We have always wondered where the road leads to when you turn off before the village of Asni on the mountain road. Today we will find out.The signpost says 'Moulay Brahim', a village named after a well-known Moroccan sufi saint. As we take the turning we can see the road winding it's way back and forth steeply up the mountainside ahead of us and anticipate the spectacular views from the top.
As we climb up and up we begin to see the snow-clad mountains ;they seem so near yet so far at the same time. The valley between us and them is green and verdant despite the fact it is technically winter here!
Finally we reach the actual village of Moulay Brahim. It is a fairly typical more modern village perched on the hillside, the houses arranged in an unorderly fashion around the ornate mosque. We meet very few people, but the few we do meet are men going about their daily business, leading their heavily laden donkeys along the fields and empty roads or herding their flocks of sheep on the mountainside. A lone turkey crosses our path, scouting for food - it's the only one we've seen this Christmas! One man greets us and points us in the direction of the Kik plateau; there is almost a sense of urgency in his voice telling us we must go there. So on we go...
Wow! This is the beautiful Kik plateau. We have now climbed quite a way up in our car and the land has flattened out revealing the most stunning landscape - in part desolate but dotted with the occasional village. We can see for miles across ploughed fields, barren land and terraced escarpments to the mountains beyond - they provide a glorious backdrop to this plateau. A danger sign on the roadside catches my eye - what danger can there possibly be in this deserted area?
Oh, maybe this is the danger...a shepherd is guiding his sheep across the empty road!
Suddenly we hear voices....several snotty-nosed boys, no more than 8 years of age, are running behind the car shouting 'Bonjour' and 'Salaam'. We stop the car and greet them...but are bombarded in broken French with requests for money, pens and sweets. It is obvious to us that they very rarely see Europeans - and think everyone who visits is loaded with money. Maybe we are in comparison to them?! We make a mental note to bring back some pens and sweets if we ever come this way again - and I'm sure we will.... inch'allah!
A little further along the road we come across a beautiful old village and make our way down the track that leads to it. A woman comes out of her house to see who is visiting her village in a car...she smiles and waves and we approach to chat - loosely termed of course as she doesn't speak English or French and our Berber and Arabic is very limited to say the least. But chat we do...and at the sight of a few dirhams she is happy to pose for a few photos outside her front door. We learn that the village is called Asaflala. After a few more minutes of smiles and nods and the odd word we continue on our way. It amazes us that people can live in such remote areas - yet we can see why one would not want to leave when surrounded by such stunning scenery.
Towards the end of the plateau we can see down towards Lake Lalla Takerkoust which marks the end of the winding route down and the start of the road towards Marrakech. During the spring this natural lake stores the water that trickles down from the mountains. It is a very popular place for Marrakchis to visit in summer for a picnic and a stroll and to escape the heat of the city. Today, however, we are heading home before the darkness falls.
And so ends another day in this beautiful country...
As we climb up and up we begin to see the snow-clad mountains ;they seem so near yet so far at the same time. The valley between us and them is green and verdant despite the fact it is technically winter here!
Finally we reach the actual village of Moulay Brahim. It is a fairly typical more modern village perched on the hillside, the houses arranged in an unorderly fashion around the ornate mosque. We meet very few people, but the few we do meet are men going about their daily business, leading their heavily laden donkeys along the fields and empty roads or herding their flocks of sheep on the mountainside. A lone turkey crosses our path, scouting for food - it's the only one we've seen this Christmas! One man greets us and points us in the direction of the Kik plateau; there is almost a sense of urgency in his voice telling us we must go there. So on we go...
Wow! This is the beautiful Kik plateau. We have now climbed quite a way up in our car and the land has flattened out revealing the most stunning landscape - in part desolate but dotted with the occasional village. We can see for miles across ploughed fields, barren land and terraced escarpments to the mountains beyond - they provide a glorious backdrop to this plateau. A danger sign on the roadside catches my eye - what danger can there possibly be in this deserted area?
Oh, maybe this is the danger...a shepherd is guiding his sheep across the empty road!
A little further along the road we come across a beautiful old village and make our way down the track that leads to it. A woman comes out of her house to see who is visiting her village in a car...she smiles and waves and we approach to chat - loosely termed of course as she doesn't speak English or French and our Berber and Arabic is very limited to say the least. But chat we do...and at the sight of a few dirhams she is happy to pose for a few photos outside her front door. We learn that the village is called Asaflala. After a few more minutes of smiles and nods and the odd word we continue on our way. It amazes us that people can live in such remote areas - yet we can see why one would not want to leave when surrounded by such stunning scenery.
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| The friendly smiley woman we met, posing outside her front door |
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| A shepherd tending his flock |
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| I'd love walking to work if I lived here! |
Towards the end of the plateau we can see down towards Lake Lalla Takerkoust which marks the end of the winding route down and the start of the road towards Marrakech. During the spring this natural lake stores the water that trickles down from the mountains. It is a very popular place for Marrakchis to visit in summer for a picnic and a stroll and to escape the heat of the city. Today, however, we are heading home before the darkness falls.
And so ends another day in this beautiful country...
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