02 April Tata

We left Tafraoute early this morning, we were on the road by 07.30. It was quite overcast as we left and soon we were driving through smeary rain and some heavier showers. As we went through the mountains towards Ifrane de l'Anti-Atlas we encounted patches of dense fog and some difficult driving conditions. However by Ifrane the weather had cleared and got steadily brighter. Coming upon the oasis at Ifrane was such a surprise, the palm trees were striking as were the buildings along the oasis.  It was humming with activity and gave the impression of being a very vibrant place.  We stopped for a short break but decided not to go further into the ossis as we weren't sure how good the driving conditions would be and we wanted to reach Tata in good time to find somewhere to stay for the night. As it was the road was very fast and we were there by about 14.00, having covered 340 kms. We were a bit disappointed with the first part of the road, we expected to see much more evidence of the old caravan route, but nothing was obvious, we drove for a long time through rocky desert without seeing anything.
We had a wonderful stop in Akka. We turned off the road and drove up into the mountain villages. At Ait Rahal we saw a number of small lakes where women were doing their washing. Excavations were going on, presumably to improve the water supply for irrigation. The oasis was very green and abundant with palm trees. Everyone we saw was very friendly and waved and shouted at us. It felt so much like a sub-Saharan African village, like those we have seen in parts of Nigeria, Tanzania and Namibia particularly.
We continued to Tata and got a room at the Hotel Les Relais des Sables, the only other hotel in town which looked reasonable was fully booked. We spent a liesurely afternoon with our books and maps and a couple of beers. We strolled into the town to get something to eat, Tata is essentially a modernish working town. Everyone was so friendly and there was no hustling or hassle at all. The women's dress here is really fantastic. Most of them wear the traditional large black scarf edged with sparkles over their head and shoulders, but underneath they had swathes of skirts in vibrant colours. It wasn't possible to see if it was an actual skirt or long lengths of material wrapped and gathered around them. It seemed to be a sort of glazed cotton and in some cases a brocade. I saw one woman whose skirts were glistening gold.
A week in and we are enjoying Morocco, much more than Egypt. Islam is of course with us all the time,  but somehow it doesn't seem as overpowering and constraining as it was in Egypt. I notice it particularly in the attitude of the women, they are much more forthcoming. They smile and acknowledge us, and frequently greet us, in Egypt, outside large urban areas it was difficult to make eye contact with a woman.
Tomorrow we are headed for Tinfou. We had hoped to be able to take a direct road, a continuation of the road we were on today, the N12, easterly to Zagora and then drop down from there. We have heard different versions of whether that road had been surfaced and whether we could do it in the Dacia. We posted an enquiry on the Thorn Tree site and as a result of that information we have decided to play safe and take the long route, up to Agdz and then back down again.
We think we have booked a hotel in Tinfou, but with language difficulties we are not absolutely sure.