A few days in Taroudant around ‘the’ birthday on 25 February

Hans reading late birthday greetings on the roof terrace before a day in town.

Taroudannt with some 80.000 inhabitants also called ‘Little Marrakesh’ is the Souss Valley’s trading center.

Hidden behind the magnificent red-mud walls and with the snowcapped High Atlas beckoning beyond, Taroudants souks and squares are both extremely busy and welcoming.

Taroudant is a market town, where Berbers trade the produce of the rich and fertile Oued Souss plain.

The Ramparts around the Medina are 7,5 kms  and among the best preserved pisé walls in Marocco.  Count 2 hours to make the tour by foot.

At the end of the day people will gather on the Place Assarag or Place al-Alaouyine, Marrakesh’s Djemaa el-Fna en miniature - 10 minutes walk from where we are.  Story tellers, snake charmers, musicians, dancers and, like here, comedians .  We don’t understand a word but enjoy watching the emotion within the audienc.  The crowd gets more and more dense until the Muezzin calls for the last prayer of the day, some time around 8 pm.  

Within minutes the square is empty except for the late diners.

Fresh sugar cane juice.

Strawberries - huge and amazingly sweet.

Figs 

25 Feb - birthday and healing

No wind, 25°C - tourism will pick up with the Easter holidays and we have this lovely guesthouse to ourselves.  The sun rises late and so do we.

After breakfast on the rooftop terrace we spend a couple of hours reading the many greetings, Hans received for his big birthday.  We have no other plans than supper with our hosts, Sven (French of Swedish origin) and Leila, who is French-Maroccan. 

Since I fell in the staircase in Brussels on 12 December, I have been handicapped and (almost) unable to walk.   Young Mohamed, who is a multitask Maroccan employee at the guesthouse, had noticed my sad condition and recommends treatment by a local ‘healer’.  

The healer comes to the guesthouse, makes a short olive oil massage and finishes with 3 ‘brutal’

pullings and twistings before obtaining - vupti - the click, that puts my hip bones back in place.  He claims to have received this particular knowledge from Allah and he doesn’t want payment.  An 

situation.   After consulting our host, I end up paying 100 Dh, which is half of what a fysiotherapist in Belgium would ask.  Mr Healer accepts, he is pleased - and so am I.

Birthday supper - huge salad to start, beef Tajine accompanied by freshly baked khoobz (bread) and chocolate cake to finish.   A tajine is served in a special kind of pottery with a tall lid and a bottom, that supports cooking directly over coal.  The dish as such consists mostly of vegetables together with very little chicken, beef or even fish.  

We have had tajine at almost every meal for around 6 weeks and Hans’ biggest wish as for his birthday supper was NOT to have tajine.   But the one with beef and prunes - was excellent.   

And as the clue we had a good Spanish red WINE.  We had almost forgotten that taste.

23 February - One night in Taliouine

 

After this unforgettable farewell drink party on snaps made from dates and almonds (yammi), we had some difficulties leaving this lovely guesthouse, not mentioned in ‘Lonely Planet nor in ‘Le Routard’. 

Next destination, again by bus, is Taliuoine, halfway (west) from Ouarzazate direction Taroudant.

 

The village is dominated by the hills and the impressive Glaoui Kasbah.

Where there was a commercial interests worth protecting (salt, sugar, gold, slaves), there would be a Kasbah.  These fortified quarters housed the ruling family.  Today these mudbrick buildings are slowly crumbling.  Very little is done to preserve them.

O

We are to spend a night or two in ‘Auberge Souktana’ recommended by Lonely Planet for the warm welcome and the colorful rooms decorated in the traditional style with stunning views on the Kasbah.

The view certainly is stunning and the flowering fruit trees makes up for the cold .... 

- but this  was the ‘lovely decorated room’ ... and the bed was squeeking !  After a very  cold night we are ready to leave by 9:30  and are dropped at the CTM office in the village by a very astonished  host, Mr Ahmed.  Tired after an almost sleepless night, we share a Grand Taxi to go to Taroudant.

We are in the valley at the foot of the Anti Atlas with view on the snowclad peaks of the High Atlas.  The road  takes us through an impressive geological rock formation - the most spectacular in Marocco.  B meatiful.  Time went quickly till we reached Taroudant, where we will spend a couple of nights and celebrate Hans’ 80 yrs birthday with our hosts, Svend and Leila at Riad Taroudant. 

19 february - and a couple of more days

It has been storming sand for days in a row and our eyes are hurting.   We are leaving M’Hamid without regret.  Mohamed wakes up a bit before five and walks us half a mile to the bus, which will take us to Ouarzazate.  We were there some days ago and will just spend some hours waiting for another CTM bus - destination Skoura.

7 kms on gravel road on the back of this humpy-bumpy motorbike transport leaves us with sore backs.

The reward is to arrive, sain et sauf, to the Palmeraie, where we have booked with Madame Saadia and Mr Hassan for a couple of nights.   It is a lovely, peaceful place and our room is huge and perfect.

The almond trees have bloomed and the fruits are already well developed.

Skoura is not only palms and almnd trees.    Some years ago the World’s oldest dinosaure,  ‘Tazoudasaurus Naïmi’ was found 20 kms north of town.  It was estimated to be 180 mio yrs old.

There are 2.900 inhabitants in Skoura and 150.000 palms in the 7 km long palmeraie , but not one of them is to be taken for granted.  One concern is Bayoud disease, a fungus that passes from palm to palm.  Unesco is taking steps to protect palm oases throughout Marocco.  

But Skoura’s majestetic palms face another danger.  Poverty.  During desperate situations when crops fail, some people illegally sell palms to support their families.  

To adress this problem, Shoura Cultural Center recently opened a shop from where local items made with palm fronds are sold.  

We met the Mr Aziz over a drink with Mr Hassan and Mohamed at 123Soleil and heard about his admirable project.

18 February 2019 - deep in the desert

The stone desert is a bit dull, but once in the dunes there is beauty to all sides.

Unfortunarly Hans has a pronounced aversion to camel riding .... ask him for details, please.

We are to have a cup of tea .... 

- with a man living on his own with a couple of goats and a pink striped cat.

15-16-17 February - Bivouac in the desert

Meeting with a group of young people investing time and enthousiasm repairing a ‘Marabou’, a kind of tomb containing the bones of a holy man.

No fun to get stuck one hour before sunset ....

.... but wood we get plenty for cooking the evening meal.

A bivouac is in principle some sahraouie tents, lthe ‘Khaimas’.    The tents are built over a wooden construction covered with woven brown woolen bands of 40-60 cms.  They are woven with hair from dromadaire and sheep.

It was cold and smelly and ugly - but what a great experience.

14 February - Saint Valentin in Ouarzazate

A one day trip with an excellent guide to ‘Kasbah Taourite’.  A third of this fort has been been restaured with the help of Unesco.

A lovely walk down the mountain through the old Medina, which to be populated mostly by Jews.

Our next destination is M’Hamid to the south-east, a good 40 kms from the Algerian border.  A long drive throufh the mountains from Ouarzazate via Agdz and then through the stone desert to Zagora and M’Hamid where we are booked for a couple of nights at

with Mr Hassan .... another Hassan, 

who we will call Hassan II

Leaving Ouarzazate

Today is Friday and prayer day.   We will catch the CTM bus at 16:30 to arrive in M’Hamid around 22 hrs.  Hotel is booked and we will supposedly be picked up upon arrival.   M’Hamid with 3000 inhabitants should be the last village before the desert.  40 kms north of the border to Algeria.  Morocco and the Polisario had isolated this caravan stop until mid 1990’s when accords allowed M’Hamid to start hosting visitors again.  We are looking forward to see the large dune landscape and the ‘Blue Men’.

The day before yesterday we visited Ait Ben Haddou, 32 kms west of Oarzazate.  This mountain village was an 11th century caravanserai.  Today only 4 families live here, streets are deserted and falling apart.  One might recognise parts of the village from movies like ‘Lawence of Arabia’ and ‘Jesus of Nazareth’.

From the ruined Agadir on the top there is a manificent view on unforgiving Hammada (stone desert).

Yesterday, 14 February, we took a small taxi (beige) to the Tourirt Kasbah of which one third has been carefully restored by Unesco.

Souvenirs from Riad Taroudant, where we stayed 10 days

Temperature is 30°C, if not more.   Behind this colourful door to the Riad’ where we are spending 10 days, it’s cool.  The swimming pool on the ground floor is a most refreshing element - seldome used for swimming.

A horse carriage is easier to manoevre than a car in the extremely narrow streets in the Medina.

  

Going for early supper at Jnane Soussia

Having already had Couscous and Tajine in all possible sauces, we courageously chose ....

Pastilla au Pigeon - stuffed pastry with pigeon, almonds, special spices and glacing sugar.  The special spice was cinnamon generously and artfulle placed on the top with the sugar.

And one of those salads, that could a meat eater become vegetarian in a minut

Driving back via the Mosque ...... 5 prayers a day - 5 in the morning, at sunrise, around 2 pm, at sunset and the last one, when no more daylight to be seen.

On the central square with musicians, storeytellers, Good luck tellers and extorsionists.

The last days of January were a bit tough.  We spent long hours on the bus over 4 days.  

Dakhla-Laâyoune 8 hrs, Laâyoune-Goulmime 8 hrs, 

Then a beatiful strech of 7 hrs from Goulmime to Agadir.

A last view on the Atlantic Ocean.  In two hours we will arrive in Taroudannt, 86 kms east of Agadir.

‘Riad Taroudant’ is (also) 80 yrs old and build in the true Maroccan ‘Riad’ style.  An urban riad is build around a rectangular open space.  The ground level has in general a fountain in the middle with 4 identical and rectangular spaces around it.  That level then represents the five pillars if l’Islam.  

In “our” riad there is a swimming pool on the ground floor.   The center mosaic is the letter “Z” in Arab symbolising “Freedom of Man”.

The first floor contains 10 rooms.  We are on the second floor, which we share with 3 other rooms, the owner’s office and the kitchen.

We can access directly to the third floor, where beakfast is served with Medina view.   Medina means “Old City” and is surrounded by a 7,5 km long wall.  It is no longer possible to walk on the top.

Inside the Medina is the the ”Kasbah” also fortified.  Previously the governor’s residence now a very sofisticated hotel, Palace Salam, with beautiful gardens on several plateaux.

We feel well here and intend to stay another day or two or five.... InchAllah.