Getting to know the locals

Week 4 - From Tinghir to M'Hamid

This week, we slept by a lake at an altitude of 2300m, celebrated Joy's birthday by indulging in the luxury of dining and spending a night in an elegant and cosy riad and visited Zicas, a mechanic 'friend' of ours from Zagora. Many other adventures, encounters and interesting experiences made for an eventful and exciting week. Find out about them in this week's day-by-day diary.

Day 23 - Desperately searching for a gas station

Tinghir (Camping Atlas) >  Lake Isli

The alarm clock at a campsite always gives you less motivation to get up than when you are in the wilderness. On a campsite you know no one will disturb you and 99% of the time even if you get up for sunrise you are not in the right place to admire it. So today we struggled to wake up and only got out of the blankets at 08:30. The sun had not yet come out and thanks to the cold night our washing was still not dry.

After breakfast I spend a few hours writing. I'm behind with the Morocco diary and I'm busy catching up. Meanwhile, the sheets and the rest of the laundry dries and Joy meticulously folds it. We have a shower before we head off and leave the campsite around one o'clock, over an hour to spare before checkout time.

Today's plan is to follow the Todra gorge and at Agoudal turn left to head into the Dades gorge. After leaving the campsite, we turn right and after a few kilometres we find ourselves in the middle of the Todra gorge. An asphalt road, although quite rough, leads us between high, imposing, red rocks. At the roadside, street vendors sell djellabas and other typical Moroccan clothing. We notice a quaint little bar on the right, but we decide to continue on since our journey has only just started.

The following kilometres are a spectacle. The road surface becomes smoother and the road widens. We quickly forget that we are at an altitude of almost 2400 metres, only the temperature outside (6° C) reminds us that we are in the high mountains.

With Joy behind the wheel, I do a Google Maps search for the nearest petrol station, only to discover that it is in Imilchil, a small village not on our route, some 80km away. So we decide to change our plans. In Agoudal we continue straight on to Imilchil to fill up and then look for a place to stay. The Dades Gorges will have to wait until tomorrow.

As has been happening a lot lately, it is 3pm and we have not yet had lunch. Both of us are hungry, but we struggle to find a bar on the road. The first one we try is closed, so we continue until we find a small building with a barely visible sign saying 'Auberge' in Akdim, 25km from Imilchil. The place, which looks more like a private house, is not exactly inviting, but we are short of alternatives and tasting something authentic and local tickles our fancy. After all, this is also why we travel.

We pull up to the gate and a man comes out to greet us. I ask him if it is possible to eat something and he tells me that he can make us two Berber omelettes for 25 DH each. I would say perfect. Two minutes later we are sitting in his garden, surrounded by bare trees and a brown-grey soil that must be vivid green in summer. We drink tea to start and after about twenty minutes the omelettes are ready and served with fresh bread. When asked if we would like water, we hesitate a little and decide to decline. We are not yet ready to drink tap water in Morocco.

Although the place didn't initially inspire great confidence, I must admit that the food was good. Abdou also brings us four apples straight from his garden: a little shrivelled, but tasty nonetheless.

Satisfied and happy, we are ready to leave. Abdou explains that his house is really an 'Auberge' by showing us the room with three single beds where you can stay. Very small but all in all clean. Of the two, I still prefer the van. He also shows me the list of travellers who have stayed with him. All French, the last one in October 2023.

Before leaving, I notice a room full of wood for heating. I ask him if I can buy a couple of pieces for a few dirhams, and Abdou amusedly accepts. They might come in handy tonight if we sleep at this altitude.

The last 25 kilometres to Imilchil go by quickly, passing through small villages where children and adults greet us warmly. They seem even more friendly and welcoming in these areas. In these villages we notice that some of the buildings or huts have signs reading Gasol/Benzin. But we don't see any real petrol pumps. The mystery is solved a few kilometres later when we pass another building with the same sign and see a man filling up a car with a plastic 5-litre bottle and a funnel. We wonder if we should try this, but instead decide to continue on to the official petrol station. There are now only 15 km to go.

After refuelling, we head north for a handful of kilometres. We have identified Lake Isli as a possible place to spend the night. We take the gravel road that takes us to the shore of the lake in 10km. The place looks quiet, the view perfect and the wind makes the cold temperatures at an altitude of 2300 metres even more extreme. Despite the cold, it seems like the perfect place to spend the night. As darkness falls, we light a fire with wood from Abdou, making sure it is sheltered from the wind. We watch the night come and warm ourselves in front of the flames. For dinner we eat something light, given our late lunch, and then we fall asleep under the blankets and with the heater on.

Curiosity of the day It was only after sleeping on the shores of Lake Isli that a local man told us the incredible legend of this lake. Find out in the Instagram post below!

Day 24 - Roses valley

Lake Isli > Dades Gorge

In the morning we wake up to complete silence. We see and hear a few cold ducks on the lake, but nothing else. After breakfast, we are greeted by our first visitors. We see a typical Moroccan cargo tricycle approaching with three people in the back. We were worried for a moment: what were four people doing coming towards us so early in the morning and in the middle of nowhere?

The mystery is soon revealed: a local man has just driven two Moroccan tourists and a guide to the shores of the lake where they will set off to climb the mountain behind us, at an altitude of over 3000m. The tourists speak a little English, they linger a few minutes and invite us to join them for the hike.

We politely decline, wish them a good climb and set off. We stop in the pretty village of Imilchil to do some street shopping: fruit and vegetables, water and a few items from a convenience store. As we set off again, we struggle to make our way through the main road, with people crowding around the bank. It is not the first time we have noticed so many queuing people around a bank, but we do not know why. Probably on certain days, subsidies or contributions are distributed, we think.

We set off again, stopping only a few kilometres later for breakfast at Rachid's. A smiling, welcoming man who makes us tea, coffee and a cheese omelette (strictly speaking The Laughing Cow). We sit outside in the sun, despite the cold wind blowing in our faces. We thank him, take a photo together and set off again towards the Dades Gorge.

The first few kilometres in the Valley of Roses are on a wide paved road that makes good progress despite the steep gradients. Without realising it, we reach an altitude of almost 3000 metres, right at the point where the road gives way to dirt.

Work has been underway on this section of the road for a number of years to make it fully asphalted. Enthusiastic about the remaining sections of dirt road, we leave the heavy vehicles at work and slowly descend along a steep, rocky piste. Between the hairpin bends we enjoy the views, with imposing dark brown rocks making the landscape truly unique. At the bottom of the decent, we drive along the oued (dry river bed) for a few hundred metres to find a place to stop for lunch.

After lunch, we quickly cover the kilometres that separate us from the famous and picturesque hairpin bends of the Dades Gorge, first on dirt roads and then on tarmac. We arrive at the picture-spot just as the sun has disappeared over the horizon, so we decide not to stay too long and to return the next day. We will look for a campsite in the area.

A few minutes later we are greeted by a smiling and enthusiastic Ibrahim at the roadside campsite of Ait Oudinar. Ibrahim proves to be very welcoming and extremely kind. He brings us a welcome hot tea and fresh bread and sets up a small table in front of our van.

We spend a quiet evening drinking a beer in front of the fire with two nice Germans living in Switzerland whom we met a few hours earlier on the famous Dades hairpin bends. A good evening and a nice way to end the day. Meeting new people is one of the main reasons why we love to travel!

Curiosity of the day We were pleasantly surprised by the excellent state of the roads in Morocco. The Moroccan government seems to have invested a lot in the asphalting of many sections, not only in the tourist areas. Several off-road tracks that we found in books are now in fact partially or fully paved or being paved, with heavy vehicles at work. Sometimes we feel a little sorry for this, because we love the feeling of freedom we get when we drive on tracks surrounded by nature and with gravel crunching under our tyres.

Day 25 - Sleeping in a real bed after more than 4 months

Dades Gorge > Ait-Ben-Haddou

Today is a special day, it's Joy's birthday. Although she is a very quiet girl and not one for big celebrations, we try to fill the day with those little things that make us (and especially her) feel good.

After a short stop at the iconic Dades hairpin bends to take a few photos and enjoy an omelette with a unique view of the road, we set off for Ait-Ben-Haddou. First, however, we stop at the 'Monkey's fingers', a natural attraction in a valley ideal for hiking.

We park the van and set off on an 8km run through this beautiful valley with its strangely shaped rocks. It has been a long time since we have run, and for various reasons we have neglected this sporting activity in Morocco, which has taken a back seat. So it is all the more pleasing to go running again, a unique feeling of freedom, so simple and yet so special. 

Once the run is over, happy and thirsty, we get back on the road and within a couple of hours reach Ait-Ben-Haddou, where we have booked a Riad for the evening for the special occasion. Despite some minor initial misunderstandings (the room we had booked and paid for was not available), we find a solution and settle into a smaller but equally nice room.

Dinner is excellent, accompanied by a bottle of local wine that the guys at Riad Caravane have offered to celebrate Joy's birthday. The cauliflower soup, vegetarian tajine with Moroccan noodles and the banana and Nutella crepes (complete with a candle) are really delicious and make for a very pleasant evening.

We end the evening talking on the terrace, finishing our wine and admiring the stars, although a few too many lights in the neighbourhood make the sky less clear. It's getting late and it's time for bed, a real bed. In fact, it is the first time in the last four months that we are not sleeping in the van, but with the comforts of a room, a private shower and a nice, comfortable, spacious bed.

Curiosity of the day We have travelled many kilometres on Moroccan roads and seen all kinds of things. A whole family on a moped, a sheep being transported in the basket of a motorbike, children driving mopeds or taxis, cows being transported on the roof of a lorry and secured with a net, and trucks carrying loads three times their size. In short, there is never a dull moment on Morocco's roads.

Day 26 - Campers pay less than tourists

Ait-Ben-Haddou  >  Dra Valley

Breakfast in the riad is also excellent, with various types of savoury and sweet breads to go with different homemade jams. After a good omelette and coffee, we are ready to face the day.

Despite the beautiful weather outside, we decide to take advantage of the very stylish and well-appointed space in the common area of the riad to spend some time on our work and projects. We thus end up leaving the riad at around 1pm, somewhat reluctantly: happy to be back in our van parked outside and heading for new destinations, but we would gladly have had another night in the riad.

Our first stop on the way is the ancient village of Ait-Ben-Haddou, the location of a number of Hollywood films, including Gladiator. We stroll through the narrow, steep alleys surrounded by small terracotta buildings inhabited by local artists and traders. Once at the top, we take a few photos and walk down to the entrance of the village, where we stop for a quick lunch at a nice place we noticed on the way up.

The place is called Tawara Salon de Thé and the special thing about it is that it is run entirely by the ladies of the Ait-Ben-Haddou Women's Association. We sit down on the outdoor terrace and order a harira soup and two Berber omelettes, accompanied by hot tea and orange juice. Under the curious eyes of several cats wandering between (and on) the tables, we enjoy the excellent food. In the background, we watch a woman preparing and baking bread in a large wood-burning oven, while behind her, tourists and a few camels wander through the narrow streets of the village.

On the way out we decide to buy some freshly baked bread. Considering the whole experience and the fact that it was made in front of our eyes we are willing to overpay for it (10 DH).

We set off again towards M'hamid el Ghizlane, which we will reach only a few days later. Between Ait-Ben-Haddou and Ouarzazate we stop along the main road at 'The Gold Mine 2' shop to buy some local handmade porcelain. We buy two coffee cups, two bowls and two small cups. Taken by enthusiasm, we also leave the shop with a Tajine: we want to try cooking in the typical and authentic Moroccan way too, and this earthenware 'dish' is the perfect souvenir and memento of this country. We pay a total of about 20 Euro not without long negotiations with the shopkeeper, who confesses that he cannot give me the price of the locals, but at the same time reassures me that he has given me a campervan price and not a real tourist one.

We take to the road again, pass through Ouarzazate without stopping and drive south for a few hours until we find a spot to stop for the night in the Dra Valley, behind a hill not too far from the main road, near two other vans.

Curiosity of the day The kasbah (fortified city) of Ait-Ben-Haddou has been the set of Hollywood films, such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Gladiator, The Mummy, 007 - Danger Zone and The Jewel of the Nile.

Day 27 - Finally we go to see Zicas

Dra Valley - Tagounit

Another quiet night passes. Apart from a little wind, nothing and no one disturbs us during the night. So far we have never had any problems sleeping wild, of course we have always tried to choose relatively secluded places, to be discreet and to respect nature and the local people.

The morning passes quickly and quietly as we work on the computer. In the late afternoon, we hit the road again towards Zagora. We will only be passing through this small town, but we have decided and promised to stop and visit Zicas, a friend from Instagram, at his van and off-road vehicle workshop, Garage Iriki.

Shortly after our arrival in Morocco, Zicas (Zacaria's nickname) had contacted us via Instagram and invited us to stop by his workshop for a hot tea and to get to know each other. We immediately promised him that, God willing (or inshallah as they say here), we would drop by.

Anyway, at 5.30pm we're at the entrance to the village and at the first roundabout I notice a mechanic and his friend at the petrol station on the opposite side of the road, who seem to have spotted us and are 'chasing' us. The faces look familiar and I immediately realise that the guy on the back of the moped wearing a jacket that says 'Harry Schmitz - Team Manager Germany' is indeed Zicas. We immediately stop to say hello and follow him into the workshop. We drink tea together while looking at the countless photos and stickers hanging in his garage. So many of the people we follow on Instagram or know (including my uncle Lori, who I say hello to) have stopped here.

After looking at the van, Zicas and his team ask us if we want to clean the filter (free of charge) and point out, without too much insistence, that we need to add a leaf to our rear suspension. Zicas is not wrong and it is an upgrade that is high on our list, but we are not ready for it yet. Not here and not now.

As we finish our tea we get to know most of the neighbourhood. First a gentleman asks me if I would be interested in a wooden model of our van, then a young boy tries to sell me some stickers for a few euros. I politely decline and we are off. But just at the best moment, another man arrives and insistently invites us to visit his shop next door. We try to refuse, but in the face of his insistence, and so as not to be rude, we decide to have a look around the shop, making it clear that we have no intention of buying anything. A few minutes later we are outside the carpet and knick-knacks shop again, we take two souvenir photos with Zicas, exchange two stickers and leave.

It is now almost 7pm, it is getting dark and the sandstorm makes driving quite a challenge. We are an hour away from M'hamid and given the conditions we decide to stop after 30 minutes. Now in total darkness we take a rather bumpy dirt road and drive slowly for about a kilometre until we find a nice little tree on the right and decide that this will be our shelter for the night. We eat a little something and despite the sandstorm, we fall asleep at midnight.

Curiosity of the day Situated on the edge of the desert, the town of Zagora has a large number of workshops and 4x4 garages. From what we have read, heard from other travellers and experienced first hand, tourists are often stopped at the entrance to the town and (after a quick roadside check) 'invited' into the workshop for some repairs or improvements.

Day 28 - The goat is not on your plate, but jumping beside you while you eat

Tagounit – M'Hamid El Ghizlane 

We wake up to find that not much has changed. The tree is still there and the wind is kicking up sand in the air. Since it is impossible to venture outdoors, we take the opportunity to work and write a little on the computer.

When we set off again around noon, we decide to continue on the dirt road and reach M'Hamid El Ghizlane by crossing the sand dunes. Probably not the best idea, as the wind has erased all the tracks and reformed the dunes in a new pattern. Little do we care, we lower the pressure and set off. As expected, navigation proves rather complicated and in some places we struggle to find the ideal line. A few moments of panic, but then, despite the extreme conditions, we manage to climb over two dunes and find the track again. We drive the last few kilometres in the sand and reach the asphalt on the outskirts of M'hamid.

We arrive at the campsite, Camp Bivouac Hassi Smara, where we are greeted with a welcome tea. The campsite, very rustic and cheap (less than 3 euros per night), is located in the desert dunes a few kilometres after the village. In the evening we dine at the campsite. Despite having specified this several times, the vegetarian Tajine we are served also has a bit of vegetables in between all the chicken. The accompanying noodles are cut (difficult to digest for an Italian) and cooked. No fuss, we eat the vegetables, a few noodles and we are full.

The star of the evening is Alfie, a happy-go-lucky little goat who prances around the sofas and cheers us up. He and his company alone are worth the price of dinner. After dinner, the wind finally dies down, bringing an end to two days of sand storms. We can then sit around the campfire and, under the starry sky and with our faces lit by the crackling flames, we finish the bottle of wine we opened a few days ago.  Meanwhile, the camp staff place several candles around each van, which together with the fire and the starry sky create a special atmosphere and frame an evening to remember.

As the wine runs out and the fire slowly fades we plan our next adventures. The next day we set off for a three-day desert tour and the excitement is big!

Curiosity of the day "A sandstorm passes, the stars remain". So goes an Arab proverb that encapsulates in one sentence the attitude of the Arab people. A population, as we have experienced it, that despite the difficulties, is always ready to welcome you with a smile and endure hard times, knowing that these will pass to make way for better times.

As we slowly move southwards not too far from the Algerian border, we can tell you that the Moroccan inland is really exciting us. It has held great surprises and emotions for us again this week, both on a human level - given the extreme kindness of the people - and on a nature and landscape-level. By now we feel more at ease in this country, we enjoy interacting and bargaining with the locals and wandering the streets of villages, breathing in Moroccan culture.

But the fun is not over yet. Over the next few days we will cross the desert on our own, following an old Paris-Dakar route through kilometers of dirt tracks and sand dunes, slowly heading west and rounding the Atlantic coast. See you soon for the next update!