11 December, From Midelt to Tinerhir, 256 klm, 4 h

Today is a new day. Our plan is to go south-west, at Tinerhir. 

We don't have time to go to the desert at Merzouga, so our big stops from now on will be Tinerhir, Ouarzazat and Marrakesh. This itinerary, still involves a lot of kilometers as well as a lot of nice places to visit. 

Our morning was spent in the car. From mountain rocks, tunnels and canyons, to vast plains, we were enchanted by the variety of lanscapes we saw. Moroccans drive always like crazy, not respecting at all the speed limits and passing you by in narrow streets with low visibility. I took a series of small videos and photos throughout the road! Enjoy. 

Slowly the landscape became more and more red. Here are some pictures from the road.

After being on the road for some days now, we start feeling more comfortable, taking photos, enjoying the lanscapes... In the moroccan roads you always see police controls. As the locals in Dakhla told us, they are not here to control you, they are here for your safety. I think they have a role obliging moroccans to try to follow the rules a little bit. So the only thing you have to do is slow down, stop and wait for them to wave so you can move on with your journey. 

This time we didn't really stop, we let the car slide and mister policeman waved us to pull over. 

I think his head tilted "tourists, lets make some money"

Because we did not stop, he started his act. 

"Lets see your papers.

Ηe saw the papers, he made K. get our of the car and follow him... The police man clearly said "I could give you a speeding ticket but if you give me something, I could look away."

Ah good old corruption in it's finest!

We payed the fine and continued our journey.

After leaving our luggage in the hotel, off we go to explore the Tinerhir oasis and the Todra Gorge. The Oasis is very long, 48 kilometers and it is irrigated by the Todra river. This river gives the city life and is responsible for the amazing canyon. Stunning red landsape, with red towns and palm trees. I don't have much to say, the pictures show the amazingness of the place. 

On the way to the canyon I made a very very short film. 

It's time to go back to Tinerhir and have a look at the medina. It is near our hotel, five minutes walking distance. Once we approach the medina, a guy approches us. He has the same clothes as the guy in Midelt, berber headpiece and cloak. 

There we go again... He wants to tell us about his association and how he needs a bit of publicity. We say thank you and goodbuy and continue to go around in the market. 

He is following us from a distance. 

We ignore him. 

After an hour on walking around, we think he has dissappeared. No. He is still there. He has been following us all this time.

He approaches me once more to tell me he has a berber association and come with me and the only think I want is a little publicity. 

I say thank you, we are not interested. 

They are really persistent these people. I want to be a traveller, but let me be a traveller and discover my own path. I try to be polite but firm, set some boundaries. It is really tiring this persistance...

It is Sunday, so most of the shops in the medina are closed. 

The big market takes place Monday, tomorrow. 

So we go back to the hotel and go up to the 3rd floor terrace to take some pictures of the city.

Tinerhir is a beautiful city. Everything is red red, the buildings, the rocks... People are kind and tourism is not that heavy. Here, you really feel the authenticity of Morocco.
Tomorrow we will be heading towards Ouarzazat.