Travel like a local in the Atlas Mountains: Tinghir & the Todra Gorge

I have been to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge twice.  Both times my trip was different. I lived totally different things.  I loved Tinghir and the Todra Gorge. But what I loved the most was the journey from my hostel to these places and back. It was a big adventure! I took local buses and collective taxis. I hitchhiked or I was picked up without asking for it. I interacted with so many people on the way: locals, foreigners, teachers, beggers, men, women and children. Each interaction was meaningful. I was meant to meet with all these people and at the end of each day I felt that I’ve grown again. I felt I’m not the same person that I was the previous day. Through this journey you will see how you can part of the local society and understand how you can travel in the remote mountains in Morocco. :-) 

My first time doing the Tamellalt – Boumalne Dades – Tinghir – Todra Gorge route

Sometimes we think that going to the same place more than once can be boring. In fact, it’s far from the truth. I explored many places more than several times and the stories were always different.

To get to Tinghir from Tamellalt, I had to get to Boumalne Dades. Mini buses and collective buses run in the mountains from one village to another. There is no bus schedule and in the villages along the roads there is no bus stop. The mini buses and collective taxis leave the big stations when they get full. You can never know when they get to the villages. So I would just sit down in the shadow next to the road and I would wait until some vehicle passed by.

There are only locals traveling with local transport. Foreigners in this region travel with tour operators and private guides. This at least my experience.

So here you can just sit down anywhere next to the road and wait for the bus

So this time I only waited a minute when I saw a mini bus coming. I waved it down and it stopped. A boy at the back opened the back door and jumped into the car! I felt things are happening so naturally. In Boumalne Dades, after getting out of the car, I just paid the usual 5 dirhams (0,50 €) for the 22 km ride. You just give it to the driver and you leave. As soon as I paid, I asked the driver how I get to Tinghir. The driver pointed to the bus saying “Le car”.  Le car always refers to long distance buses. I saw the bus already leaving. I ran to the bus and stopped the driver.

Picture: The station for local and long distance buses in Boumalne Dades

Me: “Tinghir, yekk?” (Tinghir, right?) – Asked the driver kind of desparate to get on the bus.
The drive nodded.
Me: Myzian! Ana aji! Blati! (Nice! I’m coming!)

I paid 15 dirhams (300 riyals = 1,5 €) to the boy selling the tickets on the bus and jumped on the bus so that we could leave. :D This is how we do it! :-)  By the way, in the south people talk in riyal instead of dirhams. So when they say 300 riyals, you need to quickly divide the amount by 20 and then you get the price you need to pay which was 15 dirhams in this case. 

The ride is like 55  km and took around an hour. In Tinghir, there are more than one stations, the first one is in the new part of the city and the second one is in the old part. The bus might stop in more than these two places. The old part is called Tinghir khadima. Khadima always refers to the old town. That’s where I went to and that’s where I always go to in places about which I have no idea prior to my explorations.

I had lunch at the main square in a cheap restaurant. In the restaurant I felt very comfortable. The guys working there were so kind and caring.  I had no idea about Tinghir. I was just looking around and thinking about what to do. After my lunch I thought, I would check the kasbah next to the square. I just followed my instincts. I tried to find the entrance and all of a sudden I saw one entrance looking place.

A guy: Can I help you?
Me: Ahh, ana rer suf. (I’m just looking…)
Guy: There are only offices here and it’s closed now.
Me: Aa, safi. (Ok, fine)
Guy: Wash briiti nemhsit l’Todra? (Do you want to go to the Todra Gorge?)
Me: La. Ana… – (No, I…) – I took my phone and showed him a picture with a beautiful oasis.
Me: Ana brit nemshit hena. (I want to go here.)
Guy: Aji! (Come!) – He called me and I followed him.

Then he took me to the grand taxi station which was a few minutes away.

Guy: Ait Snan. You need ot go there. I told the driver already that you want to go there.
Me: Safi, shokran! (Cool. Thanks!)

Cool, life is easy! :-)

On a side note: From there you can take a taxi to Todra for 8 dirhams.

But this is not what I did, because I didn’t feel like going to the Todra Gorge, just to the oasis. I was in my oasis mood. It seemed like more of challange to get there and that excited me so much. So to get to this village, Ait Snan, I paid only 5 dirhams (0,50 €). When I was in the village I changed my mind and wanted to go to the Todra Gorge as it was very close to where I was. Call me spontanious! Or it could be just the 42 degrees that made me confused about what I wanted to do. :D The taxi driver only drove until this village, so I had to find another solution. It was around 13:00 and 42 degrees for real. The Gorge was like an hour walk. “Let’s walk!” – I said to myself! :-) A car stopped quite soon. Two men were in the car. They asked where I was going and whether I want to them to take me to the Todra.  They were two teachers who picked me up. I was a bit hesitant first, but I jumped into the car and we were there quickly. They were very kind. I was very grateful. I didn’t feel like hitchhiking. But if they stopped and if they were good people, why not joining them.

I walked to the end of the touristic part of the Todra Gorge. I was walking around there which I really enjoyed. I believe it’s a really great place for hiking. But as it was already 44 degrees, I skipped this idea. :-)

The kind of places where I like getting lost

I walked to the touristy part which I left quickly. It was too crowdy and there was too much rubbish everywhere.

I saw two guys talking with a local vendor in Spanish. The local vendor wanted to chat up with me but I was more focused on the Spanish guys. They were about to leave as well, so I asked whether I could join them. They were going to Äit Benhaddou. I joined them until Tinghir. On the way back I’ve seen a lot beautiful oases. I knew I was gonna back here, but not this time. It was a real scorcher out there. I just decided to call it a day.  In Tinghir, I was about to get out of the car when a kid came to the car for money. I wanted to give him some coins. The guys told me that I should not given them money because this way they would do this in their whole life.  Still I gave the little boy 1 dirham. Then he showed me  2 with his fingers. So, I gave him another dirham. Then, he showed me all his 5 fingers and 5 other boys appeared around the car. Imagine that! We sent them away. I get out of the car and continued my journey. Those Spanish guys seemed to worry about me for sure. :-) They were probably like: “What the hell is this girl doing here on her own?” I walked around a bit. Then I decided to go home. The heat tired my body so much. I was wearing a damn pair of jeans.

Then, a man started chatting up with me on the street. He seemed decent but I didn’t really want to talk with him as I don’t like when random men approach me on the street. ? Anyways, we talked a bit and he ended up being my guide in the medina. Slowly slowly, I started trusting him as we we were walking around the empty alleys of the kasbah. It was lunch time when most people are in the house. He took me to a shop where I finally found traditional berber dresses that I liked and fit me. And most importantly I needed suitable dresses for this scorcher. ??

He also took me to a home where women make berber carpets which was an authentic cultural experience. I was offered tea, showed how they make the carpets.

Husband: Come and sit here, just look at hour beautiful. My wife is really proud of them. She makes them with other women in the village.
Me: Wauu, it’s amazing! I love them.
Husband: Listen, my wife will show you now her favorite carpets. It’s just to learn how the carpets look like.
Me: Sure, it would be a privilage to see them.
Husband: Ok, now we’ll play a game. Now we’ll find your favorites.
Me: Sure. – told him while drinking my mint tea.
Husband: If you like a carper very much, say OK. If you don’t really like it, just say uhu.
Me: It’s gonna be a difficult game for sure. – trying to flatter.

We played the game. I really enjoyed this funny situation. While playing the husband was telling me stories baout the carpets and selling carpets in Morocco.

Husband: Ok, so just look. We just really wanna show you the best ones and find your favorites. It’s just to learn about our carpets. Of coure, if you want to buy carpets, it would be nice.
Me: I don’t want to buy any carpet. I’m no tourist, I’m traveling with a small backpack. I have no place for carpets… And Hussein just brought me here. I didn’t even know that we would gonna come here and you would want to sell me carpets. And you told me to sit down, have a tea and just look. That was our deal and no more. – Told him acting the naive girl.

Husband: We can send you the carpet to Germany.
Me: Sorry, I don’t want any carpet.

Sorry, I didn’t buy any. ?  They were so disappointed… But this is life. Business is tough. Nevertheless, I was greatful for the experience. 

Finally, we walked in the old Jewish quarter of the medina. 

He didn’t ask for money for this, but I gave him money for his guidance and took his contact details. I think, in Tinghir locally there is no organized tourism. And I really appreciated in the end that I was guided somewhere where I wouldn’t have walked around on my own & and I was taken to places which I wouldn’t have found by myself. So it was a pretty fair deal. 

He is Hussein. Please feel free to contact him if you need a local guide for the medina or the mountains nearby. His number is 00 212 642 729 817. 

From the old town I took a grand taxi for 3 dirhams to get to the big grand taxi station.

I had a kind of fight with the guys working there. At this station, you get a number when you get there. I got number 5 which means that I was the fifth person and only 1 more is needed for the full taxi for Boumalne Dades. So on the table, there was only number 6. Later on, when I checked, the numbers, I noticed that 5 numbers were there. That means they need 5 people to leave for Boumalne Dades.

Me: Shu hada? Alesh? (What is that? Why?) – told them kind of angry.

They knew what I meant. Somehow 2 people came together and they gave the two available seats to them.  I didn’t notice it on time. I told them off big time. They explained that because they were 2, they got the 2 seats and that’s the way it is. I told them everything I could in Arabic which meant “I don’t give a damn. I was here first.” Anyways another half an hour later the taxi got full.

My second time doing the Tamelallt – Boumalne Dades – Tinghir – Todra Gorge route

What took me 20 – 30 minutes last, took me 4 times more. I was again sitting in the shades in about 40 degrees. There local women on the other side of the road. After like 30 minutes sitting, they told me to wait with them on that side. They explained that it’s better to get on the bus as early as possible, travel all the way to the other direction and come back to get to Boumalne Dades. I only understood a few words and the gestures. But that was enough to get the point. It meant an extra hour of travel but this way had at least a seat on the bus. After like another 30 minutes the bus came almost full. We drove to the other direction like 20 minutes and then back again. Almost nobody on the way back had a seat.

In Bomalnes Dades I learned at the bus station that the next bus to Tinghir is several hours later. So I ran to the grand taxi station and in a matter of 30 minutes, a grand taxi was ready to leave full with 6 passengers. The grand taxi costs 20 dirhams (2 €). It just a 40 minute ride. So it’s much faster than the bus. In the grand taxi station, I just got out of the car, looked around, heard a guy shouting something khadima (old), I waved him that I was coming. In a few minutes, the taxi was full with like 6 people and we were ready to leave. From the grand taxi station the taxi is 3 dirhams (0,30 €) to the old town. I love traveling this way. It’s interesting. It’s fast and there is action all the time.

After 10 minutes a grand taxi for the Todra Gorge got full. As I got there super late, the place was full of tourists. Foreign tourists are with this damn big buses, spend there like half an hour and they leave. The locals come with cars, set up tents and spend the whole day there.  Some kids spend the day there begging for money. Some kids have a lot of euro coins which they wanted to exchange for dirhams. After the last time with the kids at the car, I decided to stop giving money for beggars. I took some photos again and left quickly. I was more excited about the oases.

Just when I was about to leave from Todra Gorge entrance, a local bus was about to depart. I learnt that in the restaurant where I used the toilet. Until the the driver finnished his lunch, I was chatting with people in the restaurant. At the location where I wanted to take photos, I asked the driver to stop, gave him 5 dirhams, jumped out of the care and I was read for photo shooting. One creepy guy from the village asked whether I needed help. I said no. He kept staring at me. I told him to leave because I was busy working. He left and was staring at me from the distance. I didn’t care anymore. I had some business to get done.

Once I finished photo shooting, I walked a bit and the same bus driver just came again. I stopped him and off we went. He remembered me. I stopped him again some time later, I jumped out of the car, set up my tripod and the photo shooting started again. Three kinds come to me selling some little puppy made from straw.

Me: Mabghitch. (I don’t want it.)
Boy: Euro.
Me: Maandich l’Euro. (I don’t have Euro.)
Boy: Dirham?
Me: Mabghitch naatik flouss. (I don’t want to give you money.) Suf! Lazim temshi l’madrassa, minbaad khadma. Minbaad andek flouss. Hayat haka! (Listen, You gotta go to school, work and then you have money. This is life.)
Meshi haka. (Not this way) – pointing to them.

Then his friends came. It took them some time to understand it. Those kids spend their whole day in this photo spot waiting for tourists to get money out of them.

They came again later while photo shooting.

Me: Suf! Lazim temshi l’madrassa, minbaad khadma. Minbaad andek flouss. Hayat haka! (Listen, You gotta go to school, work and then you you have money. This is life.) – telling them the exact same thing as before.

In my opinion, no matter how poor they are, supporting beggars don’t help them. They might get to buy something more that day, but they will grow up as beggars. If we think long term, you harm them and the whole society more with giving them some money than not giving them anything. If you really help them, tell them how money works: school, work, money.  If they hear it all day, they might understand it. This is what I call education and this is what can really make a difference.

I consider photographing myself like a serious job

I like taking photos of animals as well :-)

When I was done with shooting I started walking by the road towards Tinghir. I grand taxi came quite soon and I got to the medina quickly. I was not tired yet, so I walked around the medina hoping to find the same shop I went to last time with Hussein to buy more dresses. I didn’t succeed. And around 7 pm I started moving back to Tamellalt. It took me like 3 hours. :-)

The guys at the grand taxi station in Tinghir knew me already. They remembered me very very well.

I was very close to the guys and I was always watching them. :-)

Me: Aafek, Mashi bhal marra li qbel, safi? (Please, not like last time, ok?) – Told them with naughty face.

Whether they understood my language or not, they knew what I meant. I wanted to make sure I don’t get to wait so much like last time. But they were smiling and explaining stuff I didn’t care much as I was too tired. :-)

So this is how you travel in the mountains in Morocco. :-) I lived 9 months in Morocco 6 years ago, but I didn’t even think about going to the mountains. Therefore, I lived nothing similar. It’s hard to put it into words how these travels change me. First, I just really feel proud of myself to manage to figure out how things work in a place which I have no experience with. And meeting all these different people affect me so much. Understanding all these different lives in remote parts of the world…  In fact, I didn’t include a lot of other interesting encounters in this blog. Traveling in Morocco is actually a series of interesting encounters with all kinds of people. I think I would never get this blog done if I told you everything… :-)