Today started with a visit to some Bedouins n the desert to show us how they have engineered the water supply to turn desert into a fertile region through the use of irrigation. They literally used a system of vertical shafts to reach the water table , the tunnel between shafts to make a connecting underground tunnel system to divert water to the area they want to farm. The shafts are up to 10m deep and the shafts are about 15m apart, meaning that the tunnels connecting the vertical shafts are 15m long and from 2 to 10m deep. It’s a marvel of engingeering for what were nomadic tribes people. ( I think they may have had a little outside help with it somehow, maybe their goats gave them the good oil on irrigation and hydrology!) All the same , it was an interesting stop.

The region we are travelling through is known for its production of Saffron and it also has silver mines. To produce 1kg of saffron they need to harvest 250,000 flowers. And apparently this has to be done before daylight otherwise insects eat the stamen.

All the villages we pass through appear to be at a natural spring or permanent water locations. The larger the water source the larger the village, and hence the more agriculture.

From there we went to see Morocco’s Grand Canyon, or better known as, The Todra gorge. To get there we passed a fairly large town with a river flowing through it, we saw many women doing their washing in it. The gorge is amazing, it is very narrow (with narrower roads going into it) and has two “resort” hotels in its heart. The walls are very high and are home to thousands of small birds. There is a creek running through it, and the water is pretty cold, we saw some street vendors using it to cool drinks down. After a short stop, we hit the road again and had lunch at a roadside Kasbar. We were served what wethink may have been a Moroccan vegetable soup and then a Tagine of meat balls and egg minus the egg (guess they forgot the egg??).

After lunch we headed for Ouarzazate, the Moroccan Hollywood. Many movies have been made there, Star Wars, The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, many French films and it goes on.  Along our travels almost every village and town in Morocco has a Souk, these are weekly markets where the locals, and some professional Souk people, trade their goods and it’s a real community event. The houses in the villages are mostly made of rock cemented together and they have either flat cement roofs , or more recently straw and dirt roofs. It’s been interesting seeing the locals doing running repairs to the homes, the weather appears to really knock them around.

The landscape in this part of Morocco is very rocky and generally barren.  The plains are very flat and as usual appear fertile if you add water. During the days travel we have passed over many creek/river crossings. The waterway beds are all very wide and it looks as though there is lots of water flowing down out of the mountains and various times of the year, and then long dry spells. The closer we get to Ouarzazate the greener the landscape is appearing, it’s not lush green, just a tinge from low lying vegetation. We passed through a town, Kelaat M’gouna, that has made its name on Roses. It produces almost everything you can think of that you can do with Roses, Rose water, soap, creams, rubs, oils, etc.

We arrived at Ouarzazate late in the afternoon and found the power in our room didn’t work, well the power points anyway. After four attempts to fix it we got moved to a suite!! 

More on Morocco. We have seen lots of grave yards during the tour , most of them Islamic grave yards. In Islam, cremation is never done and the bodies are always buried facing Mecca. The other grave yards we have seen have been Bedouin, in these grave yards the graves of men are marked with a rock facing sideways and the grave of a woman with a rock facing lengthways. Now I know that is something that has been on everyone’s mind, and I am glad to clear up the difference for you!