Ziz River (Morocco)

 

Ziz River

(Morocco)

124.8 kms

Day 1: The Tunnel Villages

16.7 kms, April 6, 2009

The Traveler heads on back towards the Rissani Oasis—a vast area of palm trees, farmland and earthen castles, watered by the Ziz River that flows from the mountains. It also has a major historic significance: The Alaouite Dynasty, one of the longest ongoing dynasties in the world was born in this region.

The Traveler doesn't wait until he reaches Rissani proper. As soon as the landscape switches from barren desert to oasis, he hops off the taxi and starts exploring.

The Traveler has been fascinated by these “tunnel villages” of East Morocco: walled, earthen villages with alleys that are completely enclosed and dark. And it looks like these types of villages are the norm all throughout the vast Rissani oasis.

Rissani tunnel cities are a little different. The tunnels aren't in straight lines and there's no tunnel inside the perimeter of the wall--so you can get pretty lost—which makes them more fun or less fun, depending on your style. Here the kids are more well behaved than elsewhere. They curiously follow the Traveler around Ksar Abdelaziz, but don't cause any trouble.

As the Traveler walks past lush countryside and flood fields he has this odd recurring feeling that he's in Vietnam, rather than in the middle of the Sahara desert. The sea of green just continues on and on... He explores Ben Mehdi, another large castle surrounded by lush greenery.

Finally he reaches reach Rissani proper--he's thirsty and hungry so he goes ahead and goes straight to the market area for a tagine... Takes an hour or so to chill out at a local cybercafe and then heads out to explore the town.

It's the middle of the day, the market is shut down, it's hot--and there's not a whole lot going on here in town. Considering that this was the birthplace of the current dynasty, the Traveler is actually quite surprised at how run down this town feels. Normally he'd expect the king to take great pride in investing in the region of his origins, but that doesn't seem to be the case here in Rissani. Quite a contrast to, areas in the northwest or around Marrakesh....

The Traveler decides to continue on around the countryside... and find a castle... and then another castle... and then another... So many castles that he can't possible explore them all! In fact, it seems folks in these hinterlands don't live in regular, houses--they just all live in castles and work the fields around them...

It's an amazing region--and the scurries in and out of each castle trying to discover everything he can about this unique culture. Unfortunately, a lot of these castles have only dead ends inside--people have separate doors from their houses directly to the outside--so invariably he s himself in awkward situations coming to a dead end--running into a very perplexed lady and asking "uh... I'm sorry... this is a dead end, isn't it?"

There is one kasba that is being fixed up quite nice—the Traveler wonders if it has some special historic significance. Unfortunately there aren't any clear historical markers around to figure out what he is seeing—even though this area contains many layers rich with history. Rissani was very important back in the days of trans-Saharian trade, as this would've been the “gateway to civilization”--a welcoming sight for camel caravans coming from the east and the south. Rissani sits on the vast medieval city of Sijilmasa, which was the seat of an independent kingdom, which broke free from the Abbassid Dynasty in the 700s. It was described as a gallant and beautiful city by historians and travelers—including the legendary Ibn Battouta, who compared the cities of China to the city he launched out from.

But alas, this city fell into ruins at the end of the 14^th century and these ruins are slowly fading away.

Day 13: Rissani Culture

Kms 26, February 12, 2013,

The Traveler heads back to the bus station, to plan his next move. It would be a simple matter to hop on a bus to the next town up the Ziz River, Arfoud. But... there seems to be something especially significant about this region and the Traveler knows what that means: he should try to explore it on foot.

A group of high school chilling out by the bus station ask for a concert, he decides to oblige. They look like a fun, clean cut group of kids… he's been kind of lacking in good audiences lately. And fortunately here he doesn’t look like the “rich tourist” when he pulls out his camera for a group photo—as immediately after one of the students pulls out a smartphone for a souvenir photo as well…

The Traveler looks at a map. It's 26 kilometers to Arfoud. A good bit of that is through open desert—not something the Traveler likes to hike through. But it's wintertime... so it shouldn't be too bad of a hike.

So he decides to go for it... continuing up the road, past some friendly cops at a checkpoint… and on into the open countryside. This does feel like a good area to just wander freely in.

To his left is a road that takes a huge loop around the Rissani oasis, probably with a lot of mud castle villages to explore along the way. It's tempting—but for now he needs to focus on reaching Arfoud. But when he spots a castle village just a few hundred meters off the road, I knows he's got to check it out. This is about the experience, not the destination, he reminds himself.

Moulay Abdellah Dakket is another picture perfect castle village. He doesn’t go inside, but does explore the perimeter with its partly crumbled corner towers, tiny windows peeking out over the oasis… elegant main entrance. Typical Rissani region charm.

A few kilometres down the road is another village that’s a good ways off the main road, but the Traveler decides to check it out too, and is glad he does. Ksar Jabel is a very cool castle village. Built along a long, straight ridge that slopes on the south side. He wanders through the semi ruined section to the top and… to his delight, finds a sheer drop on the north side! He gazes out through a crack in the wall at this straight, rugged cliff that goes on for more than a kilometer, with houses perched along the top all the way, gazing out to the serene palm forest.

He finds a little path to climb down, and follow the base of the cliff, soaking it all it. He tries to not let the trash people chuck over the edge spoil the moment. He was starting out this hike assuming it was going to be all about getting from point A to point B—so this discovery is a very welcome surprise. He continues almost to the edge of the village, where the cliff starts to peeter out, then head on back on the south side.

A couple young fellows call out to him from the ridge above “come and see the view!”. Been there, done that. Now he's got to pick up the pace or he's going to end up in Arfoud very late at night.

One nice thing about starting a long hike at 3 PM is you avoid the hot hours of the day. 26 kilometers in cool weather is nothing. It’s hiking in the direct sun that really wears you out. Over the next 22 kilometers he sees little more than the stars and an occasional headlight coming his way. But he knows he's not missing a whole lot. His only concern is that he might twist his ankle on the ragged shoulder or step too far off and into a ditch when avoiding oncoming traffic.

Finally a bit after 10 PM he reaches Arfoud, and quickly look for something to eat before the restaurants shut down. All he can come up with is a lousy chicken sandwich.

A fellow sits down next to him—he tells the Traveler he’s a musician, and asks to borrow the guitar. He plays some of his original songs—which are quite good, songs about religious themes and social issues, mixing traditional and western styles, quite different than the 70s and 80s English cover songs the Traveler is used to hearing. He says they play at festivals and events in this area, and people really like their songs. It’s heartwarming to see “real” musicians with original, meaningful songs, finding an outlet for their music, even in out of the way places like Arfoud. He suggests that they get together tomorrow and maybe do a little jam session...

And with that pleasant end to my day, the Traveler goes looking for a hotel, and calls it a day.

Day 14: The Tunnel Castles of Arfoud

21.3 kms, April 5, 2009

As soon as the city abruptly ends, a dense palm forest begins. But theire are lots of bicycles coming in and out of the forest, so the Traveler knows there is more than just trees surrounding the city, so he decides he has to go see where they are coming from

But first he explores the town a bit more. Arfoud is a fairly bland town on itself—although the Traveler does have another interesting encounter with a Moroccan. Sayed is a professional band drummer who claims he played with Ziggy Marley himself in during a festival Essaouira... he shows the Traveler pictures of his trips to Europe with the band--and down to Senegal... it's very refreshing to meet a Moroccan who appreciates his Subsaharan neighbors--and who has seen both wealth and poverty and doesn't see Europe or America as "paradise"... For now he's content to pursue opportunities right here in his hometown of Arfoud.

The Traveler continues to explore. he's got a strong suspicion that the real interesting stuff in Arfoud is hidden in the lush palm tree jungle that surrounds the city. So he follows an irrigation canal to see where it goes...

And then he comes across one of the coolest tunnel villages of them all.

At first it looks just like a mud castle similar to the other ones he's seen. but there’s something different about this castle. For one thing, he doesn't see any gates. Just these dark holes in the walls--and people scurrying in and out--just like ants in an anthill...

Finally, he finds a gate, and goes inside... to almost pitch darkness. This tunnel village is completely in the dark! There are some young boys following him—but the Traveler knows he has to explore this place. He walks and walks... hundreds of yards, with no light... But there are doors leading to houses where people actually live. People who walk to and from their homes in complete darkness.

The Traveler is thrilled by this revelation: this is an underground city, still in use in the 21^st century!

Why? How? Unlike places like Derinkuyu, Turkey, here people don't live like this to hide from human enemies. They do this to hide from the desert dwellers biggest frenemy: the sun. by living enclosed in earth, the temperature stays cool, even as the temperature soars outside. And walking these tunnels the Traveler can feel the difference.

However, it's quite clear that people don't just live in complete darkness--each house he's sure has access to sunlight at the upper levels. But that doesn't spoil the magic of this place... a true underground village.

Fortunately this village has fairly straight tunnels, with a tunnel following the inside of the wall all the way around, so you don't have to worry about dead ends. If this town were set up as a maze with lots of dead ends as some of them are, it could be quite unnerving.

Finally the Traveler feels he has really explored this “town”... without being able to see anything. He finds a random hole in the wall and climbs out, thrilled by what he has just experienced.

And this is just the beginning. Right across the canal there’s another Tunnel City--of course he has to explore it as well... a similar design--just a bit more "fancy" with better doors on the houses and a floor of packed earth rather than a muddy trough in the middle...

The Traveler continues on through the vast oasis, in search of more Underground Cities--and soon finds a third one... This one doesn't have a tunnel around the inner perimeter--so it is more of a labyrinth with a lot of dead ends... the Traveler doesn't mind--it's all about the adventure.

Like the castles in Midelt and Rissani, these cities have no commerce inside of them--just a mosque (which is usually the only non-mud structure. Also, in the gateway, there's always a winding covered courtyard with seating on the edge—it seems this is where the townsfolk gather to socialize...

He reaches the highway to Errachidia and decide to continue on a few miles to see what more this oasis has to offer.

Restoring an Earth Castle

Thousands of dirt bikes, street bikes, 4x4 stream past the other way. It's Easter break in Europe and it looks like half the continent is heading down to Merzouga a bit farther down the road.

The Traveler finds it a bit ironic that all these folks are whizzing right past some of the most amazing structures in Morocco to go stare at a pile of sand...

But then again, Ihe doesn't imagine the Arfoud tunnel dwellers would really appreciate thousands of tourists coming to gawk at them...

It's a pleasant hike down to Maadid, where there's an enormous Mud Tunnel City. The Traveler heads inside, followed by a whole army of young kids who are determined to be his "guides" an old lady comes over, quite dissapprovingly tells him that they're trying to take him down a dead end, so he heads on back out...

One disadvantage of building castles out of mud, is that if it ever rains... well, everything tends to collapse. And there was a lot of rain recently and some sections of the city are badly damaged. But thankfully, they're purists here in Maadid, and they're rebuilding their city with--you guessed it... mud...

Well, almost. the Traveler gets to talking with some of the guys rebuilding a section of the main wall and they show him how they are now putting in concrete pillars--and then covering them over with mud stucco. A very clever compromise--make the walls strong while preserving the beauty of this traditional structure. Seems like a good compromise between safety and tradition

The Traveler finds a way back into the city through a hole in the wall and wanders around a bit undisturbed this time.

There are actually a few parkbenches in Maadid, so he is able to have a traditional parkbenching session with a mix of a crowd of the old and the young...

And with that, he heads on back to Arfoud, very satisfied with his discoveries of the day. This Eastern Desert region is a place that just keeps giving.

Day 15: Hiking up the Ziz River

31.8 kms, Feb 13, 2013

If you were to come towards Arfoud from the west, you will enjoy an extraordinary experience. At first the landscape would seem quite disappointing, with just dreary flatness for as far as the eye can see. But then... if you take this road right at dusk... you'll see an unusual sight.

Lights coming from a large pit near the highway... A bit later, another pit with a few twinkling lights far, far below... What the hell is that? You will wonder.

And then...

In just a split second, an incredible change--the road plunges into this canyon that appears out of nowhere in the flat surrounding. Down below is a narrow sea of green that stretches on an on as far as the eye can see--lined by stark, brown and red cliffs on the sides... Down below, another road with a long row of houses--and, yes! little mud castles following the entire length of this amazing canyon oasis. It really feels like you just dropped into a whole nother planet.

This is the Aoufous Gorge, one of the most spectacular vistas of this region.

This is where the Traveler is headed. However, he is coming from the other direction and will miss out on this spectacular introduction. Nevertheless, he figures he should do it on foot to fully appreciate the experience. So his hike will continue a bit more.

So he's off... the Arfoud Oasis comes to an end and it's across the vast open wasteland. But this time there are things to discover alon gthe way. He's been told that there's a spring that he mustn't miss, and soon he sees why. He sees it from a long ways off. At first it looks like some pipe must’ve burst, with water spurting high into the air. But no, it’s an artesian well creating a natural fountain. Nearby are other little springs bubbling to the surface, leaving mineral residues around. It’s a surreal sight—with no mountains very close you wonder, just dry landscape, you wonder, where does this water come from?

Right nearby is the Ziz River which flows from the Aoufous Valley on toward Arfoud, where it gets all used up for irrigation. Now it’s still a living stream, flowing through a shallow gorge across the treeless desert plain. It’s a comforting feeling to follow a river through a lonely desert stretch, knowing, where there is water, there is life… but eventually the surface gets too rough, and he heads on back towards the highway.

And then... the Aoufous Oasis begins. Btaha will probably be his first town. It's quite a large town with long, straight alleys and a mix of old and new architecture. Everything is closed up for the noon hours—but luckily along the highway the Traveler finds a restaurant still open where they serve him a rather burnt tagine… that’s OK… better than nothing.

The Traveler decides to just wander through the oasis jnans instead of the sunscorched highway. The path sort of disappears, and the Traveler finds himself zigzagging back and forth, figuring out his way through the farm plots. A middle aged fellow calls out to him. If I were somewhere else in the world, the Traveler would figure he wants to know what the hell the the Traveler is doing trapsing through his fields, but here in East Morocco, it's pretty sure that he’s just being friendly.

Sure enough. The man is quite pleased to know that the Traveler is hiking through “just to explore the region” and happily gives some insights into the life here.

“During date harvest time, the guys in the trees sing to each other from tree to tree as the harvest the dates, creating a symphony of song…” he explains

The man explains to the Traveler about the cultural different cultures of this region. The Traveler asks about an intriguing shift in behavior during this hike. “Back in Rissani area, the women wear black and cover their faces, except for one eye, and hurry past me like they're afraid or something. But here in this area, women wear light colored clothes and cheerfully greet me when they pass. Is there are reason for this?”

“Yes...” the man explains. “Around Rissani, most of the people are Arabs, so women are much more restricted and do not even greet a strange man. In this region, the people are mostly Berber. Women enjoy a lot more freedom and a better position in society. People here are still traditional... but our traditions are different.”

The Traveler is fascinated by this realization. He finds it interesting that while Berbers adopted the religion brought to them by the Arabs, they did not adopt all the same attitudes that traditional Arabs have about women: that a woman must be carefully controlled and should avoid all contact with a man that she is not related to. And now, 1,300 years after the arrival of the Arabs to Morocco, that distinction is still vividly clear.

This is a comforting sight—Later the Traveler will think of this when he reaches Eshkashem, Afghanistan, where conservative Muslims are imposing their rules—like the burka on the much more tolerant and open minded Wakhi people. There, the Traveler will before his eyes the “Paradox of Tolerance”--how being overly tolerant allows the intolerant to impose their rules on the tolerant. But this doesn't seem to have been the case here in Morocco. Berber villages, just a few miles away from Arab villages are still living by Berber rules.

The Traveler asks if there are disputes over water. “People try to work things out peacefully” the Traveler is told “life is difficult here—this year there hasn’t been much rain, unlike in the west of Morocco. But life is clean and the air is healthy—here you can raise your kids to be respectful and well behaved—unlike in the cities.”

He pulls out a digital camera—the last thing the Traveler expects to be in the pocket of a local farmer here—and shows the Traveler some nice shots he took of the river, not far away.

Actually, this fellow isn’t a farmer, he lives and works elsewhere in Morocco and comes here on vacation. But clearly this is, and always will be his home.

“I sure wish we could have a picture taken of us together” he tells the Traveler. The Traveler happily show him how to set the camera on a timer, put it on his pocket tripod and—voila! They have a picture together as a souvenir

The Traveler continues on... exploring the simple village of Blama nearby, then continuing on as the rugged walls of the Aoufous Gorge get closer an closer... He takes a little detour over by the road to visit the little village of Arbid, then back into the oasis again.

Finally when he reaches the town of Aoufous at the mouth of the gorge, he decides to call it a day.

Day 16: The Aoufous Gorge

28.3 kms, April 7, 2009

Aoufous is basically a couple of shops and houses lining the highway. One block to the right are the cliffs. One block to the left, the lush oasis...

The Traveler continues on on foot--meeting a jolly group of guys who ask for a song... in exchange they offer to giv him a short tour of the first castle up the road. The Traveler accepts the offer. Here, he quickly discovers the advantage of having a guided tour--instead of coming to a dead end at the far side of the walled village-castle, as usually happens... they simply walk into sombody's house and...voila! out the back door and out of the city! The Traveler really gets a chuckle about this “next level” hospitality here in Moroccan villages—although he's not going to try this on his own anytime soon...

He continues on north up the canyon. After a little while he figures he should clamber up the cliff a ways so he can take some pictures with the cliffs and the oasis below.. He finds what appears to be the ruins of a stone fort of some sort, partway up the mountains side. This one, it seems was built only for defense, not for living in. .

From up on the cliff he is able to spot a little village on the opposite side of the oasis--so he figures he'll go check it out... In fact, there's a paved road and a bridge heading that way. Here he pauses in the shade of some trees by the river to play a few songs just as a train of school kids on bicycles begin speeding past. Of course, they have to check out this odd phenomenon--and the Traveler starts getting worried that he's causing some of them to get late for class...

El Gara is a nice, quiet secluded village with, of course its little castle--though not quite as subterranean as the others he's seen... Beyond it there's a dirt road that beckons him up another dry canyon...

But no, he's got a mission to fulfill, and I mustn't be distracted, so he climbs up the hillside to soak in the view, then heads back towards the main highway... as ladies washing their clothes in a canal eye him with curiosity...

Further up the valley is Ksar Jdid, or “New Castle”. Ksar Jdid is really a whole series of narrow castles and semi castles sandwiched between the cliffs and the oasis. You'd call them semicastles, because some folks here in the Aoufous canyon aren't purists and they're replacing their mud homes within the castle walls with concrete block homes. Doesn't bother the Traveler too much--he's seen plenty of perfectly preserved castles over these last couple of days.

He follows a dirt street that follows the oasis side of the castles... It's the middle of the day, so the town is pretty quiet--although he does get a few curious stares as he wanders in and out of the various castle sections. Unfortunately, they aren't connected--each gateway leads to a series of dead ends and that's it...

The Traveler is hungry and thirsty and out of water--so he keeps my eye open for a shop. He finds one that's open but the shopkeeper says he doesn't have anything cold "we only run the refrigerator when it gets hot". The Traveler looks at him a bit mystified--it's over 30 degrees out...

So foolishly the Traveler continues on--and doesn't find a single other shop that's open. In fact, along this whole stretch there seems to be a real shortage of shops of any sort...

End of the Hike

The peaceful oasis road comes to an end and the Traveler is forced to hike up along the narrow highway. The scenery is stunning all the same--definitely a worthy hike. There are a few tourist accomodations along here as well—as well as one where the Traveler can buy an overpriced bottle of water.

Finally he reaches the peaceful little village of Walid Chekker. Famished, the Traveler grabs a bunch of packaged cookies... They could really use a little restaurant along this highway somewhere.

A couple fellows call for a song... so the Traveler plays for the Walid Chekker crowd as dusk sets in...

As they wait beside the highway for a grand taxi heading on Errachidia, they talk about what life is like for young folks here in the Aoufous valley. No cybercafe. No high school--a real challenge for anyone who wants to pursue an education... But these fellows seem like a cheerful, wholesome bunch...