Rockin' the Kasbah...in reality

Inspiration often comes on Sunday mornings...

My mom just sent me a picture today, that took me back:



Last summer my mom dropped by in Morocco to visit me for a weekend, we took the train down south to Marrakesh, gates of the sahara. But instead of going further south...we headed east, to the high atlas...berber land.


Journal entry from that day:

"Friday morning we took the 2hour grand-taxi ride to the High Atlas
(not where I had gone the weekend prior: the Middle Atlas further
north). The drive was great, 2 hours of continuous elevation, the
temperature dropped down pretty fast. Imlil (where the road
discontinues) a small Berber village at the foot of the Toubkal
Massif (highest peak in north Africa) was our destination.
Marrakesh was exceptional, but being in Imlil felt like we were in
a further isolated world. We stayed at the Kasbah du Toubkal
(Kasbah, arab version of a fortified castle, monastery) 15 minutes
up the hills from Imlil. My mom had some difficulties hiking up
there, so I put her up with the mule that was carrying our bags
(there's a funny pic of her on the mule). The Kasbah is great, isolated in the
mountains, it offers a splendid view of both the valley below and
the Toubkal which is a 2 day trip ahead. It was the setting for
Martin Scorsese's film: "Kundun",about the life of the Dali Lama. It was used to portray a monastery in Tibet. They have all the records in a photo
album...quite an interesting place. Cost a grip to stay there of
course, but they offered everything: sumptuous dinners, a vast
library about Berber history, live traditional Berber music,
hammam (Turkish baths)...I came to believe that I was royalty"

Merci, maman.