No electricity again this morning. There are just too many of us using the limited supply.
We had booked to go on the journey to the 'Salt Mines' this morning, but when the transport arrived, second thoughts crept in.
There were two Bedfords, ours was the one with no tail-gate.
The locals began putting down cushions and mats and taking extra cushions from the vans, we climbed up a ladder and settled ourselves down as comfortably as was possible.
Some blue tape was wound across the back of our vehicle, and we set off.
We climbed and climbed high up into the High Atlas through lovely views, amazing scenery which became more barren the higher we went.
Our sister lorry, ahead of us on the road and on a hairpin bend, stalled and stopped. After a short wait we learned that the clutch had broken. No worries. Fifteen or so minutes later the driver and co-driver had it repaired and we were back on our way.
Turning off the road, after a while, we began the tortuous climb up a rambla, heaving and bumping over rocks and holes.
After about 15 minutes we passed a pretty waterfall from a Spring high up in the rocks which fed the ugly irrigation channel we had been following for a while.
Having reached as far as the lorry driver considered the lorry could go, we climbed down the ladder and began walking. The going wasn't easy and eyes needed to be fixed firmly on the ground.
Eventually reaching our destination in the middle of nowhere, we realised that to reach the actual mine opening, we had to climb high up on the side of the mountain. It looked and felt formidable. There was of course a donkey track or two which turned out to not be quite as perilous as first thought. Some people took a direct route up and some took a longer circular route and some didn't go up at all!
This is one of the most arduous ways to earn a living on the planet and in one of the most extreme and inhospitable environments on earth.
High up in the barren, lunar, volcanic mountains, this salt is dug out, chipped out by hand with axes as it has been for centuries then transported on donkeys all the way back along the wadi to the village where it is sorted and packed before being picked up and taken further. A terrible existence, a way of life that surely cannot, for much longer, continue.
One of the donkeys laden with the salt blocks making its way back to the village from a desolate no man's land. An extremely long walk.
On the way back, we stopped at an 'association' and unloaded all the biros, writing paper, clothes etc. that Ray had suggested would help the local schools and families.
We arrived back dehydrated, windburnt, sunburnt and very stiff and sore but with hindsight, yes, it was an amazing insight into another world that we would have had no idea existed had we not gone along. A million miles away from our own, comfortable existence.
On entering the campervan we found the battery charger hot on the table and the transformer for the pc burnt out. Chaos ensued. No one had escaped some kind electrical damage, quite severe and expensive in some cases.
The camp owners had brought in a generator in our absence which had sent a surge down the power cables.
It's very noisy outside. The locals have been jabbering and shouting all afternoon.
Now, they are preparing to bake a whole lamb for a special meal tonight.
We had already opted out of the meal when asked yesterday, preferring an earlier meal and some peace and quiet after the envisaged stressful day. As it turned out a fortunate choice because the expected choice, tender, lamb turned into the oldest, toughest, mutton that could be found.
A peaceful, uneventful night.
