Sunday, July 22, 2007
Day Eight; Tizi Oussem to Aremd
We had a lie in today, and set off at 8am! It was very misty at first, but cleared to leave the usual sunshine. We left the village and climbed towards Tizi Mzik, passing a graveyard on the way. We wouldn’t have realised what it was if Ali hadn’t pointed it out, it was just an enclosed, rough piece of ground with various large stones acting as headstones here and there.
As we climbed, we entered the Toukbal National Park and saw barbed wire fencing for the first time. We reached the pass after a long gradual climb, and there was a stunning view into the valley beyond. We could see the passes we had crossed on the first two days walking. There were two lads selling fizzy drinks at the top, so I had a welcome bottle of Fanta.
View From The Pass
We had an ok descent (ok in that I could more or less keep up!) to reach the road to Aremd. We passed a group of Muslim ladies in brightly coloured attire; Ali said that they had been on a pilgrimage to the shrine on the path to Toukbal.
Ladies on a Pilgrimage
Imlil is a real frontier town; the main transport is the mule, there are mule hiring stations and kids riding mules and donkeys up and down the street. We had a coffee and cake at a café, and fed bits to a pregnant cat, who ate the wrapper too. Just then, we heard screaming; an open topped truck had pulled up nearby, and on top were a load of goats and sheep trussed up by their feet, screaming. As we watched, lads started to haul them off the truck and piling them on the floor outside the butchers. We all wished we hadn’t witnessed that!
We are all rather anxious as we settle for the night, as tomorrow we start trekking up to Toubkal base camp…
As we climbed, we entered the Toukbal National Park and saw barbed wire fencing for the first time. We reached the pass after a long gradual climb, and there was a stunning view into the valley beyond. We could see the passes we had crossed on the first two days walking. There were two lads selling fizzy drinks at the top, so I had a welcome bottle of Fanta.
View From The PassWe had an ok descent (ok in that I could more or less keep up!) to reach the road to Aremd. We passed a group of Muslim ladies in brightly coloured attire; Ali said that they had been on a pilgrimage to the shrine on the path to Toukbal.
Ladies on a PilgrimageWe reach our gite at Aremd, and as we had the afternoon free, a group of us walked to Imlil, where there were cafes and shops. The shop keepers were very pushy to say the least, you could see their eyes light up when they saw us “Ahh, you Eeenglish? Lovely Jubbly?” I did buy some silver bracelets, but suspect I paid over the odds.
Imlil is a real frontier town; the main transport is the mule, there are mule hiring stations and kids riding mules and donkeys up and down the street. We had a coffee and cake at a café, and fed bits to a pregnant cat, who ate the wrapper too. Just then, we heard screaming; an open topped truck had pulled up nearby, and on top were a load of goats and sheep trussed up by their feet, screaming. As we watched, lads started to haul them off the truck and piling them on the floor outside the butchers. We all wished we hadn’t witnessed that!
Mule in Imlil
Back at the Gite we had Berber coffee, made with powdered milk and spices, and pancakes. There had been a Berber wedding in the village that day, and we could see all the guests on one of the roofs at the top of the village.
We are all rather anxious as we settle for the night, as tomorrow we start trekking up to Toubkal base camp…
Labels: Aremd, High Atlas, Morocco, Tizi Oussem, trekking
