Morocco: Tazenakht to Taliouine

The hotel Cafe Taghadute turns out to be quite a pleasant place. The hotel proprietor is very attentive and the meals cheap. I sleep well after my long day. The next morning I leave at 5h45 and head for the next town of Talioune. The deviation out of town is on a dusty piste (track) which leads me onto the outskirts of the town making the going even slower. Once back on the road a new discovery. It is undergoing maintenance along another 7km of the road! The morning is very crisp and cold as I struggle to maintain a good riding pace. The road ahead looks good and for the next 23km the road is fairly flat before the first of the passes appears in the distance. The Tizi Ikhsane is 1650m high. It is still early and the higher I go, the colder it becomes. Once on the escarpment I leave the boring dried, barren landscape behind and ahead lies the lush green fields of olive grooves. The escarpment is fairly undulating and the climbs are long and steep in certain places. The second of the passes ,Tizi Zbein and in quick succession, Tizi-n-Taghatine 1886m high appears and one starts to climb, climb. There seems to be no end in sight and it continues one crest after the other until finally 15km outside the town of Talioune which one can see in the distance is situated in the valley below. One descends the escarpment plunging down at break neck speed and you arrive in town wind swept.

Talioune I discover is the saffron capital of Morocco. The harvest period is at the end of November and it is literally as good as gold they tell me. Apart from saffron production the other notable of this region is the harvesting of the world famous Argon oil. The trees grows abundantly in the rich mountain soil and the species is protected as it is only found in this region.

Argon oil is exceptionally rich in natural tocopherols (vitamin E), rich in phenols and phenolic acid, rich in carotenes, rich in squalene, rich in essential fatty acids, 80% unsaturated fatty acids[3] and depending on extraction method more resistant to oxidation than olive oil.
Argan oil is used for dipping bread, on couscous, salads and similar uses. The residue from traditional oil extraction is a thick chocolate-coloured paste called "amlou" which is sweetened and served as a dip for bread at breakfast time. It flavour is similar to that of peanut butter.
The unroasted oil is traditionally used as a treatment for skin diseases, and has found favour with the cosmetics industry. info from:wikipedia.org/wiki/Argan_oil