Part 1 - Winter climbing in the High Atlas through the Broke Traveller's lens - Ep 12
Decided to do a winter ascent of Mount Toubkal (4167 m) in Morocco together with a friend a few years ago at the end of February. Turned out to be a great idea and we ended up really enjoying it.
We set off from London with an EasyJet flight to Marrakech which was surprisingly cheap at around £80 return for each of us with a shared suitcase for our gear.
Upon arriving in Marrakech we had our first taste of the flourishing bargaining culture they have there, when we had to negotiate our cab fare outside the airport. A good tip there is to walk towards the main road at the end of the car park and stop a cab on the street on the main road. Can be as much as 8 times cheaper than from just outside the terminal.
We got to the Riad we were staying in (traditional Moroccan house with a inner courtyard/garden). The one we stayed in is called Riad Atlas Guest House and it was really nice and great value for money.
Next day we took a taxi towards Imlil (1800 m), the start of the trail towards Mount Toubkal. We got the taxi from a place near Bab Agnor in Marrakech. After some quite long negotiations, the driver agreed to take us and our luggage the 64 km to Imlil, on the back seat of his 40 year old Mercedes car with more than 1 million km on the clock, and it turned out that a local couple would be sharing the front seat next to the driver. It was an interesting ride on the tight mountain road that goes up to the village of Imlil.
On our first day we hiked up the valley from Imlil (1800 m) to Refuge Les Mouflons (3200 m). Here are some of the images I took on our first day in the High Atlas mountains going up to this place.
I took most of the images with a Nikon D40 and a kit 18-55 mm lens, and a few with my old Iphone 4S.
Guy chilling at Kasbah du Toubkal. The sound of the call to prayer could be heard through the valley coming out of pole mountain speakers from the neighboring villages.
My friend Yeh Yeau at Kasbah du Toubkal.
Yeh Yeau
And me... :)
To be continued in part 2...
Beautiful scenery, nice captures!
Many thanks! I'm glad you like them. It is a great place to go to in the middle of winter. It is quite empty so you have it for yourself more or less.
Sounds good! I was born in Morocco and have lived there until I turned 9 years before I came to the Netherlands. Winter is a good idea to visit!
Oh, nice...! Winter is indeed a good time to go, it was like 24 degrees in Marrakesh, colder high up in the mountains (down to -15) but at least there was not that many tourists and the place was peaceful. Less hassle.
my uncle is an excellent hill climber, yet he doesn't take good pictures
Bit confused there...how come we are talking about your uncle? :D
Great shots, and what a wonderful trip you had! I have upvoted and followed. The idea to check out your work came from @daveks.
Thank you very much! Greatly appreciated! I am very thankful for @daveks for the the mention too... It was a great trip indeed, I do wish to return there at some point since it was so enjoyable. First couple of days there were a bit of handful but I did get accustomed to it rather quickly. And the lamb tagine, saffron spiced dishes, mint tea and couscous there are quite amazing...
You are welcome! The food sounds delicious!
It really was...I just like trying out different flavors in the places I end up travelling.
It's always great to taste the local food. I found a small restaurant frequented by the locals in Prague and just pointed to the food I wanted on my plate after watching the others. I have no idea what I ate. LOL! But it was good! The others in my group searched out pizza, would you believe?
That's a good idea! I often do the same...just scout around and see where the locals are going and eating then just ordering what they are having from that place. I am especially on the lookout for the slightly crowded ones that the locals flock to. Not everyone is up for experimenting with food when they are hungry. Some just fall back to something familiar, like pizza, that is a sort of comfort food. Or maybe people just want to stay in their little bubble and are not feeling adventurous.
My husband is not too adventurous. He would go for the pizza. Mind you, he tried haggis I Scotland and just loves it! Luckily, the first one he tried was in a little restaurant on the Isle of Skye, so he tasted the best first!!
Hi! Sorry for the late reply, I've been up in the mountains of Norway for a bit. Haggis could be considered "adventurous" food indeed and what better place to have it then the Isle of Skye? :) There is a lot of culture and tradition embedded in local food around the globe. Sometimes it does take quite a bit of courage to try some dishes out.
Great, I have to visit it @creutzy
Thanks! You should if you get the chance...
Great photos!
Thank you! :)
Great stuff! The fact that this post is at 2.67$ (at the time of writing) is what is currently broken with Steemit in my opinion!
Many thanks! It is 2.40 currently but I am not worried that much about the rewards really... Steemit is about more than just that in the end. I am not sure how much things have changed in that regards since HF19 but I feel that now people vote less.
Very nice place. Following you now.
Thank you very much! Hope to see you around... :)