Was bothered during the night by dogs barking. I think they bark in Arabic. They look like our dogs,but sound different.
Started out at 9am today and went straight to a coop where they say several Berber tribes from Morocco, northern Mali and northern Niger try to sell their carpets, knives, wood products and other stuff they make by hand. It was quite a sales presentation especially since I wasn't going to buy anything. The salesman has on the flowing robe and scarf or towel wrapped around his head. His name is Hassan and he speaks great English and claims to speak six languages. After showing me the wood and silver products, he takes me into the rug room which has hundreds of Berber carpets folded up and stacked around all four walls. He asks me to sit in an ornate throne and calls for his assistant to come in the room. This kid looks like he's 14 and is from the Sudan. They proceed to take carpets off the wall and unfold them and cover the floor with about 15 carpets. With each one he explains which tribe made them and how they were made. So on a loom. Some tied in knots. Some embroidered. Some a combination. He says that it can take a Berber woman 6 months to a year to make one. Kind of like you don't finish a huge jigsaw puzzle at once, he says the women work on the carpets as they have time from their regular day's work. Very entertaining and he's understood that I wasn't a buyer. Would love to know how many pitches he has to make to sell a rug.
Donkeys aren't nearing extinction. They are everywhere. Used for human transport, pulling wooden carts and plowing their fields. Yahja says they sell for about $300.
Then we headed for the town of Skouza to see the Amridil kasbah. Had a guide show me around and explain how people lived in them hundreds of years ago. He spoke great English and showed me many farm and household implements that we're found in the kasbah when the current owner bought it to preserve. The structure was about 5 stories tall and made out of a mud, straw and rock mix. This was before cement. The roofs/ceilings were made of straw and mud. Worthwhile to see.
Moroccan radio music is brutal. At least Yahja keeps the volume low.
Saw my first shepherd with a group of camels today. Looked to be a teenager with about 10 camels. Yahja says that this kid probably was in charge of taking them out of the enclosure at his house each day so they can graze in the desert. Camels are very valuable at $1500 per. They provide milk that is supposed to be healthy and shed their hair once a year and it is collected and sold.
On the drive down the Dades River valley to see the Gorge, I kept seeing clothes hanging in the trees on the river bank. Finally saw some women bending down and washing the clothes in the river water and then they were hung up to dry. They don't have enough water in their homes to was clothes.
Saw my first nomads today as we were driving thru a small village. Yahja says that they come down out of the mountains about once a week to get some supplies. They had mules to haul the stuff back uphill. He says they probably have 200-300 sheep and goats that they tend. They live in tents or caves so they can keep moving as their stock eats the bushes. I asked why they don't live in a house since they know that basic civilization exists and keep their stock at lower elevations and Yahja says it is because the grazing land in the mountains is free and they couldn't afford to graze near town.
We made it to the Dades Gorge mid pm. At its narrowest, its wide enough for the river and a one lane road. Made a video of going thru it that I will try to figure out how to send when I get home.
Sitting down for dinner now at Chez Pierre the guest house I'm staying at tonight. Will report on the meal tomorrow when we get to Zagora.
Houria. That's peace for you non-Arabic speakers.
