TODRA GORGE AND SOME RELAXATION

WEATHER: Hot and 37C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Arriving at our awesome hotel in Todra Gorge  

BUMMER OF THE DAY: A little ‘camel’ sore after 2 hours of riding

BUYS OF THE DAY: Nothing spectacular today

WORD OF THE DAY: Harumbrum – cheers in Berber

Well after falling asleep last night watching my second falling star, I slept quite well considering there was sand everywhere.  The blankets on our beds, our beds, our clothes and our faces were coated in the stuff, but that is just part of the ‘real life experience’.

We got up at 5.45am to watch the sunrise from some dunes close by the camp and at precisely at 6.20am we witnessed a stunning sunrise.  What a beautiful setting to watch it rise over the hills of Algeria.  It was very peaceful and to just be in that environment and in the desert was a pretty special way to start the day.

We left the camp at 7am for our hours trek back to the hotel to collect our bags and freshen up the best we could without actually having a shower and then hitting the road at 9am for our drive day to Todra Gorge.  The ride back was a little tougher than yesterday.  The sand seemed to be softer, so the camel hoofs sunk in deeper into the sand, meaning you had to hang on more so you wouldn’t fall off.  I got some great shadow shots of the group and I am glad we left early as the day was starting to heat up already at 7am!!!!  Saying good-bye to Jimi Hendrix and Mohammad and the rest of the camel caravan was a little sad.  Am I over my camel phobia?  I’d like to think that if another opportunity arose, I would be open to getting back on without hesitation.  I do say that now, knowing there isn’t another opportunity for the next couple of trips coming up anyways, so the likelihood that it will come up is low anyway.  I am glad that Issam pushed the point on me going, and he was right, it has been one of the highlights to date.

So bags and posse back in the van for our first section of driving.  Having a few stops along the way, a fossil place was one, where they had some fossils found from the area on display.  The roads that we are driving on today are not as good as the previous few days, so I can see why it takes so long to drive some distances, as we can only go 60km an hour and slower sometimes, it is very bumpy, even though I know Abdul is doing a good job avoiding what he can!

We did a road side stop in middle of no-where that has these ancient wells that were used long ago.  They are underground passages that carry’s water from the Atlas Mountains 50km away to different villages.  Each village had its own tunnel as such and they were constructed so there was enough room to stand below in the tunnel so that they could be maintained.  A pretty ingenious idea.  They are not used at the moment but there is talk of restoring them and getting some water back into the villages again.

Just before lunch we stopped at a museum at called Museum de Oasis.  It was pretty neat to talk a walk through the Berber history of the country, photos, writings and how their local life ran all those years ago.  We got a great view from the top of the museum, which is still part of a working village today.  The walls are almost 3m wide, which helps in keeping out the heat during their hot summer days and the walls are made out of mud and straw to also help with the coolness and I have to say it works.

ON the road again and for our final push to Todra Gorge, we once again got some great panoramic stops and shots, once again thanks to Issam for doing this, as we all really got some great photos today – they look absolutely magic.  WE arrived into our hotel at Todra Gorge and we are staying at a Kasbah (hotel) for the next 2 nights.

The hotel in Todra Gorge is AMAZING.   It is a Kasbah located in a valley, with cliffs that face the front and back of the property.  When we arrived, they had some of the staff meet us at the top of the stairs to help carry our bags to the hotel.  We had to walk down 2 flights of stairs, cross a river, climb another flight of stairs walk 10m and then climb another set of stairs, but what awaited us was like a slice of heaven.  There in all its glory was a POOL!!!  Oh yes, me the non-swimmer, will be going in there later this afternoon.  The hotel is quite large and there are plenty of seats, umbrellas and an outside section under a canopy for you to relax and take it easy.  I can see our 2 nights here are going to be well appreciated.  I need some down time and what a great place to do it.  The trip so far has been FANTASATIC and each day has bought something new, but at the half way stage it is always good to be able to recharge the batteries and get ready for the second portion of the trip.

The afternoon was spent with some guys playing cards, the gals had a swim in the pool and then I continued blogging, people slept and it was just a great lazy afternoon.  Anything that you purchase to eat or drink goes on a tap (an honest y system for the drinks) and then we will settle the bill in 2 day’s time.  Speedy was our ‘go to’ guy and he was just awesome and always had a smile on his dial.

What a great way to spend the next 2 days and looking forward to some R&R.