Breakfast was at 7:15 AM and we were on the road by 8. We had
many miles to cover today but we made lots of interesting stops. Abdellah is
very good for that. He always starts out the day with a talk about some aspect
of Moroccan life that is very informative. As well, he reads Moroccan folk tales on the bus. Most of them are nice stories then out of the blue, the characters suddenly commit some sort of violence. We laugh and ask him if he knows any stories without blood and gore.
The first stop of the day was at a market, a local souk.
Unlike the big souks of the cities, these small towns have a weekly souk. They
are smaller in size and cater to the needs of the local people.
Produce is the
number one product sold. But we also saw plastics, pots and pans, a blacksmith
fixing things, cushions, mattresses, and jewelry. Of course Abdellah could go
no further until the ladies had found something to their liking at that vendor.
Then he bought various fruits and vegetables for a picnic lunch later on.
We made a WC stop then awhile later the bus stopped by the
side of the road at a very small town called Tazenakht. It is well-known for
its carpets and is a cooperative of local people. There were a lot to choose
from and prices depended on quality and workmanship.
I would have loved to
replace the carpet in my living room but a decent-sized one would have cost
more than I really wanted to spend. Several people bought carpets so it was
worth our stop. Even Mike found something he wanted, in black of course, and I
was amazed at the good price he got!
By the time the deals were made, it was time to eat so we
found a shady spot under some trees to have a picnic lunch. The carpet co-op
even lent us 2 beautiful carpets on which to sit and have lunch! I had a pita
type of bread and ended up with cheese, pistachio yogurt and tomato inside of
it. Yum! We also had fresh oranges, wonderful cantelope and yummy sweet bananas
as well.
The next stop was in the town of Talouine which is a center
for saffron. One gram is 30 dirhams which is a bargain. It is
harvested from the stigmas of the saffron crocus. Each plant has up to four flowers, each with three stigmas and it takes about 150 flowers to produce a gram of dry
saffron threads.
I can’t imagine picking anything that small. Apparently a little goes a long
way and you only need one in a serving. I got some for myself and the ‘folks
back home’ looking after my place.
As we get closer to our stop for the day, Taroudant, we can
see the towering Anti-Atlas Mountains. I have no idea why they are called that.
It has been a long day of driving and we haven’t gone through many towns this
afternoon.
Once in Taroudant, we stopped at an impressive gate that we
could climb to the top of for photos.
Then the bus driver took us to the main
square in town which is like the one in Marrakech only on a much smaller scale.
There were snake charmers, musicians, a guy spinning a top and other rings of
men doing I-don’t-know-what.
Only the men gather in these squares while the
women prefer to go shopping, Abdellah told us.
After having a look in the
square, we did just a little bit of wandering in the souks. They seemed to be
quite a bit more modern in that they were selling some ‘non-traditional’
clothing.
When we were done, our guide had a surprise for us – a ride
to our hotel in a calash, that is a horse-drawn carriage.
They had them in the
big cities for the tourists. I felt a bit sorry for the horses having to pull
all that weight in busy, noisy traffic.
Our hotel is beautiful!
The
grounds, lobby and pool are quite stunning, and the room is gorgeous too!
Due
to the late hour, supper was at the hotel. The service was pretty good, but the
meal was rather overpriced I felt. We get to sleep in tomorrow! Hurrah!
