Day 37 – Somewhere near M\’semrir

I was looking forward to today but it didn’t work out quite how I expected but it was even better!!

We left the site at Skoura at around 10am and took the drive up to where the first Gorge road started. The scenery on the way up to the gorge was stunning. We stopped at a little roadside cafe at around midday and Tina did her usual thing of looking at the trinket shops. It wasn’t long before I was being pestered by the owner to buy the item that she had taken a fancy to….it was a berber vacuum flask which was to become an ornament when we get home. A keepsake I am told!!

We carry on up the road and the views get even more spectacular and then we actually start to enter the gorge part of the road. Fantastic….. so glad we made the effort to come this way. We are now on the part of the road which at this time of the year is usually under snow and therefore impassable. Further up the road we stop to have a bite to eat for lunch. Looking back at the road we had just come up was amazing.

The plan was to try and push on as far as we could and turn back to a campsite we had passed if we encounter snow. We continued up the pass making slow progress but continued to be wowed by what we saw. At around 3:00pm we were crossing what would have been a ford if there had been water when a local guy stopped us. He explained in perfect english that there was only 12km of tarmac road left and beyond this about 50km of piste road which would have taken in excess of 4 hours to drive. He suggested that we needed to find somewhere for the night as darkness would beset us before we got off the piste road (simply a stone surface track). He asked if he could travel with us to his home about 3km up the road. We agreed.

Soon we were passing through his village and he suggested that we stay on his land overnight. This was a small area next to his house. After some discussion with our fellow campers it was agreed that this would be the sensible option so we soon parked up for the night.

We soon became the attraction of everyone in the village and in particular all the children wanted to come and have a look. Our friend the invited us to have a meal with him and his wife and child …. couscous. At the appointed hour of 8:00pm we took our torches (it was pitch black) and walked up 20m to his house. We sat on the floor and later his wife brought a large bowl of couscous for us all to share. With spoon in hand we tucked in. Our desert was apples which he had grown himself. He spoke excellent english although his wife only spoke Berber. I am amazed at how hospitable he was to us all. We all asked many questions and he was able to provide an explanation for everything. Truly a memorable event. He even showed us the cow and calf he had stabled in a separate room.

Tomorrow we will continue with our journey and then turn south through the Todra gorge to our chosen campsite. It has been an extraordinary day and trust one that will live long in the memory. Lets hope tomorrow will not be a disappointment.