Aroumd

Although we were nearly at Marrakech we turned off to go to the village of Aroumd, which is past the end of the road and high up in the mountains (2100 metres above sea level).  We left our main bags at the village of Imlil, loaded our overnight bags onto a mule then walked for just over an hour to our accommodation for the night.  

The mule guides taking it easy before getting our overnight bags.  They walk beside the mule once it's loaded.  Some of our group got a ride up on a mule.

While sitting in the shade of a big cherry tree we had the usual welcome with mint tea and we also had some lovely flat bread.  We were in a typical village, adobe houses side by side, cobbled narrow streets and being on the side of a hill this village had lots of steps.

The village of Aroumd

The houses are built on a steep slope

Next morning we were up sharp so we could go on a walk in the mountains.  At first we went down many steep steps to take us out of the village then we passed cherry and apple orchards before taking a track by a stream and shaded by trees.

Some of the steps in the village.  Mules negotiate steps like these.

 As we climbed higher we left the trees but fortunately the sun hadn't got high enough to appear over the nearby mountain.  Beside the track there was a mixture of wild flowers and those I could identify were roses with a very small flower, lupins, small orange poppies and purple iris.

Up in the mountains

The track was a mixture of stony path and rocky steps and many a time we had to step out of the way for mules to pass by.  How the animals negotiate the steps and rocks is amazing. 

You can see why we have to step aside let them past. 

We let them take the outside of the track.

 The track was the route to Morocco's highest mountain, Mt Toubkal (4165 metres) so many of the passing mules were carrying trampers gear.  After 90 minutes we reached the site of a shine at 2400 metres up.

Mt Toubkal in the distance

Here at Sidi Chamharouch there is a group of small shops & cafes near the shrine which is a big white stone (painted white) under which there is a sort of mausoleum with a so-called tomb of the King of jinns (Chamharouch.

Near the shrine

It is a well known place and frequented by Moroccan people and tourists.  Superstitious and uncultivated families bring patients suffering from mental diseases and slaughter a sheep, goat or chicken as an offering thinking that the patient is haunted by devils and will be cured by the sacrifice.

After a refresher of mint tea we retuned the way we had come.  By now it was rush hour with mules going down but we were now adept at moving off the track to let them pass by.

Just a couple of mules passing by.  Sometimes these are restrained the handler holding onto their tails and sometimes they make their way down with little control.  They are supposed to stop when the handler tells them to. 

After lunch we walked back down the hill to our mini van and headed for Essaouira.  Along the way we shared the dual laned highway with mules pulling carts,  goat herders grazing their goats on the median strip and I even saw a lone donkey walking along the median strip, how it got there and where it was going I don't know.

Just before we got to Essaouira we stopped to see how they turn the argan nuts ( the trees grow nearby ) into oil.  It appeared to be an age old process.  After it has been dried in the sun, a woman hits the nut with a stone to crack open the husk to reveal the nut then another woman takes the nut hits it with a stone to remove the kernel from the shell.  Next the kernels are ground using a hand turned stone grinder to extract the oil.  If the oil is for cooking the kernel is roasted before grinding while unroasted kernel oil is for cosmetics.

Women using stone grinders