night in Imlil

We had breakfast at the hotel terrace facing the Ait Benhaddou. Yesterday we saw the Kasbah basked in sunset rays from the left. This morning, the Kasbah was illuminated from the right, showing a different aspect but both glorious magnificent views.

today, going north in deeper high atlas, passing the Tizi n'Tichka, the highest vehicular pass in Morocco, the view was not as spectacular as I've anticipated. We reached the mountain village of Imlil at 1700m, very cold for us who had just came from the parched desert. Our Riad was like a gothic castle. Rooms were small and dark with stone walls and the doors locked with giant padlocks. All room windows open up to the central corridors that wrapped around inner courtyards, like a maze. This Riad was fascinating. The rooftop terraces showed spectacular views of Atlas mountains all around, small hamlets scattered here and there, and the almost full crepuscular moon above the High Atlas basked in the late afternoon sun. After supper, T and I lingered on the terrace, braving the cold, and talked about Toubkak, the highest point in the Atlas, which was just behind hill from where we were, and about working at Nasa. Later on I returned to the terrace to be on my own to commune with the mountains. Oh what serenity these mountains conjured up, in the dark under sparkling stars. Much like the evenings in Mtn Kazbeki, the nights in the Norweigian fjords, nights in Patagonia. Just me and the mountains. Each inspired the same deep tranquility, and each unique in its own preciousness.

Imlil pictures