Morocco – Tinerhir

2015 March 21—–

We then headed to Tinerhir. The area is one of the most attractive oases in southern Morocco. We had a guide show us the terraced irrigated fields around the abandoned Berber village. The contrast between the lush green fields and the barren red rocks behind was quite stunning. We were then walked a short distance into town where the locals still build their own houses from mud.

We got a demonstration of carpet making. Irene participated in some wool carding. They also explained what the various patterns on the carpets meant – certain patterns belonged to certain tribes and represented everything from sand dunes to basket weaving. The Berber women making the rugs, for our viewing pleasure, kept their faces mostly hidden and we were told NOT to photograph their faces.

We actually bought a few smaller rugs and were having them shipped to London, where we were going to collect them before heading back to Canada. They were to be shipped DHL. A couple days later we called Len to ask if they had arrived. No. So we called the carpet place back to see what the problem was. They had some lame excuse. Our taxi driver at that time, Mohamed, took the phone from us and talked to the carpet man in the local language, in case we were missing something in the translation. When we hung up Mohamed told us to cancel the order as well as call our credit card company and cancel the transaction. He said they sounded suspicious. We heeded Mohamed’s advice. The carpet place was indignant. They kept calling and calling trying to promise us that they would be sent in a few days. We finally stopped taking their calls. Mohamed said that the carpet place paid a commission on any sales up front to our guide for bringing us to the shop. The guide won’t return the money so now the carpet shop is mad at us for canceling the order. The carpets we bought were already made, so all they had to do was roll them up and ship them. We think 4 days was sufficient time to do this.