
Asni
Another full day excursion out of Marrakech, this time south
into the High Atlas Mountains and towards its highest peak - Jebel
Toubkal (4167 meters or 13,661 feet).
Morocco gets its power from many hydroelectric plants in the
mountains. Today was the first and only
dam
and hydroelectric plant we saw on the trip. When the dam was built
many villages had to relocate. The lake was very
clean. There was no one else around - no boaters, bathers
or campers. The guide said if we brought our bathing suits
we would be allowed to swim. Now he tells us!
Asni is about 50
miles south of Marrakech. It is the last town before
hikers journey into the
High
Atlas Mountain to climb Jebel Toubkal. The town still
has dirt streets and the usual donkey carts.
As we proceeded further into the hills, there was a
salt
mine where we were allowed to walk around and hear how the
salt is mined and processed.
About 12 km south of Asni is the village of Ouirjwane village.
This was our lunch stop
at a local home but before that we had a great
donkey
ride into the hills around the village. We even
stopped so Cris could help a women with her laundry.
On the return to Marrakech was a
new wide avenue where large new homes were being built.
The prices for the homes were like back in the states - $250,000
to $400,000.
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