Sanctuary to Paradise

Loaded up and headed off for the 3 or so hours drive from our little place of calm onto the road once more. To be honest we both have a some regrets leaving as it's been so easy, tranquil and reassuring after our weeks on the road.

The couple of short confidence building sorties in the car stood us in good stead for this journey.

The roads are by and large well maintained and with very little traffic on them. However at times are fellow travelers are a erratic.

I'm not sure wether waiting too overtake until there's a blind corner is part of their driving test over here but they all seem to practice this on a regular basis.

We stopped for a picnic lunch on a beautiful cliff surrounded by huge sand dunes.

We had to make our way through a ravine before climbing up the dunes.

There were some great rock formations on the way.

Once again the views of the coastline were magnificent.

We bumped into an Italian lady who spoke perfect English and her 3 Moroccan male guides!!! Interesting lady and she's given us a couple of pointers.

We could only acces this beautiful spot via the sandy track leading off the main road. It was at times a little hairy but definitely worth the effort.

The road snaked down the coast to Agadir.

We dipped our toes into the chaos before taking the very windy road up the mountains and into paradise valley. The gorges were impressive and at times the sky almost vanished into the distance.

The hairpin bends were extreme but manageable with care.

We stopped for mint tea and bread with argan oil olive oil almond paste and honey dips. We tasted the honey the flavours are determined by the flower that they use. The tastes and textures were amazing.

We carried on climbing upwards. We passed closed restaurants and hotels well they appeared that way .

We then pulled up outside the one we booked. It too looked closed and derelict. On closer inspection we were met by the very charming and welcoming owner. And his cat who showed us to our room.

It would appear we are the only guests here. He's got a neighbour to bring fresh vegetables as he was aware that we are vegetarian. He's going to cook special meals for us when we want them.

We are perched on the edge of a gorge with panoramic views. The irrigation channel runs through the middle of the hotel.

As I'm writing this the wind is howling down the gorge and we are expecting thunderstorm this evening. It will be spectacular if it occurs.

There's nothing near us apart from a mosque and a couple of farmers shacks. It is truly desolate and the better for it.

This is the view from the hotel window!

The reason we hired a car was to get to places like this it would be unlikely you could get here any other way. Donkey maybe 🤷‍♀️

Unfortunately or maybe a good thing the internet is very poor and will not let pictures be uploaded.

I will try to upload when conditions improve!

The view from the balcony.

We are looking forward too exploring on foot tomorrow. The owner is going to draw us some maps which should be interesting 🧐