Day 248 : Torda Gorge

My alarm woke me up at 5.30am while I quickly packed my stuff and got ready to leave the camp site at 6am, so that I could catch my bus at 8.30am.  Everyone was still asleep when I got out of my tent.  My guide got my camel ready and walked me back to the lodge.

While enroute, the sun slowly peeked out from the sand dunes and started warming the atmosphere, and in the distance, one can see tiny figures on top of sand dunes eagerly waiting to watch the sunrise.  Other than the sound of the camel trotting away, there was dead calm in the desert.

With no trailing camels behind us, our route back was only about 1hr.  I quickly freshened up and ate some breakfast before picking up my main baggage from the lodge and hopped onto a 4X4 which took me to the bus station.  One of the staff gave me my bus ticket and provided me with directions of getting to my next accommodation for the night in Torda Gorge.

The route to Torda Gorge took about 4 hours, along winding roads along cliffs and barren lands.  At one point I was surprised to see a vehicle in an extreme bad shape still being driven on the road.  It looked as if it was going to fall apart any second – there were no back windscreen, gaskets were dangling everywhere, one of the car door was missing and the car was moving really slowly.  Some passengers in the bus also laughed upon seeing the car condition!

The moment I got off the bus in Tinehir (the nearest town to Todra Gorge), there were a number of people on the streets who started hassling me for transportation and accommodations.  I got so annoyed I told them not to bother me and quickly walked away to buy my bus ticket for the next day journey towards Ouarzazate.

I walked into the city and managed to get my bus ticket for the next day, and set out to look for a taxi to take me up to my accommodation in Todra Gorge.  The couple of places that offered taxi services didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about.  A shabbily dressed guy with an untidy hair-do suddenly approached me, and thinking it was another irritating tout, I shouted at him and asked him to leave me alone and that I have got it settled.  He later said that if I am going to Todra Gorge, he is heading the same way and have a transportation ready.  So I followed him to a restaurant, where he said he will leave once he had finished lunch and asked that I wait for him at the restaurant while he get the staff to serve me some mint tea. 

Apparently lunch was still being prepared, and he told me he is a Berber (the local indigenous in Morocco) and have been a tour guide to a number of foreigners before and that he can show me around the gorge when I am there.  Wary about being charged tour guide fee for a service I was not keen on having, I told him I was just going to get to my lodge first before deciding what to do for the day. 

After he had finished his lunch, we walked towards another taxi area where he started communicating to one of the drivers in a foreign language, but somehow we did not get on the taxi.  We subsequently got on a mini van instead which was squeezed packed with passengers. 

When we arrived at my lodge, I passed my 10 Dirhams which was the cost of taking a taxi to him, and he paid the mini van driver and dropped off with me.  I suspected that the mini van must have cost much less than the taxi and my 10 Dirham fare was more than sufficient to cover for both of us.  I started getting wary about him. 

He said that he is staying in a guesthouse further up the road and asked what time I would be ready and that he can show me around the Gorge followed by a good glass of mint tea at the guesthouse he was staying.  Not feeling comfortable with him around, I tried to get rid of him and said that I had not had any sleep on my way over, and will want some sleep and may not be keen to do any exploration. 

I left him and walked into my guesthouse and was shown to my room.  The place was huge and beautiful, and it seemed like I was the only one staying in the huge hotel!  There was even a swimming pool at the hotel.  I quickly settled down and headed over to the swimming pool to take a dip. 

I tested the water and it was absolutely freezing cold!  There was no way I would survive a plunge into the pool, which was a real pity with the outdoor pool and great weather, and just went back to my room to take a nice hot shower instead. 

Feeling refreshed, I decided to take a walk up the Gorge.  Being mindful that the guy might still be around on the main road stalking me, I decided to go through the valley next to the hotel and walk up to the gorge. 

Barely 10 mins walking through the valley, I heard someone calling out to me.  It was the irritating guy, and he asked if he could walk up with me the valley.  I suspect that the story about him staying in a lodge further up the road was a lie, and told him that I prefer to walk on my own.  He still kept pestering me, and started saying things like “I paid for your mint tea just now, the least you can do is pay me something for accompanying you up here and for the tea”.  I was pissed off, and said that I didn’t ask him to accompany me, and that I will pay him 5 Dirham for the tea earlier and asked to leave me alone. 

He looked upset as I handed him the money and walked away.  Worried that he may still follow me, I turned back on a few occasions to be certain.  It’s a good thing he finally disappeared!

By this time I had gone back up on the main road path.  The walk up the gorge along the windy road was really pleasant, with the mountains in the distance and the green valley below.  There were a few villagers in the area, some whom tried to speak to me and I pretended I didn’t understand what they say, as it was the usual hassling.  A couple of kids also came up to me and asked me for some money or stationery, which I said I did not have any. 

Cars passed me by, a number of which were tourists.  At one point, an elderly German couple (who couldn’t speak English) in a campervan stopped by and using hand gestures, asked if I needed a lift up.  Not wanting to have problems with communication and also more keen on exploring the road a little more, I kindly refused. 

I must have continued walking on for about another hour, and sort of came to a path which seemed to look like an oasis.  I wasn’t sure if this was the end of the Gorge, but as it was already 4.30pm, I needed to start making my way back down before night falls, so I turned and walk back.  By this time I was really tired and would love a ride back down anytime. 

Suddenly a car which passed me by in the opposite direction, stopped, reversed and stopped next to me.  In the car was a group of young adults (2 guys and 3 girls).  One of the girl spoke to me and asked if I would like a ride.  They looked nice and I agreed, and so I got on, and they drove me back.

Not all of them could speak English, some better than others, but they were all very curious – about where I came from, what I was doing here, where was I going, how long I would be there for etc.  They were really friendly and a hilarious group, and some of the girls were envious about my trip, as many of them will never ever get a chance to leave Morocco to travel like I was doing. 

We stopped at one point to take photos together and they even invited me to join them for dinner in Tinehir.  As dinner arrangements had been made back at the hotel, I had to refuse and thanked them for the car ride back.

I made my way to the restaurant in the hotel and it was really cold as the sun had set.  The hotel staff started up the fire and assigned me a table next to the fireplace.  There was a group of people in the hotel whom seem to be part of a tour group, who shortly also entered the dining hall and sat at a long table on the other side of the fireplace. 

My food came and I was presented a salad followed by the usual local cuisine, tagine.  The tagine was the best I have had in Morocco so far, and I truly enjoyed the meal.

Just as I was about to finish my meal, one of the members in the group asked me to join them at their table instead of sitting on my own – a very kind gesture indeed! 

I obliged and found out that the group came from all over (Netherlands, Canada, Australia etc) and that they had joined a tour online.  They will be travelling for another week before they fly back home.  We had lots of good conversations and they were very curious about me travelling on my own as well as the places I have visited.  I gave them some tips about things to do the next day, since they are staying 2 nights at the hotel. 

While we were speaking, some staff started playing some musical instruments and everyone got up to dance.  It was jolly good fun! 

I soon got tired and with an early start the next day again, I said my goodbyes and headed back to bed.