laugh it up!

Having fun is one of my options, leaving the normal world behind, and confront the real life experience thousands away from your homes!

A circle of a friendship!

Grigoro me and Jernej.

Me Behind the Cedar

Ito Vista

Ito Vista: In a very freezing morning, I took a taxi to Boufekrane at 7h25 Am, a small town toward the south of Meknes, to meet my travelling companion so that we could take another taxi immediately to Ito landscape vista. 35 minutes on a taxi ride passing by El Hajeb town to reach the area of this overwhelmingly fascinating natural scenic view over a hillock. We were there by 9h25; luckily we found few families with their cars snapping pictures and enjoying time up there. Words are not as much as needed to explain this panoramic view fully, but simply put, mounds bound the person’s thought with a silence sound from the ground; spiky trees with snowy tears, green harvestable lands as a wallpaper screen reflexed by sun to have much fun, and muddy edges limited by fences. That was the view of Ito as I can manage to explain it.

Cedar Forest

Azrou

Azrou: according to what the map showed me, azrou is not that far if you want to arrive there, just some few minutes walking by the side of road N 13 southern Meknes. The thing that seemed funny and disappointing was when we saw a road panel direction that indicated 13 Km left to reach Azrou, and we were supposed to be there by noon. Therefore we were hitchhiking while walking at the same time. Luckily a country man with a lorry full of “Berbers” picked us up; it was then exciting to have long conversation with country men who normally seem nice, trustworthy, and helpful. We snapped pictures when we were crossed by Ben Smime Town. 27 minutes on a road ride till we finally arrive to Azrou City. Azrou is a very friendly small town, mostly full of Berbers as original inhabitants who spend their evenings sitting in cafes and speaking the local Amazigh dialect. As far as I have noticed, men supposed to be in large numbers than women, as if women are still the passive elements of Berber societies. We overwhelmingly found a youth Hostel after we had got lost. Took some rests and then moved to the Southern of Azrou.

Ain Leuh

The second part of this trip was to move initially from snowy mountains to the wildlife forests where we could meet the primitive and simple way of life in some areas that are mostly inhabited by Berbers settlers. Cultural hints that give a strong impression to non-resident visitors how extensively there is a vast differences even at the same country.

Ain Leuh and surroundings: 5 Km of a long walking journey deeper inside the Middle atlas, we found many natural resources including snowy edges mountains, with deep grottos, cedar forests covered by recent snow, mounds of clear white snow, rivers that are full of campers and catchy cascaded of Morocco’s largest river Oum Rbia sources. It was comparatively demanding to walk down the hills back to Azrou. Hopefully there was a car that kindly responds to my hitchhiking thumping up. In the youth hostel, we found some American friends with whom we shared the night.

Ifrane

Ifrane: by checking the pocket map, I immediately thought it would be interesting enough to give the city of Ifrane a short visit. Getting up a bit earlier to start another adventurous journey, this time we would move Northern the Middle Atlas Mountains. It was quite hard to easily leave the city of Azrou since we’ve met some nice people and friends from America during the visit to this city. We took a taxi ride to the city of Ifrane, during the ride I was reading my favorite travelling book, when I was unexpectedly and strikingly astonished by the glamorous nature outside the window. It took me a while until I neglect reading the book I was reading. Either closed to the borders of Ifran or inside, you can watch many families coming from all over Morocco being hypnotized by the catchy sightseeing that spread the full area. I was amongst these people once I stepped outside the taxi. The only thing that comes in my mind was to take my digital camera and start taking miscellaneous natural pictures. We’ve solely visited the stone lion statue, large snowy public gardens, the famous river of Ifrane that comes through the city that was too icy, and the skiing area.

Immouzzer of Kandar

Immouzer: after I have had a very interesting time with my companion colleague during this trip, we both decided to move deeper into the North. We ordered a taxi to Immouzzer to expect another trekking trip different from the one we previously had. During the road trip, everything seems different from what we used to see: little by little the snowy edged Mountains disappear, no Cedar Forests, lack of lakes and cascades, but importantly the full of mountain caves, mostly known as Grottos. The thing that sounds crazy is when we asked people to show us where we could find rides to Immouzer of Kandar. All of them tell us, there is no place called Immouzzer of Kandar but only this one which is Immouzzer as most of people call it. Unquestionably we start to locate where this small village is on map, and then we walked east towards the mountains in the offchance to find what we are coming for. I can not tell you how extremely rough to climb this mountain up, full of trees, muddy ground due of the recent heavy rain, and dangerous brinks, but such these things were already listed in this trekking trip to expect. After more than 40 minutes of walking up we reached a very vast space on top of the mountain; we rested and took our travelling breakfast meal with the sound of different birds and the windy long trees. Suddenly a country Berber man appears, my colleague talked with him in Amazigh, and he advised us to get back from where we first came from, and take a ride in there to Immouzzer of Kandar. At least there is a man who believes there is a place called Immouzzer of Kandar. We followed him till we find the place where we should have a ride. The Town of Immouzzer to Immouzzer of Kandar: on a pick-up ride over the massive cloudy mountains of the Northern east Atlas, we’ve finally reached Immouzzer of Kandar. Luckily we met a very nice guy who willingly accompanied us to the place where there are grottos along side the mountains. The thing I can simply tell you about this place is the fact that natural resources are very hard to find. Real nature, simple and very few inhabitants, and kind and helpful people make this place like a very peaceful nest. Kids were extremely happy to see us and especially when I start snapping pictures for them.

Day Three

Day 3 Fez: after we’ve been trekking throughout distinctive areas in the Middle Atlas, now we move to an Imperial City called Fez. The latter is bigger than Meknes, especially if you already have a chance to visit them both. Serious travelers may notice that the city of Fez is like a maze, and getting lost is one of the most exciting options during the traveling experiences especially in Moroccan cities. We’ve luckily found a chance to have a free tour by an old friend who is officially a Tourist Guide in Fez. We spent a wonderful and interesting morning by visiting many historical sites where many things were well explained. Before noon, I have decided it would be another experience to visit some famous Bazaar shops to get helpful information. I took some interesting pictures that you can find as a video-picture design. After our tour has finished in the old Medina of Fez, we took a bus in Batha to the city where we visited the Christian Church, the public garden with a big wonderful fountain, then we take the train back to Meknes.

The Trekking Trip

A Trip Rapport in the Middle Atlas

The unique source of Moroccan beauty is mainly attached to its Natural fascinating places around the country. No matter how long your trip might last, your money pocket won’t complain the fact of excessiveness, and therefore your needs must be going hand in hand with necessary resources per a single day. With such transportation means everything seems easily handled especially in getting to the top of mountains which are sporadically covered by snow. In this period of year, the Southern of Meknes is seasonally snowy and makes excursions by foot more fantastic. For me, I did not have a car to make this trip less effort-intensive; I just decided to go trekking with a friend of mine, who is my colleague in Guiding Tourism Program, to draw the tour-line of the next coming trips alike.

The Barbary Apes