6-7 April 2023, Taddert, 28.02km
Gîte d’Etape R271.15 [DH150]

Today's ride, at just 28km, was twice as long as planned, tiring and spectacular. We had hoped to break it into two 14km rides, but the Zerkten hotel was closed and we came on, therefore, to tiny Taddart, population 500. So comfortable is the hostel here, and so delicious the food at the associated restaurant just down the road, we have decided to spend two nights before tackling the last 15km to the top of the Tizi n'Tichka pass. Perhaps our tired bodies played a role in this decision!
We did mainly climbing, though had one lengthy and superb downhill run into Zerkten. My enjoyment was somewhat diminished knowing that every metre we dropped would need to be recouped. And so it proved. The road beyond Zerkten climbed steadily for 14km. In truth, the gradient is manageable, but not for us over the distance, so walking was required...
The road curled and twisted through jumbled mountains, following the Tichka river upstream, revealing now and then the biggest mountain behind all the others, still snow-streaked.
At one point a dog decided to enliven his day by keeping us company. He did not look like a stray, but took no notice of Charl's repeated huistoe (go home) exortations. Eventually we had to ask a couple of roadside vendors to corral him while we made our escape.
There were many vendors selling crystals today, each trying to persuade us they were light enough to carry on a bike. I don't know anything about crystals, but these looked too good to be true. Let me know what you think of the one photographed by Charl.
We were overtaken by a lone cyclist travelling light and moving fast, but met him this evening at the hostel and chatted to him over dinner. Belgian Greg, a high school philosophy teacher, addicted to cycling and running in mountains…
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We were christened Ali Baba and Fatima by Berber shopkeeper Hassan when we visited his store shortly before lunch. He lives 6km into the mountains, coming into town every day, a 90-minute walk each way, in the hopes that passing tourists will buy a Berber artifact. (Charl succumbed, with a little encouragement from me, to an ammonite fossil.) Hassan confirmed that the crystals we have seen for sale are "enhanced" and curled his lip disdainfully when speaking of city Arabs who took Morocco from the Berbers and converted them to Islam. Estimates differ, but approximately 50% of Morrocans are Berber (mainly small town and rural) and 50% Arab.
We lunched at a garden restaurant. When we asked for salt for our omelette, we were brought a saucer containing three condiments: salt, cumin and paprika.
All things being equal, we will complete the Tizi n'Tichka pass tomorrow. "The pass is 54km long, running north-south from Zerkten to Agouim. The road was built as a military highway in 1936 by the French. It features more than 100 turns."
Photos are of tiny Taddert, and Hassan's shop, and Charl's purchase.
Most but not all of the old N9 has been widened and upgraded and is indeed a joy. Short sections are still work-in-progress.