From Chaouen, I boarded a night-bus to reach Marrakesh about km 700 away. I had reservation for a very friendly place, Hotel Ali (Rue Moulay Ismail, Phone: 044/44-49-79) and remained there for four days paying only $ 20 / day for a clean air-conditioned room with half-board and free email facilities. A buffet-style dinner was served on the rooftop. I had dinner and, the same time, enjoyed the panoramic views of the city. The hotel was quite near to Jemaa el Fna, the square famous for its nighttime food stalls and traditional entertainment. With the approach of dusk, one could see people making their way to the hot food stalls. One after another, acetylene flames sprang into life. It was a starry night, the moon came out to play the role it was designed for; to be the most magical of the thousand and one lanterns in the Jemaa el Fna Square.

Next day, I was awakened by the prayer-call from the 70 metre high minaret of Koutoubia, the spiritual beacon of Marrakesh. It was good time to see sunrise and also have a long walk. I had a city map depicting worth-seeing places. I only had to approach a passerby and put my forefinger on a particular spot. In a long-winded Arabic language, one would explain to me how to reach there and then point out in a particular direction. I only cared for the direction and move on till I was non-plus on the next crossing.

I spent one full day in locating the Majorelle Garden, only 7 km away from Ali Hotel. It had abundance of giant bamboo, yucca, papyrus, palm, cypress and amazing cacti with natural colours that contrasted vividly with bright blue façade of the villa. It was a place of rare individual expression and mystical force.

On my last day, I visited Menara. Set slightly out of town, Menara offered a pleasant escape from busy Marrakech. It had a rectangular pool that looked stunningly attractive with the towering Atlas Mountains in the background. A walk around the pool must be good for love as blushing couples were walking without holding hands, and most certainly without kissing.

I returned by the evening. It was delightful to feel the gentle caress of the light breeze on my cheeks.

On my way to Gorge Dades, about 294 km away from Marrakesh, I stayed for one day at Ourazazat (were-za-zat). There was a studio where Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars and Kundan, an India film, were partially shot. A little away was Aït Benhaddou, a village made up of several small fortresses.

I took a bus from Ourazazat to Boumalne where grand taxis were available for the gorge, about 35 miles away. I joined one taxi which ran on a serpentine road passing by picturesque villages in the Dades Valley. The taxi ascended on the hilly road gaining height as the valley got narrower and narrower. Finally, it squeezed to a gorge barely 6-meter wide where river and the road had to be separated by a small wall.

Once the taxi passed the gorge, the area become quite flat. I asked the driver to drop me at hotel Berber de la Montangne that was hardly 30 meters beyond the 310-meter high rocks. It was a nice place to relax and was surprisingly inexpensive: just $ 20 with sumptuous breakfast and dinner. I stayed for two days enjoying the beauty of the gorge and rocks changing colours with movement of the sun.

Merzouga After Dades, I returned to main road and took a bus to reach Rissani, about 387 km away in the Southeast. Merzouga was still 35 km away and I decided to take a break. While I was looking for a hotel, I ran into a guy named Abdul who was a resident of Merzouga. He convinced me to accompany him. I shelved my plan and went with him. The village of Merzouga lied beside the brown sand dunes. I felt a sense of timelessness in the still and silent desert unchanged since ages. In the evening, Abdul took me to a tour of the village. We watched traditional folkloric dance and listened to Berber drum music and songs. We had dinner at a roadside café: a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread, too hot to hold, as it was straight from the oven. At night, I slept is a traditional Berber tent made of camel hair. On the floor, there were hand-woven rugs, cotton pillows & cushions. It was a wonderful setting evoking images of the Arabian Nights.

Next day was reserved for a night safari. In the evening Abdul brought a camel. He ordered the camel to sit-down. I jumped on its saddle. Without warning, I lurched forward toward the ground, then rose several feet into the air as my camel stood up and started walking. Initially, I felt awkward but soon adjusted to the slow rhythm. After about 3 hours, we arrived at a camp-site in the middle of towering sand dunes about 120-meter high. We slept on sand in the open sky beneath the flickering stars in the clear desert sky and returned in the early morning.

From Merzouga, I dashed to Tinerhir, a picturesque oasis town with a lovely place to stay, Hotel Al Houda. While checking-in, the receptionist said, “You are a little early. If it were mid-September, there is no place on the earth like Imilchil.” I had heard the name before. It was a marriage-market where the women do the choosing.

The name "Imilchil" got engraved in my mind. But it was 110 km away, up in the high mountain with no public transport. I enquired around and found a van, with 21 passengers, going to the last village, Ait Hani, about 45 km away. I talked with the driver and he agreed to take me solo to Imilchil for $75 after dropping off passengers at their destinations. On the way, the van passed by Todra, a steep, narrow gorge with a swift river running through it. Two cliff walls, 300-meters high, rose out of rocky river bed just 10-meters apart. This was a gateway to High Atlas Mountain and the road to Imilchil was constantly rising, occasionally giving a glimpse of far-away sand dunes of Sahara.

About 10 km before Imilchil town, the van passed by a deserted village which only becomes alive at the time of the Marriage Festival. I envisioned aspiring young ladies with purple scarves approaching me with sweet voices like, "You have captured my liver”. (In Berber culture it's the liver, not the heart which is considered to be the location of true love.)

The Imilchil Town was pleasantly cool being at an altitude of 2,600 meters. There were few hotels. I got a room with clean woolen blankets for only $ 7. A free breakfast in the morning was a windfall. The town itself consisted of window-less red-mud houses matching with colour of the surrounding hills. I wish I could stay until Mid-September to try my luck in the marriage market but it was simply not possible. I left with a heavy heart next morning for Beni Melal.

Cascades Ouzoud

Sharing a taxi with a Belgium couple, I reached Ouzoud in about three hours. I stayed in a hotel near enough to hear the pleasant sound of falling water. After some rest, I went to the source hardly 50 meters away. It presented a spectacular view of water falling from a height of 100 meters. The falls were flanked by red-rock cliffs and bright green shrubs. Reaching the bottom had been made easy by staircases and paths. Down below, the falling torrent had formed a pool where one could swim or row a little boat. I sat at the edge of water sipping tea and watching desert monkeys begging for handouts. The view from the bottom was awesome. As water struck protruding rocks, spray bounced upwards creating a big rain-bow.