Kasbah Tizimi

tea drinking

by hat53

The people are friendly and you are easily invited for tea. This can be in a shop or with people at home or at the street.
It is a great way the make contact and learn about the country.
We the owners of the shop, who were killing time, waiting for customers.

ERFOUD: GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH

by TheLongTone

Erfoud is largely a French colonial creation, the administrative centre fot the Tafilalt.

It borders the main road South from Er Rachidia , which proceeds on via Rissani/Sijilmassa to swing Eastwards to the Draa valley, running south of Djebel Sarhro.

The bus swings off the highway down the 300 metres of the town's Avenue Mohammed V and draws up in an arcaded square, on one side of which is the gated souq. There are cafes under the arcades, a handful of food vendors. In the middle of the square the drivers of the Grandes Taxis wait for trade by a tea stall.

That's about it. My guidebook is fairly dismissive about it, describing it as 'largely a staging-post for 4x4 trips into the desert'. I can't actually fault their assesment, but I rather liked the place.

Erfoud wasn't my destination: That was Sijilmassa, or it's sorry ghost, a few kilometres along the road. But I had started the day in Figuig, some 400 kilometres of road away, this was my third bus of the day and when it seemed that the bus didn't continue on to Rissani, we had to go in that bus, no that bus, I just thought 'sod it, I'm off the bus', shouldered my rucksack & swung off up Av Mohammed V in search of a bed for the night. The hotel was nice, the price was right and after Figuig Erfoud seemed a bustling metropolis, and I spent a pleasnt couple of days there.

"Dawn breaks over Ave. Mohamed V"

The street cleaner sweeps the pavements clear using a palm-frond broom.. Most of the Land-rovers have already left for today's run to Mergouza. Downstairs in the cafe the espresso machine is pressuring up for the breakfast cafe au lait.