Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Day Three; Ouanskera to Iabessene
Today was yet another scorching hot, clear sunny day, as we set off from our gite at 7:30am. It was going to be a longer day's walking; yesterday's was a shorter day to break us in.
We climbed slowly up the valley, and passed through the village of Tachedirt, the highest of the villages in the area. Already people were up and herding livestock to the fields. The children were congregating outside the school- the orange building in the photo below.
Tachedirt Village
We had a long slog up to the pass- Tizi n' Tachedirt. Our route was an interminable zig zag up to the top of the pass at 3,200 metres. We had a few drinks stops, and one enterprising local had set himself up selling bottles of pop in the shade of a large rock. I bought a bottle, which was most welcome at the top of the pass! The hill sides were very rocky, with splashes of yellow gorse. We watched three women from the village wander back down the track laden with long grasses.
We reached the top of the pass, and stopped for dates, nuts and the loo- (men go that way, women go that way) there were most spectacular views.
View from Tizi n' Tachedirt
After this, we had a long slog of a descent- I stayed at the back; descending over steep, loose stones is definately not my forte! We stopped for a lunch break by a stream and chilled for a bit. Fortunately, the gradient of the descent evened out after this, and as the path curved around the mountainside, we could see our night stop- Iabessene.
Iabessene Village 
Iabessene and Crop Terraces
We climbed slowly up the valley, and passed through the village of Tachedirt, the highest of the villages in the area. Already people were up and herding livestock to the fields. The children were congregating outside the school- the orange building in the photo below.
Tachedirt VillageWe had a long slog up to the pass- Tizi n' Tachedirt. Our route was an interminable zig zag up to the top of the pass at 3,200 metres. We had a few drinks stops, and one enterprising local had set himself up selling bottles of pop in the shade of a large rock. I bought a bottle, which was most welcome at the top of the pass! The hill sides were very rocky, with splashes of yellow gorse. We watched three women from the village wander back down the track laden with long grasses.
We reached the top of the pass, and stopped for dates, nuts and the loo- (men go that way, women go that way) there were most spectacular views.
View from Tizi n' TachedirtAfter this, we had a long slog of a descent- I stayed at the back; descending over steep, loose stones is definately not my forte! We stopped for a lunch break by a stream and chilled for a bit. Fortunately, the gradient of the descent evened out after this, and as the path curved around the mountainside, we could see our night stop- Iabessene.
Iabessene VillageI liked Iabessene. It had a really nice, relaxed feel to it, although Ali told us we were 4 hours by mule from the nearest medical facilities. There was no electricity, but a surprisingly good shower.
The houses were built up into the hillside, in such a way as the roof of somebodies house formed a terrace for somebody else. Mine and Sandra's room opened up onto such a roof terrace. I nearly sent one of our party, an American lady, over it- she wanted a photo, and I was doing the usual British joke of saying 'back a bit...back a bit' when there is a large drop. Only she hadn't heard of the joke, and took me literally!
Today's mint tea was accompanied by gorgeous pastries, which we filled with honey and jam, and made a complete pig of ourselves, well, we had burnt it off!
Iabessene and Crop TerracesLabels: Iabessene, Morocco, Tachedirt, trekking
