9/29 -- Drive to Ouarzazate with Lots of Stops

Snowy mountains behind the sandy Saharan ones

Today we headed toward Ouarzazate, the largest city in southern Morocco, but made several stops along the way.  I was still a bit tired from my problems yesterday, so I didn't get off the bus for the photo ops, but Jim did. There were a number of lovely view points.

We wound our way into the Dades Gorge, a long valley with a permanent river that actually linked up to the Todra Gorge Jim visited yesterday. On the way up, we passed the kasbah of the pasha who helped the French get a foothold in this area. The locals had held out against French rule for nearly 20 years.

Lower part of the Dades Gorge and valley

Traitor pasha's kasbah

Interesting rock structures along the lower part of the gorge.

At the point where the bus could no longer go, we met a local man who showed us his communal home for 25 family members. His wife made us Berber pizza while he showed us his farming area at the top and we retired into the lounge for a snack and our pizza, which was truly yummy. I am getting a bit sick of all the plain bread, and this was a very welcome departure.

After the snack, we piled into two mini vans and drove back into the gorge another half hour. A permanent river runs through the whole thing, and apparently it is good for trout fishing. The recent rainstorm flooded the road where it was 3 to 4 feet above the river -- you could see plastic bags hanging in the riverside brush that showed how high over the road the water got. The rocks were very different from the Todra Gorge but impressive in its own way.

Hotel back in the gorge

Cave carved into the rock wall

Looking back down the way we came

Overhanging rocks -- not good for tall vehicles!

This is where the river ran onto the road.

We stopped for lunch at an imam's kasbah. After lunch, he showed us elements of a typical Moroccan marriage ceremony by having two volunteers from our group demonstrate. Mike, as the only unmarried man with us, managed to convince Michelle, one of the four unmarried women, to volunteer. It was interesting and there was plenty of hilarity -- Michelle gets claustrophobic and at one point, her headdress left her 'in the dark'. Mike was not used to walking in the shoes he had and his gait sparked more laughter. Working through the marriage contract and dowry had its moments as well.

Mike and Michelle in their wedding finery.
He used a longish curved knife to lift the red veil.

Upon reaching Ouarzazate (wahr - zah - zaht), we discovered that our palatial hotel was also the hotel for a Belgian road rally that has been following us through much of Morocco, with many of the cars parked right outside, including about a half dozen vintage Bentleys. We had a lovely suite with a separate sitting room and a walled-in terrace with table and chairs. Unfortunately, we will be leaving tomorrow with no time to fully enjoy the splendor.