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Day two, October 23
Ouarzazate to the Todra Gorge
Plan:
We head east along the fabled "Route of a Thousand Kasbahs". Our first stop is the semi-restored Taourirt kasbah which is now a UNESCO site and also a favourite backdrop to many films, most notably Bernardo Bertolucci's adaptation of Paul Bowles' The Sheltering Sky. A short drive takes us to Skoura where we can take time to explore the palmeries and fascinating ruined Kasbah de Ben Moro, maybe even taking tea with a local family before moving on to our resting place for the next two nights - the beautiful Todra Gorge.
On our way out of Ouarzazate, we stopped at the Kasbah Taourirte for a tour. Andy, our tour guide, hired an english-speaking guide who took us through this old kasbah. He spoke about many things, but one thing that I recall vividly is his mention of the legality of Moroccan men to have up to four wives. He stated that it is becoming more difficult to have four wives now, what with the emancipation of the woman in Morocco. To marry the second wife, the man must have the permission of the first wife. To marry the third wife, he must have the permission of the first and of the second wife...
This kasbah belonged to the Glaoui brothers. They were good friends of Winston Churchill, but were also known to be quite ruthless. Apparently they used to cut off people's heads and put them on display in front of their kasbahs!! The colours inside the kasbah are from natural dyes: the red/orange is from henna, the black is from coal, the blue from indigo and the yellow from saffron.
We drove through the Vallee des roses which is where our driver is from. His name is Said (pronounced Sa-eed) but I think that's his family name. He doesn't speak much english, so I spent quite a bit of time chatting with him in french during this drive as I was sitting directly behind him. We chatted about the fact that his brother and the rest of his family, save one sister, are in Ottawa, and he's trying to get permission to join them. He also enjoys imitating sheep as we drive past them...
We stopped for lunch on the way to the Todra Gorge at a spot recommended to us by Said. We had our first taste of tajine which is a very common dish in Morocco. It is usually a kind of stew with vegetables and/or meat, flavoured with some really great-tasting and great-smelling spices. Just around the corner from the restaurant is a shop that sells all types of rose beauty products. Said encouraged us to go in there as the shop owner is a relative of his... Said explained that each year, in the Valley of Roses, there is a three-day rose festival in the month of May. There are 7,000 tonnes of roses cultivated each year in the valley, and these are shipped to factories that produce products such as body lotions, creams and perfumes.
We then went on to the Kasbah de Ben Moro. We had a quick tour of a kasbah with a man who was actually born there before it became an inn for tourists and travellers. From the top of this kasbah, we could see the Kasbah de Ben Moro that now appears on some of Morocco's currency. The guide did take us through the palmeries where families have gardens. At the end of the walk, we were able to get a good view of the Kasbah de Ben Moro. We also sampled some palm dates that were delicious and were to be found often during the rest of our trip.
As we approached Todra Gorge, pedestrians and motorists waved at us frantically, and we had a difficult time understanding why until we actually reached the gorge. The rivulet that usually streams gently through the gorge had swollen into quickly running muddy waters that had flooded the road and the bridges to the hotels. Said was able to drive us close to the hotel, then we transferred our luggage to Land Rovers that took us across the waters to the hotel entrance!
We were all cold that day, and the hotel in Todra Gorge was not all that warm. All hallways were covered, but the stairways gave way to the terraces on top of the hotels, so if it was cold outside, you could feel the cold in the hallways as well. There was no heating in the rooms, but if you were lucky enough to have had a hot shower, some of that heat lingered in the room for a few minutes before escaping through the doors and windows!! The dining lounge was nice and toasty too, and we had mint tea there while Andy gave us the low-down for the next day.
Dinner was a buffet of tajine and couscous, and fresh fruit for dessert. Although Morocco is a Muslim country and most places don't serve alcohol, tourists are allowed to consume alcohol in public places. Andy was equipped with a multitude of red wine and Heineken which he made available to us for a small price every night.
After dinner and spirits, the hotel staff came into the warm dining room to play some music for us and get us up and dancing. I didn't mind the music, it was actually quite nice to listen to and really made me feel like I was in a foreign country in case I hadn't already noticed. But when they finished, they brought the sound system into the room and played some odd-fitting music from the 80's, and most of the women in the room fled for their rooms, not minding leaving the warmth of the dining room!! How bizarre to watch people dance to "Can't Touch This" in Morocco at the bottom of a gorge...
Last modified on November 9, 2000