Above: View of ruined kasbahs and palmerie at sunset from outside my pension.
Unpleasant finish
I have the morning free before moving to Todra Gorge. It made sense to explore the beauty of the Sahara again with short walks in the sand. When the time came to pay my accommodation bill, I was presented with an unpleasant surprise.
The bill included a hefty charge each way for the transfer from Erfoud to here, and back. When I made the booking, I had enquired about the transfer (no public transport is available). They responded with details. They didn’t mention it was free, but they didn’t mention the price either. I hadn’t thought much more about it until the 4WD stretched to 45 mins yesterday morning. At the time of booking, I didn’t have any idea how far it was. We rang Moha, who had arranged my booking and transfer. The price came down slightly but it was still an unpleasant end to my stay.
Continuing to Todra
I felt ripped-off on the ride back to Erfoud. But worse things can happen in travel. I brushed it off as a learning experience and looked for transport to Todra Gorge. I waited for a shared taxi from 1245 and managed to depart at 1330. That was better than the bus at 1500.
Even though we had paid for an extra seat so as to go early, the driver stopped for extra passengers. We ended up having two passengers in front (including myself) plus five at the back. I gathered that our small extra payment couldn’t have been for the one extra seat (two original passengers plus one spare seat). Possibly a misunderstanding on my part.
At Tinejdad, I had to change to a bus to Tinerhir. Then at Tinerhir to another taxi for Palmeraie. I missed my accommodation at the Palmeraie House as the the taxi continued to the Todra Gorge. I had to pay for an extra sum to backtrack to the guesthouse. After visiting places like Syria and Lebanon, it really shows that here, money rules over kindness here.
My accommodation was lovely and spotless. Rachid and Doreen were my hosts. He was a local Berber in his 30s while she was English possibly in her 50s, and were apparently a very happy couple. I warmed up with a tajine for dinner followed by fruit.
It had started getting cold and it got even colder at night.