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Sunday 14 September, to Asni in the High Atlas
Marrakech - part VIII
Elisabeth & Teije2006-07-19 19:20:18
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is much cooler here than in Marrakech but still very pleasantly warm. We take a rest, sitting against a wall and people who pass us by are very nice and friendly. The people are Berber here, not Arab and they are quite different, more closed but very friendly. There is only a small group, mainly youth, who try to make money from tourists and don't hesitate to become very aggressive in doing so.
This area is very different from the surroundings of Marrakech. The houses and villages don't make much impression in the dominating desert and mountains.
When we return in the centre of the village we can quietly sit down at a coffee bar without being bothered anymore. Now and then someone joins us and some people even claim to recognize me. I find it hard to believe since it is 13 years since I was here and some of the young men were probably kids then, begging for a pencil or candy.
For less than 2 euro we drink several cups of coffee. We talk to people for two hours about their lives, the hardships and the importance of tourism, mainly in English, which surprises us since most people in Morocco speak only French as a second language. I could talk for hours about this place and the Toubkal area, but it would be about my memories of this place from a long time ago. But we are here, in the here and now, and we decide to go back to Marrakech.
There are two taxi's for Marrakech on the main square but when we walk towards them we are waited for by souvenir sellers. This time they are very persistent. When we are already sitting in the cab one man doesn't stop showing us 'priceless' items and the prices are going lower and lower. We keep saying no, but when he starts complaining that we don't have any respect for him, I have had it with him. I jump out of the car, pay for two extra people and we can leave immediately. As you can see on this (fuzzy) picture, there are already two people on the front seat so
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See photographs from:
Morocco Gallery
