Day 18: Morning - Kasbah du Toubkal

Today we are taking Jaime and Tom to visit Kasbah du Toubkal for lunch. This is my favourite place ever, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with my friends, hoping they too will capture the sheer beauty of it. It also happens to be the company for whom Mart works - whenever we visit, we are amazed to think that when he sits in his little office in our little house in a suburb of Birmingham, England, designing and maintaining websites, he is working for this magnificent place.

Mountain road

After a lazy morning at home we set off on our drive along mountain roads heading for Imlil, the small village in which we will park the car and set off on our 20 minute trek uphill to the Kasbah. Jaime is terrified as cars weave in and out of each other on the mountain roads, overtaking, undertaking, beeping horns loudly; at the same time we are aware of the sheer drops without barriers on our left hand side. I don't know what she's worried about, guess who's sitting in the back seat on the left hand side?! Moi!!! Halfway along the road the traffic comes to a standstill - there are roadworks which have been ongoing for the last 6 months, so we were expecting them. When I say 'roadworks', this is no small feat - there are diggers cutting into the mountainside with the aim of widening the road - it sure needs it. However, this is the only road leading from Marrakech through to Imlil and other main villages in the area, so it is impossible to divert traffic - instead, traffic is stopped whilst more rocks are chipped away by the diggers, and when there is a large build up of traffic all work stops and traffic is allowed through. This pattern continues throughout the working day - something which has not escaped the notice of the roadside sellers who pedal along on their bikes furiously until they reach the stopped traffic, and then hassle the drivers and passengers to buy local rocks which have been cut open to reveal quartz crystals within. What is funny is that some of these 'crystals' are actually coated in food dye to give a glistening colourful appearance - who do they think they are kidding?! But we must remember that people need to make a living - there is no such thing as benefits or NHS here in Morocco. As we will be waiting here for 20 minutes or more, we get out of the hot car to enjoy some sunshine and scenery along with everyone else. Tom plays on his mum's weakness, standing very close to the edge of the road next to the sheer drop, balancing on one leg and pretending to fall - boys will be boys!

Jaime and Tom at the roadworks

At last we arrive in the village of Imlil, park up and set off uphill towards our destination, the Kasbah. People here are very friendly and shout greetings to Mart and I as they recognise us from previous visits; one lad even calls to us from the rooftop of his house, trying to entice us into his shop on our return journey down the hill...'maybe later' we say, and warn Jaime never to answer 'okay' as then it will be seen as more of a contractual agreement and we won't get away without buying something. The climb is very tiring as it is made up of steep paths and steep steps. When visitors want to stay at the Kasbah their luggage is brought up by boys on donkeys and the visitors walk behind - but we have no luggage, so we make our way alone at a slow enough pace for us all to manage to breathe!

Here we are...the Kasbah in all its glory stands before us. We enter through the original wooden gate, up a few more steps and along the garden path. Mohammed greets us with the traditional Berber welcome; rosewater is poured onto our hands and we ceremoniously dip dates into a bowl of milk - the latter is to give us back our energy, Mohammed smilingly explains. (It seems Tom is far from impressed by the date ceremony - but he remains polite and covers his dislike of dates very well.) Then we are led to the rooftop for our lunch. Jaime finds it hard to take in the fantastic views that surround us. From this rooftop dining room we can see huge mountains on every side with villages seemingly perched precariously on the slopes. Snow covers the tops of the mountains, but we are here in warm sunshine. And then there is Mount Toubkal behind us - it's pointed peak higher than the rest, standing at 4167 metres - it looks magnificent with its snow-covered peak nestling against the blue sky. To our right we can just see a waterfall  - which unfortunately today does not contain a lot of water due to the recent drought - but we can certainly catch a glimpse of its splendour even today. It is truly magical here.

Chicken couscous, yummy!

Lunch is served; Moroccan salad with flat bread for starters, followed by Lamb tajine with figs and walnuts, then chicken and couscous, and finally fruit for dessert (green-skinned oranges which are lovely and sweet, bananas and pomegranates), all accompanied by water fresh from the spring. Jaime declares that the lamb is the best she has ever tasted, though she is not taken by the figs. We are all fully satiated by the end of the meal, and Jaime too has fallen in love with this place! We spend the next hour or so on the terraces admiring the spectacular views and drinking coffee. Tom has become like a member of the paparazzi since Mart let him have a go on his camera, so now we are all being photographed at every angle and with every movement - it is a fun time for us all.

Regretfully we leave the Kasbah by 3.30pm as this is Jaime and Tom's last night and we have yet to see and experience Marrakech by night - and that is a Must-Do!

www.kasbahdutoubkal.com

Achain village

Washing hanging out to dry

Paparazzi Tom

Tom's pic of Mum

Tom's creative shot of  flowers on the terrace with  Toubkal in the background

The garden

Targa Imoula village

More beautiful scenery

Looking down the valley

Coffee time

Thoughtful Tom - love this pic!

The garden path and dining area

A fountain made out of a tajine

Another view of Toubkal

Low cloud