2 hrs, 4.0 kms



I find a nice spot for a videoclip with a panorama of the lush valley and wooded hills beyond, and pause on the slopes to play my 5 songs—as there's another town coming right ahead . This time I figure I should do a little sidetrip to walk up and down its two dirt streets. Here the houses are modern but shoddy—none of the picturesque "frozen in time" feel of the mud villages out east. But it’s another culture to experience… I soak in the vibe of women chatting, hanging up their laundry… folks doing their shopping at the one or two local shops.

It strikes me a little odd that, even though nature has been much more generous to this region that it has been to the southeast of Morocco, folks don’t seem to be any more prosperous—in fact, I might say they seem poorer. I wonder how many of them actually own land and how many are just low paid farm laborers. Clearly this is one of the breadbasket regions of Morocco, but those who actually work the land don’t seem to be benefitting a whole lot.