9 hrs, 23.8 kms

Day Totals: 16 hrs, 31 .8 kms



The oasis is coming to an end. Btaha will probably be my last town, and then long stretch of open desert again. Btaha is quite a large town with long, straight alleys and a mix of old and new architecture. Everything is closed up for the noon hours—but luckily along the highway I find a restaurant still open where they serve me a rather burnt tagine… that's OK… better than nothing.


And then I’m off, across the vast open wasteland. But it’s not going to be another 20 kilometers of monotony. Soon I spot the spring that I’d been told about. At first it looks like some pipe must’ve burst, with water spurting high into the air. But no, it’s an artesian well creating a natural fountain. Nearby are other little springs bubbling to the surface, leaving mineral residues around. It’s a surreal sight—with no mountains very close you wonder, just dry landscape, you wonder, where does this water come from?

Right nearby is the Ziz River which flows from the Aoufous Valley on toward Arfoud, where it gets all used up for irrigation . Now it’s still a living stream, flowing through a shallow gorge across the treeless desert plain. It’s a comforting feeling to follow a river through a lonely desert stretch, knowing, where there is water, there is life… but eventually the surface gets too rough, and I head on back towards the highway.

As darkness sets in, I can clearly see the finish line ahead of me: the beginning of the Arfoud Oasis. I just have to get as far as Maadid, and I will connect with my other hikes, instantly turning this into my 10^th Superhike here in Morocco… one big step closer to officially finishing my venture of thoroughly exploring this entire country.

And finally the oasis begins… I reach Maadid, and look for a shop to buy a celebratory feast. The best I can find is 20 cent biscuits and a yoghurt drink. I really don’t want to take a step further. But it looks like there’s not much public transportation left, so I walk the last couple of kilometres to Arfoud, where I sit in a crowded café, order a fruit juice and call it a day.

My exploration of the East Desert Region of Morocco has officially ended.