Half around the world in 8o days

This is a blog about living in Taroudant and travelling round southern Morocco from there. We don't live there in the summer but are usually there for 5-6 of the winter months. This year is different because we are going on our retirement Big Trip. We go for 80 days, not around the world because that would be too cliched, but halfway and back. We will visit friends in New Zealand by way of Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra, New Dehli, Hong Kong, Bali, Cairns and Sydney, and back by way of Shanghai and Suzhou. We will be back in Taroudant for May and then return for next winter. I can't blog about living there whilst away , so will suspend this blog until my return. In the meantime if you know me and want to check we're alive ,or if you just want to see pictures of blues skies you can follow my new blog on
http://magstravs.blogspot.co.uk/

Cacti Rule

The only plant that really thrive on the terrace are the cacti so we expanded our collection. Some of the ones we planted last summer are doing really well and are even coming into flower. We were feeling mean so we only bought some small planters and planted up more of the pots we inherited which Monsieur had as decoration in the back room. For the patio we bought an asparagus fern  and a swiss cheese plant, plants which would be houseplants at home butcan tolerate shade here. We wonder what will be alive in May.

The City Gates of Taroudant

Fatimzahra Bayda tells us of the Gates    

 The ramparts of Taroudant were built in the era of Mohamed Cheikh Saadi to protect the city against the attacks of the portuguese who settled in Agadir and other tribes that rebelled against him. He also constructed the gates which were and are still  the main entrances and allow people to have access to the centre of the city. In the past at night, they were closed and guarded.

   There are five gates and they are as follows :



Bab Zargane



You may have noticed I'm a gate short. I could not copy Fatimzarah's pictures. I had sent beloved round to take substitutes but can only find these. We are not always sure which to photograph because new "gates" have been punched through for roads.Fatimzarah lists

                                            Bab Oulad Bounouna
                                            Bab Le Kasbah
                                            Bab Zargane
                                            Bab Taghout        and
                                            Bab Lackmiss which I would normally write as Bab El Khemis.
I have earlier pictures I intended to use instead of Fatimzarah's but Google has changed the blogger programme so I cannot upload from the computer but have to put the pictures into a Picasso web album fisrt. Bah boo hiss Google. Some of us don't intuit new programmes we just want to stay with what we are used to.


The University

The University is a new building to the North of the market. It has been subject to much positive architechtural criticsm but although I was standing outside the surrounding metal fence the security were unhappy with me looking and taking pictures, which is sad as it is really a very good building.  It is part of the Ibn Zohr University of Agadir and is limited at present to more vocational courses; if you want to study English or Medicine or Engineering you would have to travel to Agadir
The links below lead to articles in Architectural journals.
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=19267

http://www.dezeen.com/2012/06/05/taroudant-university-by-saad-el-kabbaj-driss-kettani-and-mohamed-amine-siana/



Taroudant University



Taroudant University

The Walls of Taroudant

Mohammed Benbacki tells us about the town walls.

The Walls of Taroudant which are the perimeter of the feature of the city which was the capital of Morocco in the era of the Sultan Mohammed Sheikh Al-Saadi (The Saadian dynasty) in the sixteenth century.The walls were built for military purposes in order to defend the city against the attacks of the other tribes and the Portuguese.  They are interspersed with five gates :The Zorgane Gate, Elkhamiss Gate (The Thursday Gate), Oulad Bounouna Gate, Kasbah Gate, and Targhount Gate.  As I said before, the walls were used as a military base to control the region of the Souss Massa Draa as well as to ensure the stability of the commercial caravans between the north and the south of Morocco.Also, the caravans coming from the Sahara and Mauritania.

     These walls were built with the formation of solid walls using a large amount of lime mix rammed earth to give it strength and rigidity to resist against natural elements such as rain and sun.  Today, they arebeing renovated by the Ministry of Culture.

     These walls consist of one hundred and thirty forts and towers and a length of eight kilometers and have a thickness of up to six meters  surrounding the whole city.