Morocco – Dades Gorge

2015 March 21 —–

We stopped for an evening photo opportunity at the start of the Dades Gorge. The gorge lies between the Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains. Berbers built many kasbahs in the vicinity of the gorges with defensive purposes. Today it is more of a tourist attraction for its amazing beauty. The contrast between the high red clay cliffs and brilliant blue sky is breathtaking. At times we were sandwiched between the cliffs which made the contrast even more distinct.

We spent the night in the Hotel du Vieux Chateau du Dades, with the most beautifully tiled public bathrooms we had ever seen. It was nearly dark by the time we arrived. When we checked in, our room was nearly freezing cold – no exaggeration, my thermometer registered just above zero. We went back to the lobby and they gave us a remote for the A/C heater. We turned it on as high as it would go in the hopes that the room would be warm by the time we had dinner. We had our tajine dinner and were anxious to get to bed. It had been a long day of travel. Our room had only warmed up a few degrees because the ceilings were about 3 meters high and all the heat went up. Thankfully there were a few heavy extra blankets. We slept with our clothes on and fell fast asleep. There was a small river just outside our window and the sound of it was a lullaby to our senses.

The next morning we had some time to wander around the hotel while everyone was getting their breakfast eaten and bags loaded. We then could see how the hotel was stuck right in the middle of a huge gorge, with the river beside it. There was a building high on top of the gorge, not too far from where we were situated.

When we were all loaded up we headed up the road toward the building on top of the gorge. And up it was! The road was a series of violent switchbacks and ridiculously steep. Any barriers along the edge afforded little more than token protection. We were driving just centimeters from the side of the mountain,and there was no form of barrier to keep us on the road if anything were to go wrong… This winding road is frequently included in lists of the top 5 most dangerous roads. We were all more than a bit apprehensive as the grinding brakes were still making noise and still smelling burnt. We made it to the top, stopped for some amazing photos (only long enough for the driver to have his smoke) then headed back down the switchbacks. Going back down the switchbacks was even scarier than going up – now we could see just how high we were! The building that we saw way up there from our hotel was actually a hotel clinging to the side of the cliff like a barnacle. I think it would be a fantastic spot to spend a night. I didn’t get the name of it, unfortunately.