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| Auorir to Taroudant - 66 miles |
For a change a somewhat
grey start to the day with a light overcast which didn't really clear
until after lunch, but it meant it was refreshingly cool for
travelling. We've decided to leave the problem with the aircon until
we get home so after breakfast service the van and pay the man before
setting TomTom to take us inland to Taroudant, not a huge distance
but a nice spot we've stayed before and also the jumping off point
for the next day.
Some backtracking and
around the hectic Agadir by-pass, lots of roundabouts and potholes,
before turning east onto the N10, a new smooth dual carriageway that
runs past the airport and then became nice and quiet. For once we
managed to get into top gear with the cruise control and kept up a
good speed, just slowing for the occasional town or village, until we
reached the outskirts of Taroudant where the traffic was much
heavier. Skirting the impressive town walls we chose the alternate
guardian parking at Hotel Palais Salaam, which was closer to the town
centre than the official parking. A bit noisier too but we weren't
disturbed later.
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| No idea what this pretty little visitor was. |
After a latish lunch we
relaxed for an hour or two until it became cooler then took Jamie
into the town for a looksee and find a cash machine. It was very
crowded and perhaps we should have left him in the van but we managed
and returned, mission accomplished, with a very pooped puppy! For a
good idea of a typical Moroccan city Taroudant would be an excellent
choice being quite compact and with two excellent souks, one of them
an original Berber example.
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| Moroccan graffiti! |
We've made mention
before of taxi buses, usually old Mk2/3 Ford Transits with windows
and seats used to ferry people and stuff around the outlying areas
not served by grand taxis or ordinary buses. For some reason what
must have been the entire fleet of blue and white yaxi buses, dozens
of them and obviously based in Taroudant, were parked nose to tail
along both sides of the street outside the parking area. We have no
idea why and trying to ask the elderly guardian was hopeless as he
could barely speak Arabic, no matter French or English; we
communicated by sign language!
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| Dozens of taxi buses |
We planned an early
start tomorrow as we intend crossing the Haut Atlas mountains via the
Tisi 'n Test pass to Marrakesh.
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