Welcome to Todgha Gorge!

Hiking and climbing in this post.

Actually, it was one of the places we liked the most during the whole expedition. Why? Keep reading :)

The road from desert dunes to Todgha Gorge was easy and not so long as the previous ones.

Todgha Gorge is a beautiful series of limestone river canyons, or wadi, as you noticed they are located in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains.

The canyon walls are magnificent, the height can reach up to 400 meters.

Okay, let's "walk" into the story :)

Firstly, we stopped at our hostel to leave the stuff there and change clothes for hiking or climbing. Just to let you know that I was going for a hike with a part of our group, but Yan decided to try out climbing.

As the weather was good it wasn't necessary to dress up warmly. The hostel was located really close to a climbing cliff and the path of hiking.

We started to hike, it was a bit tough for me because we had one man in the group who always was hyperactive (in a good way) :) I am a sporty girl, but let's admit, not like him :D we had a good tempo and 4 hours to hike 10 kilometers path till sunset.

Even though it was difficult because the path was uphill for 4 kilometers and I was sweating we still had time to take some pictures and boost our energy up with impressive views of something unseen and absolutely historical.

There is always a reason to smile, I remember how I felt when we were on the highest hill for the whole hike..goosebumps blending with an adrenaline and this mix of feelings makes you smile automatically.

Hiking has its power. If many years ago you would ask me let's go for a hike, I probably wouldn't understand the powerful meaning of it. Now when I enjoy it with all my heart, I feel the change..my body changes, my mind becomes fresh and my soul is happy. That is why you should practice it, it's a good way to get rid of negative emotions.

And views you see there are impossible, I was feeling like in the dream. Sheeps walking around, gladly I didn't need to count them :D

We couldn't miss the sunset and a lot of pictures there :) Actually, the only thing I could think about was yoga and meditation in that moment, but everything I could do was a pose with a wonderful view :D

What else seemed magical is the canyon floor which is mostly dry during the dry season, otherwise, there would be a small stream of water. Those dry paths are good guide for travelers and hikers like us.

At the end of the hike, I felt really tired but excited at the same time. Legs were in pain like after 2 days of nonstop leg day in the gym.
When we saw the small village rooftops from above they looked like in the book of fairytales :)

That's all from me and my hike, BUT wait, Yan wants to tell about his experience in climbing!

Todgha Gorge is heaven for climbers, so while my bravest bird in the world went on a hike, I stayed at the climbing spot to try my climbing skills.

Well, back in London I went to a climbing center for a few times, but indoor climbing is nothing like real outdoor cliff climbing.

Damn, this cliff was so high, higher then me after few joints.. :D anyway, when I stood there and looked up, I thought there's no way I can climb this wall. I'm just a beginner and for god's sake, I'm not a mountain goat, but well, if you won't try, you will never find out your possibilities, so I did.

Once you lay your hands on the surface of a cliff, you immediately feel it, your fingers find the smallest edges to grab on to, your feet find the place to stand on and a few minutes later you realize that you have climbed to the top.
It was an amazing experience and I truly hope that in the future I will concur more of those cliffs.
Always try to do things that you think you won't be able to do. It will make you stronger and more confident about yourself.

NEVER FORGET ABOUT SAFETY, this thing comes first. Nobody cares how confident you are if you're dead, so make sure you have an experienced partner.

After our day activities we met up only in the evening at the hostel.

For the first impression hostel was nice and as you see ... in Moroccan style :)

We went to explore our room and it was quite funny. As we told you earlier that the night in Morocco were a bit freezing, so we thought that it will be warm inside, but nothing like that! It was completely freezing even colder than outside and NO hot water. We weren't sad or disappointed, just had a good laugh and after 2 hours the hot water appeared, but not for long.

When I had a shower everything was amazing, but when Yan decided to have a shower the hot water just turned into a cold one :D

To make him feel better I warmed up the bed, unfortunately, my temperature wasn't enough and we just layed in a hug, trying to warm each other during the night. Only in the morning we understood that we could have been taken the sleeping bags from the van, but it was too late :D

In the morning all the bad things were gone and the sunlight woke us up through the window and we felt like in 5 stars hotel with a wonderful view.

Thank you! It was nice to take you with us to Todgha Gorge. I bet you can say now that Todgha Gorge is Gorgeous :))

The next post will be the main event of the expedition.

The Toubkal National park and climbing to the highest summit of Atlas Mountains. We are totally excited to share it with you, every step and every emotion will be shown. STAY TUNED! :)

With love,

Extreme Romance