Car Trip Morocco - Day 1 & 2 Agadir to Tisselday

Picked up our Dacia Logan hire car from Weekend Car Rental in Agadir on 6 November and set off on a two week tour of central Morocco with our friends.

Our tour took us via the fast Agadir - Marrakech motorway to the north of the Atlas Mountains then recrossing them via the Tissi Techla pass

on the way we were hooted several times by several passing cars - after stopping to investigate we found that we had a pucture in a rear tyre

 a nail

 Punctures seem to be very commonplace in Morocco - every village has at least one tyre repair shop

 There has been a lot of rain in this part of Morocco lately - as evidenced by the swollen muddy streams

 and we were graced with a wonderful rainbow

 mountain village in the Atlas mountains

 

 Approaching the Tissi Techla pass, snow marker poles marked the sides of the road

the Tissi Techla pass

 We had taken longer than expected on our trip - maybe stopping too often to admire the views, so we were benighted before reaching Ouazarzate, our original destination for the first night. Driving along mountain roads in the dark was not our idea of fun so we consulted the Lonely Planet and found a guesthouse in the tiny hamlet of Tisselday. Actually, on stopping in the hamlet to try to find the hotel, we were accosted by Lahcen, one of the brothers owning the Dar Isselday Guest House. Decided to check it out and found a 

delightful spot to spend the night.

Tea Moroccan style

 was very welcome after the long drive

 Nejep and her two sons and sister in law

 Kamal, the other brother served us a superb Tagine which Nejep had prepared - her Tagine' proved to be the best we had during our trip.

 Breakfast on the terrace

 after which Kamal took us on a 6 hour hike which started with a steep climb up the rocky hill directly behind his guest house.

 past the Kasbah

 the over the high plains

 to a small canyon, the otherside of which was a remote Berber village, our objective

 a bit of scrambling

 brought us to the canyon floor where we enjoyed a picnic in the fields

 Horses and primitive ploughs are still use to till the earth

The lower part of the village had been abandoned

 so we climbed to the new village higher up

 a rest under an overhang

 the new village

 The ladies of this house welcomed us in

 for tea

while Kamal barbequed some kebabs on a charcoal fire on the floor

 One of the ladies demonstrated the simple local wool spinning method

 which Mike found just about impossible to copy

 joined by several of the children

 After our enoyable visit, continued walking down the canyon floor

 and eventually made it back to the abandoned Kasbah

 which we explored

 before returning to Dar Isselday

 for another of Nejeb's superb Tagines

 in the very pleasantly decorated dining area

 Reluctant goodbye to Kamal

 and his Dar Isselday Guest House - highly recommended if you are passing this way