After hiking the striking Dades Valley, we went back on the road to reach another gorge, the Todra Gorge. But before we stopped at a cooperative to learn more about Berber Carpet
We were first presented with the art of preparing tea
And then one of the woman from the cooperative showed us some of the steps to make a carpet. Hard work and lots of patience required!
Sadly, I found that the experience was tainted by the men presenting us the cooperative. I had not trust in him. And his mentions of accepting ‘plastic money’, credit card, MasterCard, Visa were not helping. I wish some of the women would spoke English as it would be more interesting to interact directly with them.
However their carpets were beautiful: silk, camel wool, baby camel wool, and mixes… many textures and a great variety of designs. All symbols have an explanation and it depends on the tribes.
Some of us bought some scarves being told they were silk but we later found that some were not. Our guide decided to return them later on our behalf. Misunderstanding at the cooperative or trying to rip us off, I don’t know… But I surely appreciated the effort from our guide.
After that we headed to the Todra Gorge. There is here an optional activity of rock climbing but none of us on the group signed up. This Gorge was not my favourite scenery. Maybe with a bit more time to explore you can find nice viewpoint, but from the main path at the bottom, I found it a bit boring.
That evening we had diner and slept at Hotel Kasbah Amazir. This is a very charming hotel. Dinner and breakfast were excellent and served on the terrace near the pool. With the sound of the river behind, it was very relaxing.
Attention, it gets cool at night and we had a memorable entering the swimming pool after the sun disappeared as it is not heated. I think the whole hotels around may have heard us!!! Lol
I went to sleep excited as the following day we were heading to the Sahara!
Do not miss my 7 favorite photos of my week in Morocco!
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