ATLAS PANORAMA HOLIDAY:
Day2 - Travelling into the High Atlas & Tighza Valley
Another 7am start and our bags were loaded onto a minibus. We set off for the drive into the High Atlas. Soon we were leaving behind the buildings and flat plain of Marrakech and the roads became more winding and steep. I had forgotten just how sheer the drop was from the edge of the road - and in the 7 years since I had last visited, my fear of heights seemed to have got worse. The views were stunning, so I wanted to look, but as the driver overtook lorries I couldn't help but bury my head in my scarf. My fears were not helped by the fact that it became quite snowy. We passed a snow-plough and noticed how the snow was piled up at the edge of the road. The minibus pressed on, with our driver - "Lucky" (as we nicknamed him) - and we drove through the Tizi n' Tichka pass. Little shops were perched precariously on the edge of the road - selling rocks, crystals, pots and tagines. "Extreme Tagine" was suggested as a great name for a shop!
We came to the Kasbah at Telouet. This is now semi-derelict. Entering through a simple wooden-door, the first two courtyards are almost completely destroyed. However, you walk on into the fortress and come to beautiful, tiled rooms - and possibly the most famous view in Morocco.
The views from the roof were beautiful beyond compare - a 270degree panorama of snow-capped peaks.
Leaving Telouet, the roads became even more treacherous. Mud, evidence of landslips, stones perched on the eges of the road, indicating where the road had given way, pot-holes, and even an entire bridge missing, forcing us through a forded river. Eventually we arrived in a small settlement called Animiter where there was a restaurant and a welcome break for lunch. This was also our parting with the minibus- the rest of the journey would be on foot.
An hour or so after leaving the restaurant we arrived at the gite - a new building at the very head of the Tighza valley in a small village called Wawriykt. The walk to the gite was not difficult but I felt rather out of breath. The gite itself is situated at 1940m above sea level - a climb which we had completed in just one morning in the minibus.
The gite itself was amazing. Built in a local style but with fantastic views from a balcony - 180degrees across the valley and round to the snow-topped mountains in the distance.
We were welcomed with mint tea and biscuits on the balcony.
It was now that the shock of the cold set in: as the sun set, we reached for jumpers and then thermals and then our sleeping bags. Somehow, we just couldn't get warm. We eventually went through for dinner. Sitting on low cushions, wearing at least 3 pairs of socks each and feeling the cold from the floor, we just about managed to get warm before turning in for the night. I think all of us were wondering just what we were doing at this point!
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