The Seamstress

There is an area of the Arab souk containing a couple of score tailors'shops and some related suppliers selling thread, braid, ticking, ribbons, buttons etc. Most have a sewing machine but much of the work is done in the traditional manner by hand whilst sitting cross-legged. Maybe half a dozen of the shops are run by young women and they seem to prefer using machines. I generally try to use one of the women's shops if I want alterations for no better reson than latent feminism. (Which is a reason for eating at stall1 in Marrakesh). The pictures are of the alley where the seamstresses I last used have their shop. It is a bit of a back alley and all the stalls are tailors. It is used by the men opposite for winding thread which they attatch to a loop in the wall at one end;  you can see this in the photo to  the right and the old man sewing in the traditional tailor's croosleg sqat to the right. The garments in the womens'shop are typical of the day to day outer clothes worn by women who adopt arab clothing.



Winding thread in the tailors' alley of the Arab Souk Taroudant







A Stork's View

Confusingly the gate into the Kasbah is not Bab El Kasbah but Bab El Djedid but Bab El Kasbah which is near the Palais Salaam and the Hospital (ie. near the Kasbah rather than into it) is perhaps the most attractive. It is over the Avenue Moulay Rachid by far the widest and most impressive road inside the Medina where caleches queue for trade and you are able to climb onto the ramparts above the gate and see the town from the perspective of the storks which nest in the Kasbah.

Avenue Moulay Rashid from the top of Bab El Kasbah Taroudant



Bab El Kasbah Taroudant from the top





the ramparts from Bab El Kasbah Taroudant




The new 5 a side pitch from Bab El Kasbah Taroudant





A Caleche stand near Ave Mly Rashid Taroudant




The Kasbah from Bab el Kasbah Taroudant



Camels

Chum had a real thing about camels. She seemed to equate camels with the whole Morocco experience. She was estatic when we arrived and on our way into town there was a herd of camels grazing by the bridge. I was not sure how she felt a couple of days later when we visited the tanneries and they seemed to be processing a fresh herd-size batch of camelskins.
chum bought a camel sculpture at the stone carvers and had to be walked away from the stuffed leather camel stall. The highlight of her trip was in Marrakesh when we took her for a camel ride. I kept her away from the butchers, thakfully we were not in Fes where an encouter with a dead camel head on the butcher's stalls in the souk would have been unavoidable.



camel skin await processing at the tannery




Pushme -pullme Marrakesh



and ne'er a drop to drink

The water was off this morning which was ironic given the weather the last 3 days. I couldn't wash up..sob..crocodile tears. Unfortunately it came back on later.
The weather has been  very Welsh. Generally this year precipitation has been high. The talk , with some satisfaction is that this winter the rivers in the Atlas have never run dry. There have been several periods like now of steay indeed stair-rod rain for 3 or 4 days leading to bridges being washed away. There has been fresh snow on the Atlas this weekend. Yesterday the dam was so full they had to release some water to prevent a risk of failure.
We went out to the main bridge to take some photos.The causeway was acting as a dam itself with water like a wide lake upstream and pouring through the sluice.