Month: June 2007

The Cascades d’Ouzoud were certainly a memorable end to the trip. In addition to the falls themselves, there was a good collection of wildlife at hand. There were your standard donkeys and goats, as well as hummingbirds and monkeys.

The specifics of my return journey are best not discussed. It was a trying experience, at virtually every stage.

In any event, photos should begin coming online shortly.

Rather than spend tomorrow wandering aimlessly in Marrakesh, I am going to try to get to the Cascades d’Ouzoud. That means finding a bus to Azilal and then sharing a taxi. The Lonely Planet guide only says that there are two buses from Marrakesh per day, giving no times. The bus company website does not inspire confidence. All I can do is head over to the bus station as early as can be managed and hope that (a) there will be tickets available (b) for buses that have not left yet and (c) will not require waiting around for hours on end.

Here’s hoping I don’t get stranded in the foothills of the Atlas mountains and miss my 9am flight to London on Wednesday. If all else fails, I suppose I can shell out a small fortune for a taxi from Azilal back to Marrakesh.

[Update: 4:15pm] I made it by bus to Azilal and by taxi to Ouzoud. The taxi ride was a bit of an adventure, as it seems to have been optimized for drama. The centre line of the two lane road seemed to be the preferred road position – owing perhaps to the number of donkeys walking by the roadside – and we spent long stretches fully in the left hand lane, particularly in places where the road banked in that direction. Given the hills around here, that meant a lot of blind turns. The falls themselves were very impressive and worth the journey. I just hope the bus that has been variously promised for 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 7:00pm actually shows up at one of those times.

Wonderful how you can get online from anywhere these days.

Having upgraded from SPF 15 sunscreen to SPF 50, I feel like I am handling Marrakesh well. Today, I went exploring in Gueliz: the more modern part of the city west of the Djemma El Fna. The contrast between the two is considerable, in terms of architecture and layout. The identical sorts of vehicles moving through each – taxis, horse drawn carriages, and lethal mopeds – remind you just how close together they really are.

Between the old and new cities, there is an Ensemble Artisanal that is well worth a look. It is government run, so the goods are of a consistent quality and the prices initially quoted are reasonably similar to those ultimately paid. All kinds of goods are available in wood, brass, and leather. There is also artwork, jewelery, and textiles. Unlike most places where such things are for sale, there is very little pressure applied to shoppers. As was the case in a similar complex we saw in Essaouira, there is plenty of opportunity to see the goods being made – the big carpet looms being perhaps the most interesting to observe.

PS. Almost as annoying as the Arabic keyboards here is the way Windows XP jumps unpredictably between applications when pages load. It is very annoying to puzzle your way through a complex password on an unfamiliar keyboard only to look up and see that you have typed half of it into Google.