An exploration of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains includes treks up and also around Mount Toubkal, the stunning Tizi n’Tichka Pass, and Kasbah Aït Benhaddou that was included in movies like Gladiator.
Only one hour from Marrakech is the monumental High Atlas mountain range (450 miles in length with summits more than 4,000 metres/13,100ft) as well as, although many visit trek for a few days, one day Atlas mountains day trip is sufficient to offer a tantalizing picture. Life in this particular sublimely beautiful area has changed little in centuries
With a lot of the culturally-interesting and beautiful most places in Morocco simply being inaccessible by automobile, hiking and trekking are usually the greatest means to see what many feel will be the real Morocco. In these areas you’re rewarded by an unhurried speed, could check places untouched by the contemporary world, hang out with local individuals as well as find several of probably the most stunning scenery in the nation.
The Tizi n’Test (may be shut in winter) is a remarkable path through the Atlas Mountains from Marrakech to the walled town of Taroudant. Without stops, the 222km (138 miles) takes aproximatelly 5 hours, passing Berber villages, kasbahs plus fine landscapes.
Items to find in the High Atlas Mountains
Asni
Shimmering in haze beyond the pink walls of Marrakech, very long flecks of snow barely 60km (thirty eight miles) away brush the rugged profile of the southern horizon. This’s the Toubkal massif, the craggy mass of deep valleys and rocky peaks which has the top summits on the Atlas chain. Roads teeming with domestic animals and people, electric scooters & lorries belching diesel fumes, cross the very hot Haouz plain to Asni, wherever there’s a crucial Saturday souk, that though primarily a conventional community market for meals and livestock, today also sells carpets, the ubiquitous fossils along with other nearby trinkets. There are some fundamental restaurants and hotels in Asni, though the majority of folks decide to keep in Imlil. A turning on the right before the market leads up to The Kik and moulay Brahim Plateau.
The charming mountain village of Imlil
Imlil has many great cheap places to keep, a scattering of a lot and restaurants of souvenir shops, offering jewellery, fossils, and carpets. Thousands flock here in early summer and early spring to climb Mount Trek and Toubkal in the foothills around.
There’s additionally a Bureau des Guides in the village (just opposite the automobile park), suggested for first time guests. Trekking companies are another deal and option with all of the logistical problems of organising accommodation, provisions, and porters.
Mount Toubkal climbs and treks
For a mountain of the accessibility and level to have had its very first recorded ascent (by a French party under the Marquis de Segonzac) as late as 1923 testifies on the tribal fortress mentality maintained by neighborhood individuals well into the twentieth century. Site visitors in addition go hiking round the district – generally there are 5-10-day circular tours – the “Toubkal Circuit” – staying overnight in remote huts, Berber outposts and quite often open air bivouacs.
The mountain could generally be climbed in 2 days – the very first day attaining the CAF Toubkal Refuge (previously known as the Neltner Hut) at 3,207 metres (10,522ft), that’s aproximatelly seven hours from Imlil, and also achieving the summit (five hours) as well as going back to Imlil (five hours) on the next day. A large amount of folks add the ascent during longer treks. Note: the ascent can just be produced once the snows have melted, between the weeks of May and October.
Impressive views from the Tizi n’Test Pass
The Tizi n’Test Pass, that gets to a level of 2,092m (6,860ft) above sea level, provides fantastic views of the area, but be warned that the way through the pass requires a long sequence of hairpin bends. At the summit on the pass a tiny restaurant has panoramic views southwards across the Souss Valley, with the ridge on the Anti Atlas Mountains rising majestically above the haze. On the far aspect of the pass the highway descends to join Highway N10. From the junction it’s a simple drive to the town of Taroudant.
The walled city of Taroudant
Taroudant, the’ Grandmother of Marrakech’, 225km (140 miles) from Marrakech, is only one of Morocco’s much more easy going destinations. Surrounded by olive groves, green fields and citrus orchards, watered with the melting snows of the High Atlas, it’s at the business hub of the Souss Valley.
At a moment when just about all seaside towns were ready to accept naval strike, Taroudant’s inland location and also extremely high walls made it the organic alternative as the region’s capital. Its remarkable fortifications, constructed by the Saadians in the 16th century and in really good maintenance, are the town’s most striking attraction. Within the walls, the dusty squares & questionable souks provide terrific shopping possibilities for floor coverings, leather products and also Berber jewellery.The 19th-century palace in the kasbah has become a resort, the Palais Salam, with spaces that are comfy around several intimate courtyards. The Gazelle d’Or, just outside the walls of Taroudant, is among the most highly sought after hotels in Morocco.
Tizi n’Tichka Pass
The Tizi n’Tichka Pass (also referred to as the N9, linking Marrakech with Ouarzazate) may be the top, many spectacular paved mountain pass in Morocco. Reaching 2,260m (7,400ft), roadway snakes from the verdant foothills & pise villages of the High Atlas, before many hairpin bends carries you to the summit on the pass. The landscape subsequently changes, rocky outcrops, with arid peaks and also ksour (fortified villages) filling the pre Saharan landscape.
On location in Kasbah Aït Benhaddou
Off the Tizi n’Tichka pass, aproximatelly 20km (thirteen miles) before Ouarzazate, is a brief side street triggering the Kasbah Aït Benhaddou, most likely the most celebrated, recorded and also photographed kasbah in Morocco. Showcased in several films (including Lawrence of Arabia, The Sheltering Gladiator and Sky), it’s the best preserved kasbah in Morocco and has ten families currently inhabiting it. Nowadays, a lot of the inhabitants of this particular Unesco World Heritage Site are glad to teach you around the homes of theirs and also recount accounts of the filming experiences.
Entry to the kasbah out of the street is from the little modern-day town of shops, restaurants & auberges which have sprung up to service the stream of guests. Stepping stones have changed the mule rides to cross the Mellah River. The kasbah is truly a city of numerous lesser kasbahs, all constructed from similar deep red earth and sometimes with intricate details carved into the walls of theirs. The massive gate isn’t with the initial style, though a film fantasy created for Romancing the Stone therefore Michael Douglas might acquire a plane through it.
Imilchil and also the Marriage Festival
Imilchil is a village wreathed in romantic legend and myth and is home on the Aït Haddidou, a tribe of semi nomadic shepherds originating from Boumalne du Dadès in the 11th century. There’s a lovely kasbah within the village which may be investigated, though the majority of visitors are available at time on the Marriage Festival.
The ideal spot to be in Imilchil itself (the festival is held several kilometres south of the town) is Chez Bassou, that also features a restaurant and mountain guides who could help you move into the neighboring Atlas. There are a few of basic restaurants and cafes in town, also. Gentle river hikes run alongside turreted buildings or maybe you are able to take more time strolls on piste tracks across kilometres of pasture between the lakes.