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Gumbo’s Pic of the Day, January 23, 2015: Postcard from Morocco: A long and winding road...

 

Snaking precariously up the steep sides of the massive Atlas Mountain range as you leave Marrakech and head up towards the Tizi n'Tichka pass in the southerly direction of Ouazazate, the gateway to the Sahara and the red dunes of the great Ergs . You will enjoy many magnificent views and dog-leg curves as you ascend towards the col at 2300 metres. Quite why the roadside barriers appear small and insignificant compared with the vertical drop beyond, I struggle to imagine...

When you choose to ascend in 4-wheel drive, for better control, then you know these are 'serious' roads! A tribute to the engineering skills of the French Army Engineers in the early 1930's when they sought to link all points of their new colony for the purpose of "better government"...

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  • Morocco_24

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."  Henry Miller

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Yes, Garry, same with these. The tight curves, long drops and big lorries tended to induce a certain clenching sensation in the derrière...

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."  Henry Miller

Amazing piece of engineering.

Had a really long look at the road and I couldn't see any donkeys.

Just like the mountain roads in the Sierra Nevada, Spain which don't have the luxury of the walls at the roadside. Great fun on a bus with 6 inches to spare on those bends !

Mac, your photo reminds me a lot of the Hiram Bingham highway which winds its way up to Machu Picchu.  We walked in to Machu Picchu on the Inca trail the first day we were there, but the second morning took the bus up from Agua Calientes.  It was definitely a ride to remember.

 

 

Hiram Bingham highway

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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  • Hiram Bingham highway, courtesy Wikimedia/Martin St-Amant
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