Day 9 and 10

DAY 9 – Driving

It was a glorious day, bright blue skies and warmth. We had a bit of housekeeping to do – put away the quad bike, fill up the water tanks, ironing, hoovering and spot clean the cushion covers etc. We have found that opening the side windows is a great way of airing the truck out, however this does have the effect of causing queues of people expecting hamburgers or kebabs, that's why camping away from the towns is easier, and less of a threat to the local food vendors.

 

We sent the previous days blog and paid the bill and left Erg Chebbi at about 10am, with a view to getting to Ouarzarzate by mid to late afternoon.

 

On reaching Rissani (the nearest town) we attempted to get fuel. Petrol stations that show credit card signs generally take credit cards, not so down here – this was the case at several stations, we were chewing through our cash as a result. One garage said we could pay in Euro's, thankfully they were not up to speed with current exchange rates and we filled up for a bargain.

Onwards we pushed - through Erfoud and then across the desert to Tinehir, with no drama but spectacular scenery; monument valley stuff, all over again. We passed the Stone pillar of Enid - this crumbling dormant volcano was first climbed in 1678 by French mountaineer – Pierre Poubelle; struck by the pillars immense size and constant emitting of foul gasses he named it after his wife, Enid.

 

After a long stint, Tone pulled of the road so we could make some lunch.

Now in our travels we have come to note the Moroccans have about as much respect for the environment as a well - fed dog on a bowling green. They are not shy about fly tipping; plastic bags adorn most roadside trees and bottles are to be found strewn everywhere. What we didn't expect to find at our lunchtime picnic spot (in the desert) was half a ton of dead fish, in a neat pile about twenty meters from the roadside, rather than go for the biblical plagues and pestilence explanation. We figured the tyre tracks leading away, hinted at a truck dumping them.

 

One of the main causes of accidents in the desert regions are wayward livestock and potholes, we are constantly on the lookout for both. Compulsory road safety classes were trialled some years ago but the country's goats refused to attend.

 

We continued on towards Ouarzarzate along the Dades Valley, small villages merging into each other for most of the way, many with small stalls selling crafts. Hand-carved electronic goods are popular; the local pottery produces bowls and pots that have a tendency to leak, crack, split or crumble. This aside they are cheap and make a perfect gift for someone you are unlikely to see again.

 

It seemed there had been some recent rain as the rivers were flowing, at one point the truck went through a swollen river that was more than tyre tread depth! The locals looked on with a degree of envy yet wonderment as we negotiated our craft through the treacherous waters.

 

About fifteen km from Ouarzarzate we began to skirt the shores of a rather large lake, the result of a dam further down the valley, the sun was setting, we were tired, the views were great, so we decided to camp. What a treat – only the photos can do it justice – glorious sun set, magnificent full moon rise. We sat outside watching the show on the chairs brought from the U.K– unfortunately the midges weren't distracted by this astronomy lesson and my legs – standing out like white beacons- were an easy target.

We retired inside to cook our 'chicken with spices' from the produce (tomatoes, aubergine and sweet pepper) purchased in Merzouga- it turned out to be quite tasty.

Tomorrow we plan to be in Marrakesh in the afternoon and stay for a couple of nights, before heading to Essoira on the coast.

 

 

Day 10 The High Atlas and Marrakesh

 

Into the cab after watching the sunrise, we began our long (ish) trek to Marrakesh. As mentioned previously, we travelled through Ourzarzate. I visited the city last year when travelling on the motorbike. The city has really changed, much more of modern feel, cleaner streets, and roads have kerbs and there are even public fountains and pieces of modern art dotted around. This is a city that clearly has a bit of money floating around, it is situated between the High Atlas and the desert country has fertile farmland, the livestock look healthier as do the people. Ourazarzate is also the place were several big films were made. Those shots of Luke Skywalker zipping around in the desert on his sand pod thingy and the landscapes of the sand people were all made here. Others credits include 'The man who would be king' 'The jewel in the Nile' 'Lawrence of Arabia' and the 70's epic 'Jesus of Nazareth'. We only drove through but it was impressive.

 

From the Southern side the ascent of the mountains is quite steep, lots of switch backs and even more ' if we go off the cliff here we're stuffed' comments. We stopped at a small shelter/ shop and bought some geods? (Rocks with a crystal centre) and further on some good bits of pottery. The 'pot shop' was dirt-cheap and sold the real stuff not just tourist tat. Locals and passing truck drivers seemed to favor it; all along the road people selling 'geods' that had been stained to make them more dramatic- unfortunately to the point of being ludicrous having been stained bright pink and orange. We had already been told by our man at the small shelter what to look for and he showed us some example of 'fake' geods, so we were in the know!

 

The cruise into Marrakesh seems to take forever, the road winds aimlessly along with less of the extreme drop offs we encounter on the climb up. The soil changes back to a muddy red brick color, the erosion on the hills is quite spectacular, shaping and reshaping the gorges after every winter snow melt. The soil gets carried away, filling the puddles, drainage trenches and staining the rivers red.

 

The campsite we had found in 'Kesh was tricky to find, and after a mini tour of the various industrial estates and low spots of 'Kesh, we relented and asked  for directions – no problem, after getting lost after the first set of instructions, we were successful after asking the local tyre selling bloke. We eventually found 'Le Relais de Marrakesh' this was a godsend - a top campsite. Swimming pool, bar, showers, bar, friendly staff, Jacuzzi, bar, trees for shade and a bar.

 

On arrival, we held a small media briefing to answer general questions about the truck, Tony then suggested that questions of a specific engineering nature would be best fielded in the bar. We got talking to a Dutch chap (mid twenties I guess), he was driving an old land rover through Africa – and not for the first time, he had been all over the place. Randolph was the genuine article, we went into the market in town 'Place Jemaa el Fna' for some food with him, we were warned about dubious looking rug salesmen. Six minutes after our taxi dropped us off- a rug sales man approached us, what can I say, I had predicted ten minutes.

 

The market place is a sensory whirlpool, the blur of smoke from the BBQ fires, the colors of the spice/ date and orange sellers and the 'bloody racket' from the tone deaf drummers.

I honestly think some of these 'musicians' are having a laugh; they seemed to be constantly 'warming up'. One group of drummers were OK, but the rest- sad to say disappointed. It's easy to wax lyrical about the primitive beat and the natural rhythms of Africa – these blokes couldn't beat an egg.

 

There was huge amount of food happening- brochette, Cous Cous, Tagine plus the European pizza and chips thing. We opted for the Tagine and very tasty too; a word of warning for those readers planning to visit with small children – don't order the kids menu if your children like baby goats, they may become upset.

 

We were knackered and returned about eleven o'clock, we are staying another night in 'Kesh, time to recharge the batteries restock groceries, and did I mention there was a bar in the campsite.