Tinghir lies on the southern side of the High Atlas in Morocco, where the river Todra runs out of the mountains and across a hard, red desert, and the contrast is startling. A long ribbon of palm trees follows the river for kilometres, with small terraced fields of barley, alfalfa, almonds and vegetables underneath, all watered by channels that have been in use for centuries. From a viewpoint on the edge of town, the green oasis stretches away between bare ochre hills, a strip of life in a landscape of stone.
The people here are Amazigh, the Berber inhabitants of North Africa, and the old way of life still shows. The houses of the oasis villages are built of pisé, a mixture of earth and straw that blends with the hillside, and many of the older ones are crowned with decorative towers and patterns. These fortified mud-brick houses, kasbahs and ksour, once protected families and crops from raiders and from rival clans, and some can be visited. The market in town is the place to buy carpets, silver jewellery and spices.
The Todra Gorge, about fifteen kilometres to the north, is the big attraction. The river has cut a narrow channel through the limestone, and the cliffs rise vertically for about three hundred metres, so close together at the narrowest point that the sun hardly reaches the bottom. The road runs through the gorge beside the stream, with barely enough room for it, and the walls glow orange and pink in the morning and late afternoon. The cool shade is a relief in summer, and climbers come here for the rock walls.
The road to the gorge is easy, mostly smooth tarmac with some patches, and traffic includes tourist buses, local pickups, donkeys and the odd flock of goats. Further east and south, the road drops toward the dunes of Merzouga across a long, flat, stony plain with few services and strong sun. Heat in summer is fierce, with temperatures above forty degrees common, so riding at dawn and dusk is wise. Winter nights can be cold, and snow dusts the Atlas peaks.
Tinghir has fuel stations, shops, cafés and many guesthouses. The tagine, a slow-cooked stew in a conical clay pot, is the standard meal, served with bread and sweet mint tea, and fresh dates are in season in autumn. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.