The first Tizi and the country town of Imlil
Trip Start
Feb 23, 2008
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84
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Trip End
Jun 05, 2008
Imlil, Morocco
Saturday, May 17, 2008
We got to the top safely and it was bloody freezing and blowing a gale - in everyones pic it looks like they are going to get blown away... Thankfully i had a spare jumper in my backpack. There were plenty of rock selling men who would approach you up here - I felt like I was back in Egypt as they man-handled you - most of us retreated to the safety of the van. In winter these roads can become impassable.
Setting off down the other side of the Tizi n' Tichka we drove through the High Atlas Mountains , stopping several times along the way to take photos of the view. We stopped in a small town along the way where we were all still thawing out and had a bit of hot lunch - most of us ordering Berber omelette's and hot chips. We continued driving and took the turnoff to Imlil - its basically a dead end road that peters off when you get to the town - Imlil is the last stop. The French built the road into the town so its sealed and in excellent condition - it must be ok to live around here as Richard Branson has a holiday home.! He doesn't use it much as he is turning half of it into a hotel - its a nice looking home though - huge walls surround it - I can just imagine what it is like inside.
We finally arrived in Imlil just after 4pm, checked into our rooms and set off exploring. The town does smell a lot of horse/donkey poo as that is the main means of transport. A few of us set off for the 20 min walk up the hill to the Kasbah du toubkal, a former holiday house of the local ruler that has since been renovated by a UK company. We climbed all the way to the top and ordered a hot chocolate and admired the views. You could see the village that was transformed into a Tibetan place for the movie Kundun - the surrounding mountains are very similar to those in Nepal and Tibet.
After enjoying our drinks and free sugary nuts we made our way back down. Getting to the hotel was the main objective as it was bloody cold! Most of us spent the rest of the evening under blankets on the couches reading or napping until dinner was bought out -- the biggest tagine you'll ever see! Harira soup for entree of course then a huge chicken and cous cous tagine - it was magnificent and we tucked in heartily. I could barely fit in my mint tea afterwards...
I checked some pics on Katies computer then Sophia and I huddled up under blankets on the couch and tried to watch some Dvd's that I had bought in Casablanca - the Bucket List kept jamming but Bee Movie worked -- both of us fell asleep half way through so we packed up and crashed into bed just after midnight.
