2 May 2023, Todra Gorge, 15.5km
Etoiles des Gorges (including breakfast) R400 [DH210]

What a special ride!
90km lie between Tinghir and Agoudal, the next leg of our route. According to Ride with GPS, the first 70km climb into the mountains, with over 2000m elevation gain. So, we divided the 90km into four short sections, doing only 16km today. In the next three days we will cycle 20km, 24km and 30km.
But first we paid a visit to a doctor who was quite a lot older than his rather dated instruments. Charl has been nursing an ear infection for several days and this morning finally consented to seek help. Our hotel host assured him there was no ear specialist in Tinghir, and walked us 300m up the road and up an unmarked flight of stairs to a doctor's rooms. There were several men awaiting treatment and a young woman manning reception and acting as the doctor's assistant. She took Charl's name and asked us to sit. I walked into the waiting room with Charl, but one of the elderly men there, in a language I could not understand, made it clear that I was to join the women in a separate room. The receptionist tried to intervene, but I was happy not to buck the system. Charl says when the doctor arrived a little later, he was greeted reverently by each of the waiting men. And then Charl's name was called first! Despite this making us a little uncomfortable, we were thrilled as we were eager to hit the road before the heat hit it. I explained the problem with a prepared text translated via Google, Charl's ear was syringed and a script for antibiotics and eardrops prepared and easily filled at the nearest pharmacy.
And then we got on the bikes and got on the road, riding beside the palmeraie in increasingly narrow valleys until the cliffs of the Todra Gorge towered above us. We had one walking climb before the valley narrowed, but otherwise found the terrain manageable and the entire ride a joy. There is water in the river, fresh and clear, and an intensity of green below the brash mountains, and birdsong from dense palm groves. There are houses and hotels and restaurants lining the road where the valley width allows. It is extraordinarily beautiful.
Our hotel is on the last bend before the gorge is at it narrowest. We took a walk along this section, which we will also cycle tomorrow. I have tried, unsuccessfully I'm afraid, to capture it in the video below...
It is cooler here than it has been for many days, such a relief. And I have developed a fondness for our little budget room. It has a cement floor painted red and walls painted pale gray and infused with glitter (waiting to see if they glow in the dark). The doors and four windows are painted fresh blue, the windows covered with cerise velvet curtains. And then there's the view... Not bad for R400.