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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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The most other hotel guests we have seen the last days at breakfast have gone and now there is a large group of French tourists. I see how the tour guide deals with them and it reminds me of my own time as a tour guide.
Elisabeth didn't have the opportunity to travel much before we met and she wants to see everything, so I first take her to places which I have already been to. Like Morocco. At the end of the 80s I organised a 3-week tour for a Dutch travel company and I spend more than 6 months in Morocco. A large part of that time I stayed in the village Asni in the High Atlas and we are going there today. In such a way Elisabeth also sees a bit of the mountains and the countryside.
Negotiating is one of the things a tour guide must be good at. The most important thing is to learn the different prices there are: a local price, a tourist price and the madman price (which Americans were willing to pay in the 80s, but I believe they have changed their attitude a bit). When you know these prices (for everything...) you can haggle for a price between the local and tourist price, pretending that you live here or visit often. Well, our cabdriver thinks differently about it. He wants 20 dirham for the drive to Bab Rob (where the grand taxi's for Asni and the Toubkal region leave) and I am willing to give 15 at most. Finally, we agree on putting the taximeter on, which gives the local price. He is certain it will be around 20 dirham. At the end it is exactly 10 dirham! I had offered him 15, so I give him 15. It is not about the money, it is about the sport of haggling.
Normally, grand taxi's (always a Mercedes) wait until there are enough passengers, that is 6, excluding the driver! Two people on the front seat, four at the back. There is nobody for Asni and after some time we decide to pay for 6 people: 120 dirham, or € 12. The first 30 kilometers on the flat plains we often have to stop to pump up the tyres. The driver knows
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See photographs from:
Morocco Gallery
