Overview day 143 - 150:
25 march - 1 april 2023
Todra Gorge
It’s hot in the desert. The temperature rises well above 30 degrees during the day. On the bike we have the driving wind that offers us some cooling but when we stop moving we feel the heat increase. The route towards Merzouga was surprisingly beautiful, the route towards The Todra Valley surprisingly boring. But perhaps we are spoiled too much in Morocco with beautiful views and beautiful rock formations that continue to amaze us.
Fortunately, we have the wind in the back the first few days. That results in two long days, in terms of kilometers. The first day from Merzouga 90Km and the day after almost 70Km. The 200Km from Merzouga to the beginning of the Todra Valley we cycle in just 3 days. Along the way it slowly gets cooler because we gradually gain altitude. There are stretches that we imagine ourselves on the moon, gray boulders dominate the landscape and as far as we can see. We see nothing else. Not in front of us, not behind us, not to the side, just grey boulders. That’s it.
green gras!
We enjoyed a little bit of luxury in Merzouga. That is why we think it is time to take out our tent more often and cook for ourselves. It saves money and there are plenty of campsites around the Todra valley. But before we get there, it’s proven more difficult. Fortunately, on the first day we can pitch our tent at a public swimming pool. The pool itself is empty but the restaurant is open. The owner lets us pitch our tent by the pool. What surprises us is that grass grows around the pool! Usually we have to pitch our tent on a rocky surface and any kind of soil is hard to find.
The High Atlas
Slowly the landscape around us changes. From desert sand to grey boulders to hills to giant mountains that appear on the horizon. The highest mountains here are about 3.5Km high and the last remnants of snow still offer resistance to the sun rays that keep getting stronger by the day. After 3 days we also start climbing again. The area we cross is called the High Atlas. “High” because the mountains here are quite high. The highest peak is at 4Km and is therefore the highest mountain in North Africa. A fact that we find rather meaningless to be honest, but now you also know.
There are plenty of opportunities to cross the High Atlas, but there are two Valleys, or gorges, that are best known. The, already mentioned, Todra Valley and the Dades Valley. Because the entire route up from the Todra Valley is asphalted, we cycle up that road. At Agoudal we turn left towards Dades-Valley where we will have to descend on about 10-40Km on gravel. The spread is rather large, but those are the numbers we hear along the way. We therefore assume the average.
Moroccon Hospitality
We cycle the stretch to Agoudal in two stages. We are not in a hurry and it is a climb to 2645m altitude. Possible in one day but cycling 90Km and making that much altimeters, is not something we want to put ourselves through. During the first stage of the climb towards Agoudal we are invited to stay at someone’s house. Of course, we never turn down those kinds of offers, even if we had the plan to camp more often. That night we have the greatest fun despite the fact that it is difficult to understand each other. Isabelle is hoisted in Berber wedding clothes, we watch how Berber pizza is made and Isabelle gets henna on her hands. This is a night to remember it’s these things that make traveling so special for us. There’s a pleasant casual atmosphere and we almost regret that we only stay 1 night. No matter how “basic” the place is where we are that night.
La grotte Akhiam
The next day we plan a short day because we want to make a hike to a cave in the afternoon. We sleep at Auberge La Grotte and there we get two private guides who show us the way to the cave. Mother Rosie and son Jack. It’s the first time for Jack that he goes so far from home and along the way we have to carry him now and then.
We continue our way to the second part in which we have to climb again. The High Atlas lives up to its name, we climb to 2909m. Then we descend, the first part over gravel. It turns out to be 20Km of gravel and approximately 10Km of very varied road condition. But again the surroundings are beautiful.
Asakka
After the gravel descent we look for a campsite. Camping Assaka is the first we come across and that turns out to be a very good choice. The owner doesn’t speak English and only a little French but fortunately he has a paper with the prices for us: “you pay what you can afford”. In doing so, he immediately drills into our conscience.
Again, the food is inclusive, which is almost always the case. We hardly get around to cooking ourselves. Asking if you can stay somewhere without needing dinner and breakfast often raises questioning glances. “Why without dinner? But you get it anyways from us.”
Dades Gorge
The next day we cycle our last stage of the loop through the two gorges. Todra gorge up and Dades gorge down. The big difference is that the Dades gorge is a lot greener. The meltwater flows richly through the valley and that creates a lot of greenery. After a few kilometers we arrive at the famous hairpin bends that make the Dades gorge so well known. It’s amazingly quiet and it looks impressive from above. We are happy that we are making these loops down.
Monkey paw Mountains
And then it’s time for a rest-day. Rest-day because we are not on the bike, but certainly not a rest day because we do nothing. We have set up our tent at the “monkey-paw-mountains” and from here you can take a nice hike between the rock formations. With some imagination, the mountains here look like giant monkey hands and feet. Between the rocks is a narrow gorge where you can walk and there are parts where we have to climb (and crawl) to get over the rocks. In the afternoon it is too hot. We look for some shade to really rest on the rest of our rest-day.
The whole area between the two gorges is breathtaking and we could be here for a few weeks. There are countless walks that take you to smaller gorges, deep caves, waterfalls and god knows what other beautiful places are hidden. But despite the fact that we have “all the time” this trip, Â our visa is valid for 90 days and we want to see so much more of Morocco.
Ramadan
And then this. It’s Ramadan, but you may have known. We notice it on the street, the cafes are closed and the pace seems to have dropped to a minimum for everyone. Shops are usually open, so no problem there. We now get coffee on the road more often at hotels instead of local bars and nothing changes for us for dinner. The sun sets around 18:45, and we usually only eat afterwards. No one bothers us if we eat somewhere along the way. The Moroccans respect that we do not participate in Ramadan, and we respect those who do.
Awesome pictures! Good luck
Thanks Basav 😉
Great pictures, and thanks for letting us through your descriptions participate in your beautiful journey! Big hug from Galicia!
Thomas & Rosa
Thanks for the nice comment(s) Thomas and Rosa. Big hug back from us 🙂