Gorges du Dadès and George du Todrâ
19/09/07 17:12 Filed in: Morocco
Around 10:00 we set off along the Vallee du Dadès towards Boumaine Dadès. The road wound through flat countryside and frequently crossed dry river beds where it was reinforced to resist immersion in flood waters.
This reinforcing was not always sufficient and the crossings were often in poor condition.
In Boumaine Dadès we turned north towards the Gorges du Dadès.
A scene from the lower end of Gorges du Dadès with unusual rock formations on the right.
Village women doing their laundry in the very clean river below. One of the few river beds we saw with any water in it.
A closer view of the rock formation noted above.
As we followed the Gorge north it deepened and the side became very steep. This switchback road climbed one of the steeper sections.
The narrowest point we passed in Gorges du Dadès.
Near this village the hillside was littered with large boulders. This one had been chocked to prevent it rolling any further.
Further along we had climbed out of the gorge. This view of the valley floor was taken from a high point on our road which was narrowing and now devoid of any restraining rails.
A lunar landscape? Beyond this sign there was an almost vertical drop hundreds of feet to the valley floor. Just after this photo was taken a vendor emerged and tried to sell us, wait for it, rocks! Quite why we would buy one in a landscape littered with them was not clear. perhaps his contained fossils.
I've never been to the Grand Canyon but this reminded of pictures I'd seen over the years.
The road conditions had now deteriorated noticeably. Sections that had been washed away were poorly repared and unsurfaced. Our little Atoz was not the most suitable of vehicles for these conditions.
We got as far as the village of Msemrir before the road became rough gravel. A local on the hustle told us the road ahead was slow and only suitable for 4WD vehicles. However if we took him along as our paid guide we would be fine. Interesting logic.
Our plan to do a circular trip and return south along the George du Todrâ was abandoned.
We turned round, drove back to Boumaine Dadès and turned NE towards George du Todrâ.
The lower end of this Gorge was filled with a dense palm plantation...
.... extending for about 4km.
Then the gorge became very steep fairly quickly and the road very poor. A large section of this concrete portion had been washed away and replaced with packed gravel, temporarily?
This hotel was sited directly under a almost vertical cliff which to us did not look all that stable. Not my first choice for an overnight stop.
Just beyond this point the road had been washed away again and conditions were such that we could not proceed without a 4WD.
That was that and we turned to return to Ouarzazate. These palms rose up from the gorge floor and were just out of reach from the roadside.
Back in Ouarzazate we tried a third restaurant. After about 10 days in Morocco I have found the restaurant food quality mixed. After two attempts I gave up on meat dishes although Tomas persisted with, he says, some success.
Our Pilot book advises that visitors to Morocco should take a "large" stock of anti diarrohea pills. They got that right!
After dinner we went for a walk around the medina in Ouarzazate.
A spice store in the Medina.
This reinforcing was not always sufficient and the crossings were often in poor condition.
In Boumaine Dadès we turned north towards the Gorges du Dadès.
A scene from the lower end of Gorges du Dadès with unusual rock formations on the right.
Village women doing their laundry in the very clean river below. One of the few river beds we saw with any water in it.
A closer view of the rock formation noted above.
As we followed the Gorge north it deepened and the side became very steep. This switchback road climbed one of the steeper sections.
The narrowest point we passed in Gorges du Dadès.
Near this village the hillside was littered with large boulders. This one had been chocked to prevent it rolling any further.
Further along we had climbed out of the gorge. This view of the valley floor was taken from a high point on our road which was narrowing and now devoid of any restraining rails.
A lunar landscape? Beyond this sign there was an almost vertical drop hundreds of feet to the valley floor. Just after this photo was taken a vendor emerged and tried to sell us, wait for it, rocks! Quite why we would buy one in a landscape littered with them was not clear. perhaps his contained fossils.
I've never been to the Grand Canyon but this reminded of pictures I'd seen over the years.
The road conditions had now deteriorated noticeably. Sections that had been washed away were poorly repared and unsurfaced. Our little Atoz was not the most suitable of vehicles for these conditions.
We got as far as the village of Msemrir before the road became rough gravel. A local on the hustle told us the road ahead was slow and only suitable for 4WD vehicles. However if we took him along as our paid guide we would be fine. Interesting logic.
Our plan to do a circular trip and return south along the George du Todrâ was abandoned.
We turned round, drove back to Boumaine Dadès and turned NE towards George du Todrâ.
The lower end of this Gorge was filled with a dense palm plantation...
.... extending for about 4km.
Then the gorge became very steep fairly quickly and the road very poor. A large section of this concrete portion had been washed away and replaced with packed gravel, temporarily?
This hotel was sited directly under a almost vertical cliff which to us did not look all that stable. Not my first choice for an overnight stop.
Just beyond this point the road had been washed away again and conditions were such that we could not proceed without a 4WD.
That was that and we turned to return to Ouarzazate. These palms rose up from the gorge floor and were just out of reach from the roadside.
Back in Ouarzazate we tried a third restaurant. After about 10 days in Morocco I have found the restaurant food quality mixed. After two attempts I gave up on meat dishes although Tomas persisted with, he says, some success.
Our Pilot book advises that visitors to Morocco should take a "large" stock of anti diarrohea pills. They got that right!
After dinner we went for a walk around the medina in Ouarzazate.
A spice store in the Medina.