Midelt – Adventures in Transit

It was time to move on from the Ziz Gorge

The next stop was Midelt, a town 1500m above sea level, in the plains between the High and Middle Atlas mountains

The climate was much cooler than the hot south I’d just come from. It was delightful to see trees again! And the first signs of autumn I’d seen this year, despite it being the end of November.

This region is where they grow all the apples

I explored the tiny berber villages and mountains around

Giving lifts up and down when I could

These ladies come here to collect their water and wash their clothes

It was so nice to finally see some water in a river, even if only a trickle

The more rural Berbers still follow ancient traditions such as facial tattooing. These tattoos are for beauty, health and protection. They also tell the stories of tribes and convey family ties. It is a tradition that is dying out, and now very rare, due to tattoos being frowned upon by the French and the Arab invaders.

Although we didn’t have a shared language, it was nice to spend some time with these mountain ladies and share some food with them.

It was starting to get very cold and snow was forecast

My gas was flashing red, and it is not possible to fill it up in Morocco

This meant I couldn’t use my gas heating, otherwise I’d drain the tank and have nothing left for cooking

My campsite hosts, Haffid and Houria, invited me to join them for breakfast by the fire in the morning to warm up

I managed to find myself a little electric heater and Haffid got me an extension lead so that I could plug into his electrics. It worked a dream and my van was toasty and warm once more!