Valley of the Roses

April 18, 2024

Plus Ouarzazat and Ait Benhaddou

We woke to another blue sky day and the birds were chirping in the Vallee Ighil M’Gouna - The Valley of the Roses.

We had breakfast outdoors on the 2nd floor balcony - hard boiled eggs, fresh oj, yogurt, and home fried unsweetened donuts. No fruit.

We started biking right from the eco-gite (really just a hotel). It is such a spectacular valley! We were mostly descending. It was 18 km until we popped out into more open area. There was no roadside litter. (Italy - maybe you should ask the Morocco what their secret is to keeping roadsides litter free.)

We saw lots of people going about their business: women carrying alfalfa on their backs to feed their animals and construction on lots of buildings. We even saw a few women carry things on their head, although that didn't seem common.

We had a good drafting train going in the last 20 km which made it easy. The big net downhill today helped too. We finished biking around noon.

Perhaps the best biking yet. No traffic and downhill through a beautiful valley. The water in that river is precious.

I’m thinking the same technique has been used for hundreds of years.

And then they’re piled up ready to use. I couldn’t help think that they wouldnt be great in an earthquake.

We stopped for coffee/cold drinks next to rose water distillery place. I’m not a fan of rose-scented goods, but others bought some.

Pheena bought some walnut skin tooth cleaner at the rose water store. We're not sure exactly how it is supposed to be used - we think it gets chew on. Not a nice taste. Hicham said not to swallow it. I wasn’t tempted! I'll stick with Crest and a toothbrush, thanks.

We passed by two abandoned kasbahs from the 17th century.

Then we drove to the regional city of Ouarzazat for a shawarma lunch that was very good. Unlike Canada, there's no choosing your own toppings - you get what you get on the shawarma. Then there were trips to the bank machine and to a Carrefour store for chips and beer.

Ouarzazat is the centre of film making in Morocco. For the film makers, it’s a good location not far from the High Atlas or Sahara. We had the opportunity to visit a movie studio today, but we collectively declined, preferring more time at the hotel and its outdoor pool before heading out for our evening activities.

Now that we’re closer to Marrakech, we’re starting to get into areas impacted by the 2023 earthquake, but didn’t see much damage today.

Our hotel is great. It has huge rooms and a very nice pool where we had just enough time for a quick dip before showering and heading out again to the nearby area of Ait Benhaddou, which includes a modern village and an ancient ksar (fortified village).

We started out with a quick tagine cooking demo by the women’s cooperative that runs a local restaurant. While our tagines cooked, we went off to see the town. First off was a rug making demo at another women’s cooperative. I bought a small rug. It's not of the highest quality, but will make a great souvenir.

Then we went for a walk in the ksar which was an easy walk across a riverbed from the modern town. Historically, Ait Benhaddou was an important stop on the trade route between Timbuktu and Marrakech. From here, it's 52 days by camel from Timbuktu. It's been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987. Apparently a few people still live in the ksar, but it looks mostly to be occupied by artisans hawking their wares to tourists. We're now within day-trip distance from Marrakech, so that allows for lots of visitors.

The ksar is Saharan architecture, made with only local materials such as the bricks in the earlier photos. This is unlike Moorish architecture (as seen in Fes) where the fancy buildings used some materials transported from a long way away. By the time we finished our tour it was very windy - lots of sand blowing around.

The veg tagine is set up in this beautiful pattern, and then is not stirred during cooking. The separate chicken dish contained garkic, preserved lemon, diced red onion, cinnamon, dried ginger, salt, pepper, paprika, and turmeric. The chicken tagine is stirred as necessary during cooking.

The rugs are supplied by 150 to 200 women working in their homes. A large carpet might take a year to make. The women only work 2 hours or so a day because it’s hard work and also because they have other duties in the home.

Everything is made with sheep or lamb wool, carded and woven by hand. Here’s Kerry attempting to card wool. Not easy, even for an Aussie.

The pattern isn’t written down - the artisan just figures it out in her head. Wow.

The ksar, seen from the new village. It is a common movie shoot location, and was used for Gladiator and Game of Thrones.

Looking down at the ksar and across to the new village. It looks like a nice evening, but the wind had started to whip up.

The highest point within the fortifications isn’t a tower or keep. We climbed up to the top of the ksar and saw a ‘Berber bank’. They weren't guarding gold or money - the very top is where they kept animals high up in the village during attacks to prevent loss of their food supply.

Then we returned to the house where we made the tagines and had dinner in the garden. There was another group eating too. The chicken tagine was delicious. But then there was only one veg tagine between all of us, so I only got a couple pieces of green beans. It was good food, there was just not enough of it, even for a sedentary travel group. We asked for more food, and then dinner ended up lasting forever because they made us more tagine that was served after we’d eaten our panna cotta like dessert.

The wind that cranked up in the early evening continued as we slept. It was howling outside the hotel. Fingers crossed that the forecast is correct and it will die down by morning.

Wendy is very stuffed up now and coughing too. And I’m afraid I’m just behind.

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 357 km (222 miles)

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