We woke up the next morning very relaxed. We headed down to breakfast in the garden with another glorious day of sunshine.
We finished breakfast, checked out and set off for the High Atlas. Within a short time of leaving, the road started climbing, and pretty soon degenerated into a simple mud track clinging to the side of the cliff. We passed many villages, and met many adorable children. Some candy was all it took to see the most beautiful smiles.
Mid morning, we arrived in the village of Telouet. Looks like any other high Atlas Berber village, but this one hides a treasure. We parked outside the house of our guide Hussein, which had really beautiful Berber motifs and reliefs on its facade.
Telouet's treasure is its Glaoui palace, belonging to the Pasha of Marrakesh, and this guy was a really important man. He served the sultan, and then switched allegiance to the French in 1912. The kasbah is descending into ruins, and one may not be able to see it from the inside in a few years, and rumour has it that the current king has not forgiven the descendants of the Pasha's family for his betrayal in aligning with the French.
We entered the courtyard of the kasbah. At this point, we were seriously wondering what we were doing amongst these ruins.
Hussein told us to be patient and led us to the main door. On it, in a ironic twist was the mobile number of the son of the main guardkeeper !
The inside corridors were bland and whitewashed, punctured at intervals with cedar wood windows.
Finally, at the end of a passage, a carved cedar wood door. As we opened it and walked in, we were pleasantly surprised.
This is the treasure of Telouet, two rooms of the palace that have somehow escaped the ruinous fate of the rest of the kasbah.
The rooms are a testament to Moroccan craft. Fantastic alabaster carvings, magnificent cedar wood ceilings, colourful zellij, it was enough to get a whiff of what life would have been like for the Pasha.
One of the rooms had tapestry of cactus silk along a wall as embellishment.
The Pasha had four wives, and they stayed in a room just off the main room. The windows had the mushrabiya screening to allow them to look outside whilst protecting their privacy.
The second room functioned as a reception hall for dignitaries and ambassadors.
Of course, one of the best parts of this visit was that we were the only people there, and could walk around by ourselves without any other tourists. That felt truly special.
We made our way to the terrace for great views over the surrounding countryside as well as the village of Telouet.
We descended back into the courtyard, and made our way of the kasbah.
The Pasha also had a nice garden surrounding the kasbah, and we wandered through it looking at the almond trees.
Then in was back to the house for an education in Berber souvenirs. Hussein had many doors, locks and camel seats, but the main feature was Berber carpets. We saw some lovely ones in wool, as well as cactus silk, but decided to buy a carpet made by the troglodyte people of the desert, who live in sand caves.
Hussein's wife ushered us into lunch, which was a great home cooked meal. We rested for a while, before Khalid nudged us to get going.
We climbed back up the cliff and the road continued to be a very basic one, till suddenly, we were on proper tar roads again. From there it was a non-stop drive across the High Atlas range till we got to the start of the famous Tizi and Tichka pass. Built by the French in the 1920s, at 2260 m, it is the highest road pass in the country.
Along the road at intervals are shops selling fossils and mineral rocks and stones with bright colours.
We descended into the plains, and drove flat out towards the Jbel Toubkal range. Towards early evening, we headed past Asni, where we spied Richard Branson's luxury Moroccan getaway, Tamadot.
A short distance ahead, our first glimpse of Jbel Toubkal. At 4167 m, it is the highest peak in Morocco.
We the little mountain village of Imlil, after a wonderful section through fruit and walnut trees. The apple blossoms reminded me of Japan.
At Imlil, a donkey was waiting to carry our luggage up to the Kasbah du Toubkal, where we would be spending the night. We would be schlepping up on our own.
The 15 minute climb to the kasbah is along a rocky path, but is not very strenuous. There are rudimentary steps cut in the rock along the way.
About half way up, we could see the Kasbah outlined against the mountains.
We reached the Kasbah, checked in and were shown into our room, which was on the top of one of the towers of the kasbah, and with a great view of Toubkal.
We showered and rested for a bit, listening to music on the CD player in the room, before heading down, crossing the garden and into the main hall (seen at the top of the picture below) for dinner. More Moroccan food, after which we returned to our room for a good night's rest. We wanted to be up early to watch the sunrise.
