Hotel Kasbah Lamrani Tinerhir

... American climbers we met the panoramic hotel was 70 Derums per night and came highly recommended.

The day we spent wondering about the town was full of hiking in the gorge as well as some rock climbing for me and Kiwi Phil. We met some Italian climbers in the guest house as well as some American ones. I was so annoyed with myself for not bringing my harness and shoes because it cost us 250 Derums each to have a guide and gear when we could have gone for free with the Italians if ...

... in years gone by it would have been a strategic place of interest. Any Army or bandit could easily set up camp in the area and subdue any unlucky soles that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Its a very narrow red walled sheer cliff wall, that rises about 300 meters on either side and is only about 25 metres wide in some areas.



The plan this morning was to take a half day walk over the top of Todra Gorge past some Nomadic Berber campsites. Abdullah's ...

... spectacular, but by the time I got back, I wished I had brought some real hiking boots :) Spent the afternoon at Jamal's house again - this time having henna done on our hands by his sister. Actually had a conversation with his nephew Amlil, which means my french level is around an 11 year old's :)

... heaps of blankets and rugs in different patterns and sizes, while sipping on mint tea or coke, and eating handmade biscuits. A couple of people bought some stuff, but i had no money and wasnt keen to buy up on the first day without checking out the prices. There prices are fixed as well, so the fun of bargaining with them is also missed out on. We also wandered along the creek that runs through the town, and watched some of the women cleaning their rugs while the boys played ...

... our way to the bar -WHICH WAS CLOSED! There we were, stuck in a hotel in the mountains on New Year's Eve, without a drink to toast the New Year in with. Unbelievable! Of course, as far as the Moroccans were concerned, it was just an ordinary evening and the bar staff had gone home at 9.30 due to the bar being empty. We wandered around the hotel in search of action but there wasn't any. Everyone else seemed to be tucked up in bed. We found a large ...

... This man spoke only Berber, and we negotiated our photo fee after I pointed to my camera using fingers and nods and pointing to coins of various values. Once down the mountain I walked through some cornfields and into a Berber town named Tamtattouchte, which was surrounded by numerous interesting casbahs, some very well kept up and looking lived in while others in various states of crumbliness. In town I was approached by many ...

... something like 40 mins and was tiny much to our dismay. 'Spaghetti Berber' is a small pile of tinned tomatoes on a small pile of spaghetti. We were so tired we didn't care. We showered and went to bed. In the morning we realised that the menus everywhere here were ridiculously priced - 60dh (about $8) for an omelette? We were able to barter for food, but todra gorge has only a few hotels with restaurants in them and they keep ...

... straw and lime. Many of the kasbahs feature intricately decorated turrets and Berber tattoos carved into the walls. Since few have running water or electricity, many of them have been deserted and have been left to simply erode into the earth. A few still have poorer people living in them. We noticed quite a lot of new housing and buildings in this area; many are painted attractive shades of terra cotta and pink. As far as the architecture goes, there's ...

... to be kept vaguely usable if people are going to stay. Luckily Jamie found the stopcock so it wasn't too bad. Abdou gave us some post Ramadan sweets and spoonfuls of a nut/spice mixture which, although very tasty, concerned us as to how many mouths the spoon had been in! - time to stop been so squeamish, me thinks! Just like getting used to non-flushing loos (a bucket of water does the job perfectly well) and squatting, not sitting (more hygienic, but my hamstrings have always been ...