Editor Pick
Les Relais de Sable, Tata
- February 22, 2002
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Marianne from Eindhoven, Netherlands
Two hours have passed. The street is sparsely lit by a blueish light. Ocassionally a hooded figure hastens across the empty streets.
Moroccan winter garb: brownish-stripped djellaba, a peaked hood. There are like pixies, but taller, much taller.
How were we to know that preparing a tajine would take this long?
’Tajine’ we had asked.
’Yes, we have it’.
And we placed our order. How could we have known that preparations start from scratch: to the butcher for meat, to the market stalls for fresh vegetables. Wash, chop, cook. More than two hours have passed: our meal arrives.
A tajine is the equivalent of Irish stew, but not so moist. It’s prepared in earthenware dishes with tappered tops, and ideally made from fresh ingredients.
We walk through nightly Tata. We seem to be the only living souls. I shiver pull my jacket over my ears. It’s January, it’s winter and cold.
How different was this a few years ago when we were here in July. We did not order tajine then. Long after the sun had set the walls, the tarmac, the houses everything emitted heat. In summer Tata is one of the hottest places in Morocco. Until late at night the streets were filled with people; migrant workers who came back to their native town to spend the summer.
We were staying in Hotels les Relais de Sable. The rooms are built around a succession of gardens. A swimming pool, not much use in winter. Only one group of 8 jeep safari tourists. Tour groups like this place.
We had an ‘economy room’, which is a good choice for winter. The room is very small. It holds two single beds and in between there is about two metres standing room. There is a tiny bathroom, with hot water. After we had had a shower the room was comfortably warm as there was nowhere to let the hot steam out.
I would not recommend this room for summer. You are better off with a ‘superior room’, which is larger and has airconditioning. We paid 30 euros, which is too expensive for what we got.
If in Tata you might be better off in Hotel de la Renaissance, in the same street closer to the centre. It is slightly cheaper than Hotel les Relais de Sable and better value for money.
From journal Winter in Figuig: Kasbahs, Palm Trees and O