Post #11 October 14th, On to Marrakech

We had a leisurely breakfast and then finished packing to head for Merrekech.  It will be about a 5 hour trip including stops, so not quite as long as the drives to and from the desert of a few days ago.

The topography starts off fairly flat.  We drive for about an hour and reach the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.  The clouds over the mountain range make a pretty vista.









On of the interesting things we see on the roads are mobile coffee stations.  There are many coffee vendors that have outfitted their vehicles wth commercial espresso machines and park at pullouts by the side of the road, dispensing coffee.  They seem to fill the gap between coffee shops for a country that loves its strong coffee.  


Here’s a coffee vendor at a pullout dispensing some coffee.  These vendors seem to set up in the middle of nowhere.  









We pass through pockets of agriculture.  Despite the look of the dry land, water seems to be available to all sorts of agricultural endeavours.  



Pockets of agriculture.  These are olive trees.  






We start to climb the Atlas Mountains.  Storm clouds appear.  There are lots of mountains and valleys.









We begin to cross through the mountain pass.  The road winds back and forth and there are switchbacks galore.  I am tracking on google maps and this is what the mountain pass looks like.  


This is the Google Maps route showing the major twists and turns of our journey. It was a crazy mountainous pass.  It was a twisty travel day with many sharp hairpin turns.
















There were some beautiful vistas traveling through the mountain pass.  Once through the mountain pass, the terrain opens up into flat plain. We ended up reaching Marrakech in the early afternoon and checked into the hotel.  La Maison Arabe is a lovely hotel that’s been around for many years.  In fact, Winston Churchill used to stay here for a few years after the war.  

The hotel room


The main room

Bathroom.  The walk in shower was great.

View from our window.  









We’ve stayed at a few strangely designed homes in our travels.  This one is up there.  Some of the hotels such as L’Maison Arabe are made by combining a few homes in the old town.  This leads to some odd design choices and our room was no exception.  


We had dinner at the hotel.  It was definitely the best meal we’ve had in Morocco.  I had a vegetable terrine.  Judith ordered a dessert (full of flaky pastry) and it looked great.



It will be an early rise tomorrow.  We’re need to be ready for 5:30 as we will be picked up at the hotel for our ride out to the hot air balloon place.  


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