Alan's account =
The Hankey Bannister/mint tea trek - Alan , Laurie , Gordon , John, Andy
Tuesday - We arrived in Marrakech just as darkness was falling with the last of our airport Guinness oozing from our pores. Finding the taxi was the easy bit – surviving the short trip to the mountains was more problematical. The heavens opened and the lightning flashed almost as soon as we left the airport and the driver appeared to need a white stick to find his way along the busy road. His driving technique was to drive along the middle of the road straight for oncoming lights and then swerve at the last second. The final part of the drive was spectacular up an unmade road with blind bends and loads of washouts. We arrived in Imlil relieved to be alive and immediately found a decent hotel with comfy rooms. (200 dirhams for halfboard) Before long we were tucking into a delicious tagine. (beware using predictive texting - a message back to the wife about having a nice tagine arrived as 'just had a tasty vagina) Back in the rooms Laurie pulled out a bottle of Hankey Bannister and we got started on the bumper quiz book.
Wednesday - Blue skies! We breakfasted, paid a little for an almost empty gas cylinder, bought some bread then set off up the trail to the Neltner hut. At first it was lush green with irrigated terraces and villages clinging to the slopes. Further up we crossed large gravel beds then started climbing on the decent mule track. A small collection of shacks at a shrine gave us a welcome stop for a cold drink. Above, the scenery grew more spectacular but Andy started to wilt a bit (probably dehydration!). Hero Laurie came to the rescue by running back down to carry his sack. After a taxing climb of 5000’ from the village we arrived at an almost biblical scene of two large huts surrounded by a forest of tents and numerous mules. We decided to opt for camping outside the hut (no grass!) and paid about £6 for a decent meal and breakfast in the hut. More HankeyB and quizzes whiled away the hours.
Thursday - Nobody slept much but Andy was feeling better so after brekker we set off for Toubkal with light packs. Apart from losing the path for a bit and struggling up horrible scree it was fairly straightforward and none of us were too troubled by the 4167m altitude. With a mob at the top it was a bit reminiscent of arriving at the summit of the ‘Ben’. It was a bit too hazy to see the Sahara but we got great views down the steep southern slopes. With our rapid descent we overtook most parties on the way down to the hut where we ordered lunch. Rested, fed and watered we packed up the sacks and headed up for the 3600m col to Lac Ifni. Away from the crowds it was much more enjoyable and a zig-zag track took us to the col. It was Gordon’s turn to struggle a bit this time and again Laurie came to the rescue with a ‘cheeky’ jog down to carry his sack. Alan was a bit alarmed about what 'bits' he might have to plaster up (or sew back on!) in the case of a slip. The view down the other side was incredible with steep broken rocky crags making the way down look improbable. However as we set off the path unfolded but needed real concentration with our heavy packs. After an age we reached the lake where we had planned to camp. Luckily we found some open stone shelters which provided an ideal haven for the night and bizarrely there was even a wee stall selling pepsis and choco bars. A couple of hip flasks and more quizzes made for an enjoyable evening. We tried not to worry too much about the state of Gordies feet and I slept fine not having believed Laurie’s wind up about black scorpions (it was true!)
Friday - Gordon declared himself ‘fixed’ but we stuck to the original plan of heading down the valley to the village of Amsouzert for an easy day. After a climb up to the end of the lake it was down a wide stony track in the baking sun with the lure of green terraces and civilisation below. At the first village the lad that had rented out the shelter the night before was waiting for us and took us to the flat roof of his house where we had walnuts, bread, goats cheese and drinks. Refreshed we continued down the valley with lots to see and soon arrived at Amsouzert where we found a decent hotel. The walnut harvest was in full swing with the young men up in the trees bashing the nuts down with long sticks and the women working hard to pick them up. Later we dined up on the roof by candlelight - very romantic!
Saturday - With a bit of uncertainty about the wisdom of re-crossing the mountains we had decided to have an extra night at the village and set off the heat down a very dusty road to visit the local souk (market) in an unspoiled Berber village. There were no tourists in sight and the hundreds of stalls sold everything imaginable. Our trip back was much more enjoyable as we followed a maze of paths back up the green valley bottom.
Sunday - Up at six and had an early breakfast of omelette and local bread to catch the 7 o’clock bus. Amazingly on time but the early speed of not more than jogging pace due to the state of the road promised a long journey to the main road 65km away. Thankfully the road got better and we enjoyed the contrast with other side of the mountains. We passed lots of little Berber villages with patches of irrigated green fields contrasting the intensity of the parched sandy-hued hills and the wide blue skies. We reached another busy souk where our driver moved us onto a bus for the last 15k of the trip. At the main road we had drinks and arranged a grand taxi back to Marrakech – at about £5 a head not bad value for the two hour drive. Not far up the road we stopped at a busy little roadside town for a delicious tagine and then continued over the spectacular pass and down to Marrakech.
Sunday – Tuesday
We found a decent hotel just next to the square for about £8 per night with breakfast for another £2 and this provided an ideal base for wandering into the great square to watch all the activities and get lost in the souk. The rule for haggling seemed to be to aim for 30% of the asking price and ignore any stories about having to feeding ten children! It caused much hilarity when some of the locals shouted Ali Baba at Gordon and Alan ?? Laurie and Andy even summoned up the enthusiasm for a 16k run round the old city walls the first day and then a run out to a small hill on the last day.
Photos
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