Lookout for Landslides

Breakfast this morning was in the hotel's restaurant for an extra 20 dirhams each, but it was not as comprehensive as others we have enjoyed. Still, we knew we had a fairly demanding drive ahead of us today - up and over the famous Tizi n' Test pass - so we were keen to get as early a start as we could. We topped up with fuel on the outskirts of town (though we probably didn't need to) and since they only took cash we then doubled back to hit an ATM before setting out.

The road approaching the High Atlas.

We were underway by 10:00am and the first 20 kilometres or so was all on the flat as we approached the High Atlas mountains ahead. Then we began the climb, from an altitude of 490 metres at Oulad Berhil to 2,100 metres at the top of the pass. At first the road was pretty good - a smooth road surface with wide lanes plus a concrete shoulder of about another metre on the hairpin bends. Gradually the roadway became narrower and the shoulders rougher. Nearing the top of the pass the sealed roadway was little more than one lane wide and quite rough in places - no doubt a consequence of the heavy snow that can block the pass in winter.

View on the way up.

The road near the top.

Meanwhile as we climbed the pass we took advantage of every lookout on offer (six) to stop and admire the view. At one of these stops a man showed us some pretty amazing mineral samples. One was hallow with green crystals on the inside, a bit like the halves of a paw paw. We have seen lots of mineral rocks and fossils on sale by roadsides and in market stalls throughout Morocco, due to the fact that the area was once at the bottom of a shallow sea. And possibly aided by some judicious marketing!

By 11:40am we had reached the top of the pass on the Tourandant side and stopped for a final look down at the road we had climbed. Five minutes later we reached the Marrakech side of the pass and stopped again to check out the view before beginning our descent.

View down southern side.

View down northern side.

From there is was to be pretty much all downhill to Marrakech with a lot of winding road still to go but no so many of the precipitous hairpin bends we had negotiated on the climb up. So we were feeling good about having put the worst behind us.

A gravel flow quickly blocks the road.

Or so we thought. On our first downhill lookout stop we heard some thunder but it was still very sunny. Not longer afterwards though the heavens opened. Luckily there was not much traffic to contend with as we continued cautiously downhill. At about 12:40pm we paused briefly to watch some storm water gushing across the road. A couple of hundred meters later I paused again to take a photo of a small waterfall forming on the uphill side sending a large volume of water across the road when the large volume of water turned into a substantial flow of gravel. Within a matter of seconds it had covered the road to a depth of at least 30 centimetres blocking both our path and that of the water streaming down the road. As the water banked up I reversed a bit so as not to be stuck in the bank up of water. Shortly afterwards, as the depth of the gravel flow passed a metre in height the combined weight of the gravel and the water caused the bank on the downhill side of the road, and part of the roadway itself, to collapse. This at least gave the water streaming down the road somewhere to go. It didn't help us though as the wall of gravel that had washed across the road made it completely impassable.

The collapsed bank allows the water to drain.

Laura standing on the road block.

The water drains through the collapsed bank.

We pondered our options, which didn't seem very attractive. We had no phone service on my Orange Mobile SIM so we couldn't call anyone even if we knew who to call; there was no other road down the mountain; and the only other way to Marrakesh was a detour of at least 400 kms and seven hours back over the pass and around via Tourandant - if the road back over the pass was even open.

Thinking we might at least find somewhere to get some lunch we turned around and headed back up the mountain. We didn't get far before we encountered a van coming down whose driver paused to indicate that the uphill road ahead was blocked. I tried to indicate the same fate awaited him downhill but I'm not sure he understood. Anyway we figured we might as well turn turn around and follow him back to the landslide since we could see gravel across the road ahead as well. Back at the landslide the blockage was now about two meters high on the uphill side. So there we were, second in line at the landslide with no idea how long we'd be stuck there - or when we'd even be able to get some lunch!!

A motorbike is manhandled over the blockage.

Conversing in broken English with a passenger in the first van he indicated that this happened "a lot" and he seemed confident the relevant people knew of the problem and that it would be fixed in "an hour or two". This was somewhat reassuring but we were not sure if the suggested time frame was measured in regular hours or "mountain time". Still the rain had stopped by now so we explored the blockage from both sides and took some photos. It was evident that the road was not closed to everyone as we saw a few motorcycles manhandled over the soft gravel on their way uphill or down.

Some sustenance!

Time dragged and tummies rumbled. We spotted some people using rock on the road side to break open something to eat. We made some enquiries and it turned out that there was a walnut tree nearby. They kindly broke some open for us to share. We also saw some guys eating some fruit from a nearby tree and asked them what it was. It turned out that they were small fig like fruits that actually tasted OK. We managed to collect some, but Laura became a bit distressed when one guy started splitting open some from her handful and throwing most of them away as being unsuitable, for some reason that wasn't evident to us but was probably that they were over ripe for his taste.

No long after this - and almost exactly two hours after we had seen the landslide form - I heard the telltale beep-beep sound of a heavy machine reversing from somewhere not too far down hill of us. On a curve in the road below I also spotted what looked like part of a backhoe and hopes were up that help was at hand. We walked over the blockage to see what was coming and just after we did we spotted a front end loader come around the corner, clearing gravel off the road as it went. The driver passed us and went straight to work on the major blockage, which in the end took him no more than five minutes to clear. We're pretty sure he'd done this before, as he scooped loads of gravel and dumped them into the pit on the side where the road bank had been washed out.

Laura cheering the arrival of the rescue.

Clearing underway.

Almost done!

We jumped back into our car eager to be on our way ASAP, but with only one lane open had to wait a couple of minutes for the stream of uphill traffic that was following the front end loader as he continued up the hill. Finally it was our turn. For the next little while the driving was pretty intense, with a long line of cars behind us (some of whom were keen to go faster than I thought prudent), intermittent rain, and oncoming cars on what was still a fairly narrow and oft times rough road.

Gradually traffic thinned out, the rain stopped and we looked forward to getting some lunch at Ouirgane which seemed to be getting nearer at a maddeningly slow pace. When we did reach Ouirgane though it was a major disappointment as we saw nothing even vaguely lunch-like on the drive through - perhaps the main part of town was hidden off to one side or the other. The only option was to continue on to Azni another 10 kms down the road. Here at least there was a main street with little eateries where, at about 4:30pm (over 90 minutes after we had been freed from the landslide), we were able to procure some long overdue lunch.

From here it was only another hour or so of increasingly flat and straight roads to Marrakech. What more could go wrong?