Friday, October 11, 2013

Friday, October 11, 2013

the Touareg at Rissani

Posted by Hippobean at 11:57 PM
He told us he was a Touareg, the 'blue man', because of the indigo color of their veils/turban and clothing, and a British couple hand picked him out and paid to educate him thus transformed his life. He's got his Phd and taught at the University. He wore the indigo turban and robe with baggy low crotch pants underneath. On his robe, there's the Agadez Cross symbol, with the 4 cardinal points, like points in a compass, that showed where water was, for example. He drew the cross symbols on the sand and explained it all to us. His eyes, when not smiling, showed deep care and a true melancholy. He's very good looking. We visited the Moulay Ali Cherif Mausoleum, the founder of the Alaouite dynasty and then walked through the ksour , a fortified local village, with tall thick mud walls that blocked out the heat and kept the cool, sunlight streaming through from top of the walls. It had a nostalgic feeling to it. Next to the Ksour was the stunning magnificent Ksar Akbar (Ksar el Fida), a ruined Alaouite palace from the 19th century. I like Rissani, the tiny oasis town at the end of the vegetation belt before the dunes of the 'sand sea' begin, very much.


See Rissani pictures:

rissani

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