Asni Transportation

We left Marrakech early in the morning and went to Bab er-Robb, one of the gateways south of the medina. Only to find grand-taxis no longer go from Bar er-Robb (as all the guide books claim) but from a station almost 1 km away on Route No 501. (To get here, turn right out of Bab er-Robb, walk through one crossroads on to route 501 and shortly after and you’ll find the station).

At the station, we were told no grand taxis were leaving as there was a 48 hour strike. Apparently there had been 3 accidents in involving these taxis and the drivers had their permits taken. So the other drivers were holding a strike. We were told to come back the following day, which would have been a big inconvenience. Luckily, a bus was leaving for Asni so we decided to hop on this and it was good value to, at 20 Dh each.

This was quite a fun trip and as the only non Moroccans on board we were the object of some fascination. We chatted with lots of people on board and they were a really nice bunch. Two young Berber girls asked our names and introduced themselves to us and their family. There was a bit of a delay when one guy refused or didn’t have the money for the 20 Dh fare. Eventually I think someone paid for him.

When we were climbing over the switchback routes in the mountains, many people became very frightened and it was quote scary as there wasn’t much space between us and the side of the road, where there was a huge drop. The guy who didn’t want to pay his fare started the Call to Prayer which I think scared more people than helped them. The woman across from us was in hysterics.

But we made it to Moulay Brahim in one piece, and most of the bus descended there and wished us well for our climb. There seemed to be some festival at Moulay Brahim, involving lots of horses, so perhaps this explains the crowds on the bus. Asni was just around the corner and we arrived there in time for lunch.