Aït Zaokri

There was still a long way to go to get to our destination today and here’s a few photos I took from the minibus so you can see the sort of views I saw, some of which are the kinds of landscapes I had in mind before leaving home when thinking of Morocco. I think it’s those palm tree valleys with sprinklings of sandstone buildings, but what I was surprised to see was the scale of some those buildings. Some look more like fortresses and for some reason I didn’t expect that even though, when I think about it, Morocco was an important trade route with caravans travelling across the country with precious cargos, including gold. These settlements, located where the palm trees grew indicating water, were important stopping points where caravans could be protected against thieves and bandits. Well, I think that’s the way it was - it sounds reasonable doesn’t it.

The last photo in this footprint is one place we stopped on the way to see how rose water is made, though my guess was that rose petals and water might well be involved somewhere along the line, and funnily enough my intuitive guess proved correct. This was also one of our photo opportunities during the day but I must admit I wasn’t greatly inspired so the outside of the building is all you get to see. Apologies if you suddenly have a burning desire to see a thousand pink rose petals and now you’re all sad, especially when my guess is we saw far more than that - not that I want to add to your disappointment of course. Let’s move on.Læs mere