The Only Way Is Up

21st March


Today was a mooching day as we like to call it, it’s Saturday, “sports day” and there was plenty of it with footy and rugby. Earlier on I was getting minute by minute tikatape commentary on the internet of the Wales v Italy game, and although it was about 4mins behind my brother was keeping me posted and up to date on WhatsApp, Wales romped to a great win to set the bar for the other teams to follow, unfortunately the perennial whipping boys Scotland did not turn up, leaving Ireland to set the target for England. Unfortunately for England they did not have enough in the tank to overcome Irelands target and Ireland took the spoils, what a great finale to the 6 nations.
Better news later, as the font of football knowledge Lawro had us down for a loss to Villa and once again the muppet was wrong!!
We took Max out into the desert for a stroll, it truly is an amazing place. The dunes change colour from bright yellow to red/orange and deep purples depending on the time of day and cloud shadows etc, Max also had an altercation with a few dung beetles which was funny to watch.

We saw many of these wells in the desert

We have decided to move on tomorrow, it has been cloudy the last few days, hopefully we will find them clear blue skies soon. So we looked at plan B going East over to a place called Figuig 2km from the Algerian border, but although it looks ok on our map, the N10 actually runs through a part of Algeria and now that the borders are closed it is impossible to go this route without a 4x4, so we decided to revert back to plan A, north to Meknes/Fes. We ordered a meal from the restaurant meat brochettes with chips etc, the meat was quite tough, possibly Camel or Goat, chip butties were excellent though
Note: You may remember I mentioned a French chap last week, whose dog had passed away?  His name was Alain Giletti, he had a very successful skating career 


22nd March




One last stroll into the desert, once  again we said our farewells to Ken Lynda and Dave, they are following a similar route to ourselves, so no doubt we will catch up again soon, and also a few people we had met on site, we were on our way.
We are heading for a place called Kasbah Jurassique a few km past the town of  Ar- Rachidia, we passed the Ziz palmeraies along the way and stopped at Source Bleue de Meski, a natural spring that flows into a swimming pool, it is overlooked by the deserted Ksar Meski

The remains of Ksar Meski

Lunch over we headed on, we passed a series of dams including the Barrage Hassan Adakhil,

Barrage Hassan Adakhil,

We arrived at the site, there was only a couple in their Landrover  here, we could pick where we wanted, a few hours later a French convoy of 15 or more pulled in 32°09'12.0"N 4°22'28.6"W 50dir p/n
 

Before and after the French invasion
 

The site is in the Ziz valley, we are over shadowed by the outskirts of the high atlas mountains,  the river runs along the campsite, it’s peaceful.

Although we have a telecom mast 50m away I have no internet?
 

I bought a fresh chicken in Merzouga yesterday, the insides were still attached and so was the neck!! We are having a roast dinner today with all the trimmings, we have had chicken quite a lot here, but we normally Piri Piri/Spice it and have it with salad, but today I’m all Tagine’d out,  and need a proper Sunday roast, we take it for granted back home and Sam excelled our first roast since Xmas.


23rd March


The convoy of French pulled out early as did the Landrover couple, we are alone. We took a stroll down the river before we head out, Max was off the lead and spotted a donkey in the field, I shouted at him to stop as he bounded through the rough shrub, he was not stopping, we have been here before!! I took off after him and then could see that the donkey looked non-plussed, there was no Jack Russell biting at his feet? I shouted for Max, nothing? then I saw his head bobbing against the strong current and loosing the battle. He had fallen into an open culvert that split the field, he was doing his best to fight against the flow but was being taken down stream, the bank was to steep and he was getting pushed under! I ran down a little and lied on my stomach, I was able to catch him by his harness as he was passing by, and scooped him out, you could see he was a bit shaken and shocked, as he shook himself down soaking us in the process. My clothes I had on were full of mud and went straight into the laundry basket when we returned, cheers Max..

The Ziz River

We left before midday to go to Midelt, as we drove along you could still see snow on the mountain peaks.



We entered Midelt which is a very modern town by Moroccan standards and then onto our stop for the day Ksar Timnay Hotel 20km up the road,   
32°45'06.1"N 4°55'08.3"W.  A very nice modern campsite, European standard facilities 110dir p/n inc leccy, with good wifi.



No sooner have we settled in a British van pulls along side ours, I recognise the plates it’s Gordon’s van, what’s the odds of that?

Another empty pool, not seen one open yet

We sat around and caught up over a cup of tea, as to where we had both been since Tafraoute, we will have a drink later,  and did we ever!!

24th March
This morning after saying cheerio to Gordon, “he is stopping another day” I mention to him that there are a few flakes of snow in the air, he says earlier on it was heavier!  It is decidedly colder, so much so we are both wearing jeans and socks for the first time since early January. We set sail for Azrou, to Euro Camping 33°26'41.0"N 5°11'30.5"W it’s 100km away, straight up the N13. There is a cedar forest at Azrou in the Middle Atlas, It is home to roughly 75% of the worlds population of Barbary Macaques. We plan to visit them.

Our intended route

 

Our final route!

 

Midelt is on a plateau,  and shortly after leaving we start to climb the Mid Atlas, the snow flurries get more frequent as we climb around the twisting road, we keep climbing, we are now in the thick of those snow capped mountains we could see earlier, the snow is thick on the side of the road, and shortly after on the road.

 

We saw our first snowplough of the day, flashing amber lights coming towards us, shooting grit behind it. I mention to Sam that the snow is getting heavier, a big understatement. as we climbed the road it became more treacherous, snow was now sticking fast, we turned a bend to see an accident had happened up ahead, the police were on the scene a car was on it’s side along with a coach on it’s side, there were about 30 people on the roadside  “they must have been freezing” the car had a blanket thrown over the front of it?. We passed the accident, it made me think about our ourselves driving this 3.5t front wheel drive sledge down the mountain. We started to descend a while later and we entered the town of Timahdite 1800m ASL, there was a line of  traffic going nowhere. The Gendarme had stopped the traffic from going any further due to the blizzard now engulfing us , so we parked up behind and waited. Soon after we were approached by two Moroccan lads, they were wet and cold, they had been in the coach earlier, and hitched a ride down, they told me the driver of the car was killed outright and there were a few on the coach that had injuries, I tell them to jump in to warm up, they are so grateful  to us.

The lads names are Ali and Eshan, Ali is going to Rabat, Eshan is going to Azrou to play at a wedding, he is a drummer in a band. They tell me the people on the coach threw the blanket over the windscreen of the car, and that the drivers head was smashed and was killed on impact. Ethan had a gash to his forehead and I gave Ali our first aid kit to put a bandage on his head, they seem quite calm considering their earlier plight. Ali spoke good English Ethan spoke none but I tell them I will drop them off in Azrou, I made them a sandwich and we sit and wait. We waited there for over an hour, then a coach turns up, a relief coach, they jump out and thanked us, shaking my hand vigorously. 

All this time the snow has been gusting and we can't see out of Sam’s window, then the traffic started turning around and going past us, the Gendarme tell us the road is closed and we have to go via Almis-du-Guigou and then to Ifrane before we can get to Azrou, Sam asks if the road is ok for a camper,  he nods and says tres bon. We follow the traffic hoping they’re going our way and quickly reset the satnav to Ifrane. The road is good as we appear to descend the snow is getting thinner on the ground, but further along as we enter Ifrane its Xmas postcard time again, Ifrane is a very nice town the buildings are straight out of Switzerland, nothing like a Moroccan town, it’s a ski resort. We come across a snow barrier it is closed and the vehicles are directed another way. Vehicles are sliding on the surface, lorries are trying to turn around it does not look good, I loose traction a few times, as my heart enters my mouth. We follow the traffic and again we are stopped at a barrier, the Gendarme are not letting anyone go further. There is a queue behind and then a knock on the window it is Ali, he has spotted us and came to say hello and again thank us for our hospitality earlier, his coach is behind us, after all he has been through he is still in good spirit.

A lull in the snow fall is an opportune time for Max to stretch his legs

 

The houses of Ifrane are so different,

 

The time is now dragging and it’s getting dark, I say maybe we should try and find a side street and stop the night here, the snow does not seem to be abating. We are told we are waiting for a snowplough to clear the road then we can leave, and sometime later I see the amber flashing lights and the plough approach. We are off, squeaky bum time as they say, we are close to the front of the queue, so we follow like lambs to the slaughter, they stop the traffic about 12 vehicles after us, I think we are lucky. The road is shocking we see many cars on their sides, and an army lorry that was about 8 vehicles in front of us is now in a ditch, I mutter to Sam that maybe we should have stopped in Ifrane, but it is too late now, maybe we weren't so lucky after all, I descend the mountain in 2nd gear, don’t use the brakes I tell myself, and keep plenty of distance from the car in front, I also have my warning lights flashing for good measure. We follow the stream of traffic down the winding road; “gingerly”. Fortunately my god was with me “Inshallah” and we make it down to the next barrier there are about 60 vehicles or more waiting to go up!!

 

We entered a large town called El Hajeb, it’s taken over two hours to go 23km from Ifrane, it’s pitch dark and we have been travelling for 9hrs. There are no campsites we are aware of, so we park behind a group of lorries on the side of the road in the busy part of the town under a streetlight. No sooner have we stopped a chap in a jelabah knocks the door asking are we sleeping here, we reply yes if it’s ok, and he says 10dir, he is the guardian?  Not wishing to doubt him we pay, we just need to have a bite to eat and sleep. We reflect on todays events, a few days ago we were in the desert, and complaining because it was cloudy, what a difference in the weather it was now 2c.  I later mailed a few people from MHF who are coming the same direction, and told them the condition of the roads, and to seek advice before attempting the Mid Atlas.

 

25th March 

 

We woke early, we had slept well but now the town is coming to life. Kettle on we make a plan, Azrou is kicked into touch, who gives a monkeys we have seen enough snow, we head for the historic town of Meknes. We need to stock up with food and there is a Carrefour there and hopefully it sells beer, we are running short !Along the way we pass miles of vineyards, and olive groves, 

Meknes is a very modern city, even the road sweepers have  hi viz clothing, not your usual jelabah. the buildings are Hispano-Moorish style, We find the supermarket, but it does not sell alcohol. Food restocked we head 50km up the N13 to Volubulis the ancient roman ruins

 

UNESCO World heritage site

 

The Arch of Caracalla.

 

Is this a communal crapper? It’s actually the baths fed from the aqueduct 

 

 

 

A few of the many Mosaics.

 

 

 

The Basiluca

 

The Capitoline Temple

 

Olive press

 

This pillar came in handy for Storks to nest.

 

They may have been good builders. But Sparkies they weren't

 

We were touted outside by many would be guides, but their lack of the English language was the deciding factor, non merci. It was well worth the visit, we traipsed about for two hours, and I took many photo’s along with video clips which I will upload soon. These Romans knew a thing or two about building and planning.

It was onto the campsite we would stay at tonight, a few km from Moulay Idris. Auberge Belle Vue 34°00'54.9"N 5°33'44.5"W. We are greeted by the owner a friendly chap, it’s 90dir p/n inc leccy no wifi, and I cant get a signal on our Mifi.  The site itself is clean and pretty although the toilets/showers are typical Moroccan standard.

 

 

Another empty pool

 

Restaurant area

 

There are a few vans here, French and Dutch, and I notice two British vans parked above us, they are not about, and we are too tired to seek them out.

I got a message from Ken, they are in the municipal campsite in Midelt, they were going to leave early today but have been told that the roads are closed, they are staying put for another day, Gordon will also have to sit it out at his campsite!

This evening we sat down to steak, new potatoes and green beans, my fav with lashings of Colemans.

 

 

26th March


This morning the owner comes by with a pot of gratis mint tea, we have been in Morocco nigh on 3 months and this is our first, it’s the national drink, but to be honest I’m a Tetley man.  Today we headed for Ouezzane to Motel Rif it’s 70km from here, we drive through some lush green countryside with rolling mountains, very much like the Cotswolds. We pass many Police stop points, but are waved through. We reach Ouezzane after a few Max breaks.



This is a nice place, 34°46'22.3"N 5°32'42.5"W. 50dir inc leccy but no wifi again!  Luckily our Mifi is working. The weather today is much brighter 18c in the shade and we find out the poor weather that has engulfed most of Morocco for the last week is making way for the sun to shine.

A pool with water, the first in Morocco.

 

The owner saves flags. No sign of the Welsh dragon?

The town is small with a few shops for essentials, there is a lake nearby, we will take Max there tomorrow. We will see what the weather forecast is for Chefchaouen for Saturday? If it’s good we will head there, if not we’ll make another plan, maybe over to the coast. Our time is running on in Morocco we have officially 11days, It has gone so quick, It’s been a blast! 

While we have been here in Morocco, being a Muslim country there is a distinct lack of pork products. The big seller here and you see dozens of varieties of it, it’s luncheon meat, some plain some with pimento or olives, most are made from Turkey or Chicken, we are fed up with them, lets try the Camel.