Salam ghalikom!
Next morning we started our trip away from Marrakech. In two hours we got to Imlil - a small village at the foot of the mountains. We left our big backpacks in a guesthouse and let the mules carry our overnight packs. We then started marching upwards. The day was hot but luckily trees shaded most of our path. We had stunning views along the way in particular the village and the building which served as fil set for Tibetan Dalai Lama's movie 'Kundun'.
We got to the Aremd a tiny village at 1960m altitude and were welcomed to our mountain gite for the night. Gite Omar Id Mansour was not quite what I expected. It was a lovely, quite lush, hospitable and cosy mountain guesthouse.
It was built of half-a-metre thick mud walls which kept it nice and cool. It's arid rooms were decorated with Moroccan sofas and carpets. The guesthouse was made up of small dorms with comfy beds and had one shower and one Western loo too. Not to mention a Coke vending machine (wonder how they managed to get that up there by mule!) and a long dining area. The roof, turned terrace gave away breathless views of the valley below rising to the mountains.
Having taken in the view we settled for a mint tea before lunching on rice, Moroccan salad and Berber tagine omelette. Stomachs full we started preparing for a 4-hour trek up the valley but to our surprise it started to rain pretty heavily. Not well-equipped we decided for (probably the best) alternative option, the hammam. The hammam are the local public baths; one for men and the other for women. The building, generally situated in the middle of the village, is split into 3 tiled sauna rooms, one warmer than the other. A local woman (for us girls, that is) is endeavoured with the task of scrubbing the 'bathers' with a luffa ....
Me and another four girls of the group ventured for it. We undressed to our bikinis but wasn't before long that we were ordered to strip off. Rather than having a big mama do the job, a meagre 14-year old stripped in seconds and gestured us to fill up the buckets from the taps within the rooms. She didn't know any English and hardly any French. She then made us sit on the floor in a circle and started to splash us with water. She gave us some argan oil soap each to rub ourselves with. It was like being kids again. Before we knew it gone were all the inhibitions. We started to splash one another with water included Aisha. It was fun and funny. We let our bodies steam in the second room as we took it in turns to be scrubbed hard, well whatever strength the Ramadan-starved girl had.
Another splash of water and a quick shoulder and neck massage later we were clean as ever and bonded forever. We secretly tipped Aisha and headed back to the gite in the rain, not that we really minded it after such a thorough body cleanse!
Rain stopped and we set off on a 'walk around the village' with our leader Abdul. We walked down the stepped slope of the village into the valley and crossed over to ascend the other side of the valley. We were then invited over for tea, nuts and dates at Abdul's friend. We sat on wet chairs on the roof but the view kept us on our feet clicking our camera at the lovely now sunset mountain scenery.
We got back to the gite just in time before a strong wind and storm hit hard. Cosy inside another sweet mint tea with fried tasteless bread awaited us.
We chatted until it was dark.
Just before dinner Aisha came around this time as henna artist. Us girls eagerly jumped in, eventually the guys got their palms tattooed too. She quickly drew floral designs with a needless syringe filling it with brown henna paste from a mug. It looked gross but when the thing dried it revealed a masterpiece.
In-between the tattoo making we took in turns to sit on tiny stools in the tiny kitchen watching the women cooking our dinner. The family who prepared our meals lived in a house a flight or two of stairs below the gite. They steamed the couscous in a huge sieve on a huge pot over a tiny one-burner stove. Amazing how they managed to cook for the mass with such facilities.
Dinner served and we eagerly tucked in only to follow with a series of stomach cramps! My stomach literally churned as Abdul traced the long drive that lay ahead of us on the wall map.
That night Arlene and I had decided to fast the next day. So to be part of customs we had to be woken up at 3am for breakfast then fast the rest of the day till sundown. I couldn't bet an eyelid, waiting for that dreaded knock on the door. I really wasn't up for eating anything let alone have breakfast at that hour. Time came and we were summoned in the lounge area. Together with Abdul we nibbled on some dates, dry bread and jam. We drank plain hot water as Abdul made himself a yoghurt milk-powdered drink. Arlene and I chatted for a while and went back to bed. I slept only to wake up to make full use of the lovely Western toilet! By 9am the poor loo was far from its original white pristine state as the rest of the crew joined in my early morning prayers.
Packed up and ready to leave the loo..I mean gite, we headed downwards, back to Imlil were our friendly driver and backpacks waited for us. Despite the sour ending it we all enjoyed a great day up in the mountains.
if you enjoyed reading this, check out Day 3!
sahha
Nicky X X X
Next morning we started our trip away from Marrakech. In two hours we got to Imlil - a small village at the foot of the mountains. We left our big backpacks in a guesthouse and let the mules carry our overnight packs. We then started marching upwards. The day was hot but luckily trees shaded most of our path. We had stunning views along the way in particular the village and the building which served as fil set for Tibetan Dalai Lama's movie 'Kundun'.
We got to the Aremd a tiny village at 1960m altitude and were welcomed to our mountain gite for the night. Gite Omar Id Mansour was not quite what I expected. It was a lovely, quite lush, hospitable and cosy mountain guesthouse.
It was built of half-a-metre thick mud walls which kept it nice and cool. It's arid rooms were decorated with Moroccan sofas and carpets. The guesthouse was made up of small dorms with comfy beds and had one shower and one Western loo too. Not to mention a Coke vending machine (wonder how they managed to get that up there by mule!) and a long dining area. The roof, turned terrace gave away breathless views of the valley below rising to the mountains.
Having taken in the view we settled for a mint tea before lunching on rice, Moroccan salad and Berber tagine omelette. Stomachs full we started preparing for a 4-hour trek up the valley but to our surprise it started to rain pretty heavily. Not well-equipped we decided for (probably the best) alternative option, the hammam. The hammam are the local public baths; one for men and the other for women. The building, generally situated in the middle of the village, is split into 3 tiled sauna rooms, one warmer than the other. A local woman (for us girls, that is) is endeavoured with the task of scrubbing the 'bathers' with a luffa ....
Me and another four girls of the group ventured for it. We undressed to our bikinis but wasn't before long that we were ordered to strip off. Rather than having a big mama do the job, a meagre 14-year old stripped in seconds and gestured us to fill up the buckets from the taps within the rooms. She didn't know any English and hardly any French. She then made us sit on the floor in a circle and started to splash us with water. She gave us some argan oil soap each to rub ourselves with. It was like being kids again. Before we knew it gone were all the inhibitions. We started to splash one another with water included Aisha. It was fun and funny. We let our bodies steam in the second room as we took it in turns to be scrubbed hard, well whatever strength the Ramadan-starved girl had.
Another splash of water and a quick shoulder and neck massage later we were clean as ever and bonded forever. We secretly tipped Aisha and headed back to the gite in the rain, not that we really minded it after such a thorough body cleanse!
Rain stopped and we set off on a 'walk around the village' with our leader Abdul. We walked down the stepped slope of the village into the valley and crossed over to ascend the other side of the valley. We were then invited over for tea, nuts and dates at Abdul's friend. We sat on wet chairs on the roof but the view kept us on our feet clicking our camera at the lovely now sunset mountain scenery.
We got back to the gite just in time before a strong wind and storm hit hard. Cosy inside another sweet mint tea with fried tasteless bread awaited us.
We chatted until it was dark.
Just before dinner Aisha came around this time as henna artist. Us girls eagerly jumped in, eventually the guys got their palms tattooed too. She quickly drew floral designs with a needless syringe filling it with brown henna paste from a mug. It looked gross but when the thing dried it revealed a masterpiece.
In-between the tattoo making we took in turns to sit on tiny stools in the tiny kitchen watching the women cooking our dinner. The family who prepared our meals lived in a house a flight or two of stairs below the gite. They steamed the couscous in a huge sieve on a huge pot over a tiny one-burner stove. Amazing how they managed to cook for the mass with such facilities.
Dinner served and we eagerly tucked in only to follow with a series of stomach cramps! My stomach literally churned as Abdul traced the long drive that lay ahead of us on the wall map.
That night Arlene and I had decided to fast the next day. So to be part of customs we had to be woken up at 3am for breakfast then fast the rest of the day till sundown. I couldn't bet an eyelid, waiting for that dreaded knock on the door. I really wasn't up for eating anything let alone have breakfast at that hour. Time came and we were summoned in the lounge area. Together with Abdul we nibbled on some dates, dry bread and jam. We drank plain hot water as Abdul made himself a yoghurt milk-powdered drink. Arlene and I chatted for a while and went back to bed. I slept only to wake up to make full use of the lovely Western toilet! By 9am the poor loo was far from its original white pristine state as the rest of the crew joined in my early morning prayers.
Packed up and ready to leave the loo..I mean gite, we headed downwards, back to Imlil were our friendly driver and backpacks waited for us. Despite the sour ending it we all enjoyed a great day up in the mountains.
if you enjoyed reading this, check out Day 3!
sahha
Nicky X X X
1 comment:
Hi sweetie, Am enjoying reading all about your hoilday, looking forward to next chapter:) Could see heat did not reach your head that much and you were still in your right senses not to accept the first 'nice' guy that came along:) XXXX
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