the choughs were noisily diving from the surrounding peaks, descending 500 metres in seconds, their swept-back wings making the wind hum. We hiked back towards Imlil with the other Brits, meeting a mule at the snow line to carry all five of our bags, poor thing. We stopped for mint tea at Omar’s shop where Andy bought a carpet, and I a hooded top similar to the one I'd been looking at in Marrakech. Mohammed also convinced me to look round his shop. I didn't want to buy anything, but as he was complaining about the cold I ended up swapping my body warmer for a pair of slippers, which would’ve been useful back at the refuge.
View from the car window. Enlarge image
Back at Imlil we had some lunch at Café Soleil, and then hit the road intending to drive to Ouazazate by first going south through the High Atlas, and then East. However, the road through the mountains was very winding and narrow, and so it took a lot longer to get over the passes than we expected. Again the views were spectacular (and scary), with the road perched on the side of high mountains that suddenly give way to dead flat plains. By the time we got through the mountains it was already dark, and so we decided to go West to Taroudannt instead of Ouazazate. We made much quicker progress on this flat straight highway, passing through many villages that lined the road. There were a lots of pedestrians, bikes, mules and mopeds with no lights travelling alongside the road, making driving hazardous in the dark. Moroccan drivers are also crazy, overtaking at the slightest provocation on blind corners and summits.
On the road. Enlarge image
When we arrived at Taroudannt we drove around the city walls northwards, entering by a gateway into the Kasbah. Unfortunately the gateway between the Kasbah and the rest of the city was for pedestrians only, so we had to drive out of the city walls again and down to another gateway. Inching along we made our way down the narrow crowded street, through people to whom the idea of moving out of the way of a car is anathema. Upon finding a supervised car park, we payed the guardian and set out to find Hotel El-warda. After I had led us on a short wild goose chase through the medina we found that the hotel was actually just off square where we'd parked (Place an-Nasr). The hotel was a nice buget job, next to a noisy café which fortunately closed before we were ready for bed. After consulting guide book we went to the only licensed restaurant in town, in the Hotel Taroudannt, looking forward to a non-sardine based dinner. The place had a very strong French ambience, French food, and a couple of drunk French men as the only other customers. The beers and wine went down very well after our detox in mountains.
