Authentic Morocco

We were  all very happy to be picked up by our tour drivers at the riad who got us out of Marrakech much more efficiently than we got ourselves in! We divided into two cars as Marge thoughtfully arranged, so we would each have a window.

Our car held Moustafa the driver who speaks no language in common with any of us but loves to sing and drives exquisitely, and Moustafa the guide who studied linguistics at the university and has excellent English.

We left Marrakech and drove towards the central High Atlas Mountains,

with frequent stops for views.  The Tizi-n-Tichka is a winding narrow hairpin-turning road and if you can ignore the testosterone and advertising, this video gives a great picture of why I was handing on for dear life: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sh_6jpjPA8 We drove through the pass to the village of Telouet, where we had a lunch of omelette and our first salad (chopped tomatoes and peppers!) in a Berber home. Our host then showed us some of his Berber artifacts and then to a room (yet another,) full of beautiful rugs.

We visited the Kasbah of el Glaoui, former war lord and pasha who died in the 50s and left a crumbling palace with a beautiful vista of the village.  We drove through the Ounila valley, dusty red rock mountains with a green valley below. On  to a salt mine and then arrived at our hotel in Tamdaght, the Kasbah  of the stork, where the Moustafas, Hassan the other driver, and the host of the kasbah picked up a banjo (!) and drums and entertained us with Berber and Arab music as we drank our welcoming mint tea.