On Friday Hayley and I took a little day trip to Ourika
Valley in the Atlas Mountains! Along the way we saw small Moroccan
villages, snow capped peaks, and hiked to a few stunning waterfalls. Get ready
for an obscene number of pictures.
In the morning we ate a quick breakfast on the terrace of
our riad and then headed to the square to meet up with our tour group. We ended
up on a little tour bus with people from just about every country you could
think of. Crazy!
The drive up into the mountains was really beautiful; we
got to see a lot of the outlying towns, which was fun! The bus ended up making
a few stops, the first of which was a small gift shop with a balcony you could
take pictures from.
Our next stop was a beautiful overlook at the base of the
mountains. Guess what? There were camels. And I got to pet one. Day
made.
After stopping at the overlook we went to a “Berber
Pharmacy” in the mountains, where they sold medicinal herbs and teas. We wandered around the herb garden for a bit and got to
see some of the women making the medicines!
Next, we got a tour of a traditional Berber house, where
we got to see layout of the rooms and (supposedly...) how many of the people in
the towns and villages live.
After seeing the house we stopped at one last overlook.
We walked over a little plank bridge suspended over a stream and climbed up the
mountainside to catch a stunning glimpse of snow capped peaks right in front of
us!
Our final destination was the Ourika
Valley where we took a break for
lunch before going on a hike to see some waterfalls! Hayley and I munched on
the dried fruits and nuts we bought the day before and enjoyed the view; we
were sitting by a stream with the mountains on both sides! It couldn’t have
been a more perfect lunch spot.
When everyone was done eating we walked through the
village and headed up the mountain. We ended up going through a maze of shops and
houses stacked on the mountainside and got some great views of the town!
When we reached the base of one of the peaks we were
greeted by small waterfalls cascading down the rock face, which we proceeded to
climb. After much huffing and puffing (and realizing how out of shape I am, whoo hoo!) we finally
got to the top. Hello, waterfall. Nice to see ya.
From there we climbed higher up the mountain
(guys, there were ladders involved. this is serious.) and walked back to the
village along the cliff side. I don’t think the view of the mountains could
have been more lovely (okay, maybe if Neil Patrick Harris were there…).
We finally made it back to the town around four thirty,
and Hayley and I decided to check out a rug store before we left. The shop
owner was so sweet, and both ended up getting rugs which he cut right then and
there for us! After getting our rugs we caught the bus back to Marrakesh. The
sun was setting on the drive home, so all of the buildings and mountains were
gold in the light.
When we got back Hayley and I spent a little while
standing off to the side of Place
Jemaa El Fna, watching the crowds of tourists, monkey trainers, henna
painters, snake charmers, dancers, and stall owners. Aka people watching nirvana (look closely at the pictures to see the snakes!).
Back at our
riad, Hayley and I enjoyed a pot of sweet mint tea on the rooftop while the sun
went down (that sentence is ridiculous. but actually.)! When you’re used to big
city light pollution the Moroccan night sky is absolutely unbelievable. So many stars!
We finished
our day with dinner at the square, where we had eggplant (again), a veggie
tangine, and more Moroccan mint tea (I am officially an addict).
When we got
back to our riad we packed our bags and got ready for our last day in Morocco! In
case you were wondering what our riad/room looked like, see below.
Stay tuned for
day three!
