We got up at 5:10 after not sleeping too well. By 5:30 we were heading to the lobby and our driver was waiting for us with a torch to guide us out of the dark building. He drove us north, along the western flank of the Dune. The full moon was still in the sky just above the western horizon, and its light still dispersed widely giving a melancholy feeling. We drove along myriad trails across the open landscape of the "black desert". After 20 minutes of driving I wondered where the heck we were going, but then we actually turned into the dunes, along the flat pans between the dunes. Not very far though - less than 200m.
We loaded up and set off up the dunes. Our guide/driver then remembered that we should be going barefoot, so we took off shoes and socks and he carried them back to the Land Cruiser. Suitably unshod, we set off. The sand was soft to the touch and quite cool, but not uncomfortably so, presumably because there is a lot of air in the sand.
We walked a hundred metres or so and stopped, waiting for the first hint of sunrise. Even without direct sunlight we could see the orange colour of the sand. When sunrise over the dunes was imminent, we walked up a bit further to see more of the terrain. We had stayed lower to avoid the wind higher up. Sunrise wasn't all that remarkable, but as the sun got higher more of the terrain features became apparent. We shuffled higher for ever better views, including out over the black desert, so called because it is covered in black stones, the wind having blown all the brighter sand and loose earth away.
At our highest ascent we could also see the wells used by the surrounding Kasbahs and also a few camel trains carrying other sunrise seekers. After yomping down a small dune or two we returned to the car and proceeded back, visiting first the local palmerai, which contained, as we learned, plots used by the local village for growing their produce. Big frogs live here. Then it was off cross-country to the lake, roughly several kilometers directly west of our Kasbah, where we observed flocks of flamingoes, with a few ducks mixed in.
Time was pressing so we had a quick breakfast, packed and hit the road at 9:15, with ~450 Km in front of us. This may not seem like much in Australia or North America, but here that journey took 9 hours incl. one hour for lunch and only minimal photo stops.
Despite the agony of not being able to stop to take photos regularly, this has been the most amazing, beautiful, inspiring and enjoyable drive I have ever undertaken. At least 250 of the Km were through the Atlas Mountains and we were at elevation for most of that time. The scenery was just remarkable, and it kept coming - we just couldn't believe it. Some parts were reminiscent of the American west (which I have never seen). The road was always good but what was really remarkable was the "big sky" effect that the terrain afforded. We were always in valleys or gorges, some relatively narrow, a kilometer or so wide, others four times that.
An indispensable component of the exhilaration we felt was the total change of weather / atmospheric conditions. The contrast to the previous days couldn't have been more stark - the air was clear, with brilliant sunshine - no overcast or clouds until late in the day. This made it possible actually to see things and appreciate them. I was a man reborn.
In these ideal conditions, even the towns and cities we passed through seemed to look more attractive. In reality I think they were just cleaner and better laid out. They were maybe less exotic but more appealing - hard to describe what I mean.
On our way through the mountains we crossed three passes. Two were 1905 and 2187 metres, the last one didn't say. On descending from the last one everything turned suddenly to green, where yellow, red, orange and grey had previously prevailed. I should mention how red some of the rocks/soil really were.
Finding our way into Meknes proved to be a challenge as there are no street names to help identify our position on a map. It was done by dead-reckoning, or whatever you call following your nose. We only asked directions twice to find the Lalla Aouda car park. I had expected a multi-story building, but the parking consisted of spaces around the perimeter of a large rectangular square. Locals immediately came forward offering their expert services to get us to the Riad but we relied instead on a phone call to get someone from the Riad to pick us up.
The chap came within the advertised 10 minutes and we proceeded to carry and wheel our luggage behind him. A large part of the passage was through the narrow lanes of the souk. It looked much further on the map but wasn't really that far. I was just concerned about our bags being wheeled through the muck of those lanes. Before we knew it we had arrived. As I was about to enter through the door, I very nearly knocked myself out on the low door frame. My Tilley hat was both my saviour from serious head wounds and also at least partly the cause of the accident in the first place because it restricted vision.
Unfortunately that put me in a bad mood, and even the obligatory welcoming tea didn't fix it. My mood grew darker when we were shown our room, through a flimsy door off the central dining area - not much privacy. However, dinner almost fully restored my spirits.
No comments:
Post a Comment