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Documentary, Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure Part: 1
#Morocco #Documentary #Timbuktu #ArabianAdventure
#Morocco #Documentary #Timbuktu #ArabianAdventure
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TravelTranscript
00:00the Sahara Desert Mali home to one of Earth's most mysterious and legendary places Africa's
00:12fabled city of gold Timbuktu my name's Alice Morrison I'm an Arabist and Explorer I live
00:26in Morocco and since childhood I've dreamt of making the grueling journey across the Sahara
00:32to see this ancient city before it's lost forever to sand and war I love touching history in this
00:44series I'll track 2,000 miles following ancient trade routes often known as salt roads across
00:49some of the world's most hostile lands Timbuktu is at the center of all these trade routes and I
00:56want to follow them and find it and see what's there I'll pass through some magical places that
01:02time has barely touched relying on the hospitality of Berber nomads and I'll come face to face with
01:16some frightening modern-day realities I'm gonna just feel quite nervous traveling deep beneath
01:23the veil into the heart of ancient and modern North Africa I'll discover its incredible forgotten
01:29history on route to the legendary city of gold Timbuktu
01:34the Mediterranean Sea Mare Nostrum the basin of civilization my 2,000 mile journey begins here behind me Europe
02:03ahead of me Africa ahead of me Africa and an intoxicating mix of new experiences danger and untold wealth
02:11first stop the historic trading port of Tangier on the northernmost tip of Morocco I'm trying to
02:20imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago when you had ships here in full sail stuffed to the
02:25gunnels with spices with ostrich feathers with metal with wool from Manchester I wonder what it would
02:31have been like if you're a merchant in those days coming across some cold rainy Europe and seeing Tangier
02:36glinting in the distance this promise of Africa for centuries merchants have crossed these waters seeking the
02:49fantastic riches of the african continent
02:52well I can come to see you now
02:53well they're already
02:58Tangier was founded in the 5th century BC and has always attracted adventurers pirates and even spies
03:05it's where European merchants would have encountered the flow of gold from the south for the first time and
03:13and it's my first leg of the journey on the original trade routes that brought it all the way from Timbuktu
03:23this city is full of treasures and in a small bookshop I found a reproduction of the most important map of medieval times the Catalan Atlas
03:32it confirms Timbuktu's reputation as the gold capital of Mali and of Africa
03:39you can see very clearly the king of the kingdom of Mali sitting there on his throne with a great big nugget of gold in his hand and a huge gold crown in his head
03:47this is Mansa Musa King of Mali and stories of Timbuktu's fabled gold began to spread during his reign in the 14th century even today he's said to be the richest man in history
04:06there's an inscription on the map so abundant is the gold found in his country that he is to be the richest man in history
04:12and most noble king in the land
04:19800 years on modern gold traders still thrive here
04:26I'm dying to touch the real thing to find out why it was so prized
04:31so I'm meeting Maha Alwani an expert in Moroccan antiquities
04:36much of the gold was used to mint coins and she has an ancient one to show me
04:43here are some inscriptions saying that it was from the Marinette dynasty of the 15th century
04:48gold came from the sub-saharan Africa through the trans-saharan trade
04:53and this is evidence of that it landed in Morocco
04:56so do you think this coin might have come through Timbuktu?
04:59yes of course most likely it did come from Timbuktu
05:02yes
05:03I would say that it was probably the most important crossroads for gold
05:07it's very exciting for me I feel like I'm touching history
05:10you are yes you are touching history it's in your hands
05:16I've got gold fever
05:18I can feel how its allure drew the merchants of old to make the journey south to Mali
05:23and the city of Timbuktu
05:29the roads they've forged are the very ones I'm going to travel to
05:34this is going to be my bible
05:37absolutely invaluable
05:39it is a map of all the major trade routes across the Sahara
05:43I think the journey is going to take some doing
05:46I think we're going to have a lot of fun in the Atlas Mountains
05:49because that is a big big natural barrier
05:51and each of those mountains is three times higher than Ben Nevis
05:54so it's quite a difficult thing to get across
05:56and of course then it's all the Sahara Desert all the way along
05:59and that is going to be another major thing for us to cross
06:02and then the routes, all routes lead to Timbuktu
06:06it's not difficult to see why Timbuktu became a mecca for gold traders
06:11it was surrounded by gold mines
06:14but the merchants didn't just deal in gold
06:17there was a huge trade in slaves, leather goods, ivory and also in salt
06:24back then it was the only way to preserve food
06:27it was almost as valuable as gold
06:30and that's why many of these routes were called salt roads
06:34so the gold went north and then the salt came south
06:38and they met in El Dorado, they met in Timbuktu
06:41it makes perfect sense when you look at the map
06:48the next place I'm heading on my desert odyssey is Fez
06:53five hours drive away, it's where many merchants started the long trek to Timbuktu
06:59to get to Fez, I'm going to use one of Morocco's most popular forms of transport
07:06the Grand Taxi
07:09there's a taxi rank in every city with old Mercedes going in all directions
07:14and it's one of the cheapest ways to get around
07:17if you know the tricks of the trade
07:20first, you have to find one going your way
07:25then, you negotiate your fare
07:30so, what's the fare?
07:32what's the fare?
07:33what's the fare?
07:35what's the fare?
07:37what's the fare?
07:38no, great
07:39but if you can find another traveller to share the back seat
07:42you can split the fare
07:44having found a travel buddy to share the cost
07:50we're whisked out of town towards the coast road
07:55it turns out my fellow passenger Dries is a trader himself
08:00he's going to Fez to buy artefacts to sell to tourists
08:05say you buy a dagger for 150 dirhams
08:08a dagger for 150 dirhams
08:10how much would you sell it for?
08:11sell it where we profit 5 euro
08:13where we profit Sunday, you profit 10 euro
08:16Sunday, you know, profit nothing
08:18that's my business
08:19and which country spends the most money?
08:22which one?
08:23American people
08:24oh, yeah
08:26it's profit, they have plenty of grand parts
08:34we're travelling south along the Atlantic coast
08:37and I'm enjoying a comfortable ride with Dries
08:40but on such a long journey
08:42it's customary to pick up other passengers along the way
08:45ohhh
08:46it's good
08:47what's the end?
08:48what's the end?
08:49the end of the day
08:50the end of the day
08:51the end of the day
08:52the end of the day
08:53the end of the day
08:54the end of the day
08:55the end of the day
08:56and just when I'm thinking 3's company
09:01it's getting a bit cosy in here
09:03I'm in here with two dresses and an off van
09:07my fellow passengers make for charming company on the long drive
09:24and ahead of me lies a city with a charm all of its own
09:27and a history of welcoming travelling merchants through its gates
09:46Fez, the ancient capital of Morocco
09:49dating from the 8th century and the oldest of its 4 imperial cities
09:56it's said to be surrounded by springs
09:59providing travellers with the supply of precious water
10:02and between the 8th and 16th centuries
10:06Fez grew rich from the gold and salt traffic coming across the Sahara
10:11its old medina or walled city is the biggest pedestrian zone in the world
10:20and it's full of narrow streets where life remains seemingly untouched by modern times
10:29once traders finally got here from Timbuktu
10:32they needed a sanctuary where they could rest, wash, feast and store their goods
10:37they would stay in a caravanserai
10:40a motel with camel and mule parking
10:45so this is a caravanserai
10:47I guess you'd have put your camel or your donkey
10:50in these little rooms in the past
10:52and then kept down in your B&B
10:54the space is still occupied by traders
10:58As-salamu alaykum
11:02The building was last used as a caravanserai more than 80 years ago
11:17but there are tantalising bits of evidence of its original use
11:21What's the place?
11:22How's the house?
11:23Here?
11:24Here?
11:25Here?
11:26It's the house
11:28That's the house
11:29Here?
11:30Here?
11:31Here?
11:32Here?
11:33Here the animals
11:34And here?
11:35Here?
11:36Here?
11:37Here?
11:38Upstairs was a safe place for weary merchant travellers to rest
11:46Luxurious in comparison to where they'd been,
11:50Berbers, Arabs and West Africans all would have stayed together,
11:54vying for the best traveller's tale.
11:58The atmosphere here is absolutely fantastic.
12:01You can actually feel the history.
12:03600 years old, relatively unchanged.
12:06OK, it's different downstairs because that's where the animals would have been
12:09and now there's trading goods.
12:10But up here you've got little girls sitting there drinking tea,
12:13you've got their mamas doing the washing.
12:14It feels like I've gone back in time.
12:18I've decided I'm going to bed down here for the night
12:21to get a feel for what it was like centuries ago.
12:26Just a sleeping bag.
12:29I've brought with me some writings from travellers and adventurers
12:32who've trodden this perilous path before me
12:35to help bring these ancient journeys to life.
12:39It is more profitable and advantageous for the trader
12:43to export his products to a distant land and take a dangerous route.
12:48In this way, the distance and the risk incurred
12:52will give a rare quality to his merchandise
12:54and thereby increase its value.
12:57This is why the wealthiest and the most prosperous merchants
13:01are those who dare to go.
13:03I've just woken up, five o'clock, the alarm's gone off
13:18because I want to get up and see the dawn rising for Fez
13:22and hear the call to prayer.
13:24It's very, very, very cold.
13:27But I think my first night in a caravan's ride,
13:29I would say it's not been at all bad.
13:32Fez is known as the spiritual capital of Morocco
13:50and Islam was first brought to the country
13:53by the Arab invasion in 682 AD.
14:02It spread to the native Berber tribes
14:04who went on to form Islamic kingdoms.
14:06I always find the early morning call to prayer very moving.
14:20Prayer is better than sleep, the muezzin says
14:23in the Idhan al-Fajr, the dawn call.
14:27The five calls a day frame life in Morocco.
14:30Hasten to prayer.
14:31Hasten to salvation.
14:33Dawn reveals ancient tombs left behind
14:40by the Marinid Empire,
14:42which flourished in the early Middle Ages.
14:47They shaped Fez's religious and academic reputation.
14:52The city has 14 theological schools
14:54and the world's oldest university, the Kairouin,
14:58founded in the 9th century by a woman, Fatima al-Fihri.
15:01It's amazing to think that while Europe
15:04was languaging in the Dark Ages,
15:06this was the centre of learning.
15:07Philosophy, mathematics, religion and law
15:10were all being taught here.
15:12And then, years later,
15:13all that knowledge went back across the Mediterranean Sea
15:16into Europe and in Fondra and Esthals.
15:24There's an old Moroccan saying,
15:27manage with bread and butter
15:28till God brings you honey.
15:31Every neighbourhood has a communal bread oven
15:34where people take their dough to be baked
15:37and it's hardly changed since the Middle Ages.
15:40I'm meeting a friend at one of them.
15:42Oh, my God.
15:45How are you?
15:48Najat Kanash is a Michelin-starred chef,
15:51a Berber from the Moroccan mountains.
15:52How are you?
15:53I'm good.
15:55How does it make you feel?
15:56Beautiful smell.
15:58It reminds you of home.
15:59Aromas.
16:00Home reminds you to childhood for me.
16:04Like, little, when I was little.
16:05Yeah.
16:06Look.
16:07Amazing.
16:09Warm.
16:10This just happens here.
16:12Let me cut it.
16:14The power of bread.
16:15Wow.
16:15Najat is one of the world's top chefs.
16:20She worked in Spain's famous El Bully restaurant.
16:24She's come back to Fez to open one of her own.
16:27Look at all the sausages.
16:28Sausages.
16:29That's like haggis.
16:30Look at this.
16:31Beautiful.
16:34And she's bringing back the kind of food
16:36that merchants in the Middle Ages would have eaten,
16:39but with a modern twist.
16:40Here we are.
16:42This is the one.
16:43Oh, okay.
16:44Here we go.
16:44Oh, my God.
16:45Oh, my goodness.
16:46Our friend Kamel has a little grin in the face.
16:53Oh.
16:54Wow.
16:55So this is the...
16:56Look at the meat.
16:57It's really super beautiful.
17:00And it's really, really lean and delicious.
17:02You wouldn't think this.
17:04You would not think that this meat is like...
17:05People think of a shamel being something very dry.
17:08Yeah.
17:09But no, it's very soft.
17:10Look at the...
17:11Amazing from the back.
17:15Oh, my goodness.
17:16It's very unique, this.
17:18That is the Kamel milk.
17:19Yes.
17:20Very, very unique.
17:21Yes.
17:22Oh.
17:22Apparently, Kamel's milk was a popular drink
17:26with Trans-Saharan traders, too.
17:28So, of course, I have to try it.
17:30Bismillah.
17:35Oh, it's delicious.
17:36It's absolutely delicious.
17:38Oh.
17:38Oh, it's sweet.
17:39Let's eat.
17:40Oh, it's delicious.
17:41Oh, it's delicious.
17:42Oh, it's delicious.
17:42It has medicine.
17:44People believe, and they have been using it for a long time.
17:47Amazing.
17:48The Kamel meat, Kamel fat, Kamel belly.
17:52Oh, it's a, it's a, it's medicinal.
17:59Safi.
17:59Safi.
18:00And that, we're going to use like the, the part that you use when you cook some meat.
18:10We're going to, it's going to get a little brown, magically.
18:13Yeah.
18:16And with two kilos of prime camel, it's often a Jat's newly opened restaurant, Noor, to cook
18:22up a Trans-Saharan feast.
18:25So, here we are.
18:26Oh.
18:27It's a home sweet home.
18:28Very incognito.
18:31Be careful.
18:32Okay.
18:33It's my very own MasterChef.
18:36I'm helping the Jat to prepare today's special, Kamel meatballs.
18:40I thought it was going to smell horrible, but actually, well, it certainly smells nice.
18:45Now that we're doing this, look here.
18:47Yeah.
18:47I have my fermenting, uh, uh, uh, Kamel milk that, uh, is already a week and it smells.
18:56Look, that smells.
18:57But this is going to, it's going to make a beautiful, magical, oh my God, look at her face.
19:02Everything good.
19:03It smells horrible in some point, okay?
19:06That's true.
19:06Yes or no?
19:07Even me.
19:07Even human beings.
19:09So, in the times of the great trade across the Sahara from Africa to Fez, when the merchants
19:15arrived at Fez, would they have a feast of Kamel?
19:17Because this is special meat, isn't it?
19:18I think Kamel was very important in their menu because it meant, like, wealth, you know?
19:23Like, now, you see people, they try to buy Kamel, Kamel milk, just for health benefits.
19:29Uh, still, it's a little bit pricey, but in that time, it was, like, a festivity.
19:33Okay.
19:34Okay.
19:35Okay.
19:36Okay.
19:49Najat's ultra-modern restaurant is one of several springing up in the city,
19:53catering to tourists and a young emerging middle class.
19:57I am just going to try one of these meatballs.
20:01With growing prosperity, Morocco is evolving into a modern global player.
20:06And Fez, like most of its cities, is embracing the change,
20:10while still holding on to its cultural history.
20:14Michel-unstarred camel meatballs.
20:22I'm leaving Fez and heading for Marrakesh,
20:25the other great terminus at the northern end of the Trans-Saharan trade route.
20:31Both were places where merchants gathered money, provisions and goods
20:35on the long trek south to Timbuktu.
20:39But I'm exchanging Fez's spiritual calm for the buzz of Marrakesh,
20:43where everything is for sale.
20:45The weather's really changed, so it's time now for the winter woolies.
20:48It's very, very chilly.
20:49I was born in the 60s, so there's only one way to go to Marrakesh.
20:55And that's on the Marrakesh Express.
20:59Today, the train isn't the sun-filled hippie experience of my imagination,
21:17just modern Moroccans commuting between cities.
21:20It's an eight-hour train journey to Marrakesh,
21:26but for a trader in the Middle Ages,
21:28it would have been a grueling trek lasting several days.
21:32The distance and the hardship of the road they travel are great.
21:42They have to cross a difficult desert that is made almost inaccessible by fear
21:48and besaid by thirst.
21:50Water is found there only in a few well-known spots,
21:53to which caravan guides lead the way.
21:56The distance of this road is braved only by very few people.
22:00The explorers of old all say the same thing,
22:10that this was the toughest of journeys.
22:18Marrakesh.
22:20It's called the Rose City, daughter of the desert.
22:23And it's always been a place where traders picked up high-quality goods
22:27to take with them on their journey.
22:29It was founded in the 11th century by the powerful Almoravid Berber dynasty,
22:36who made it the capital of a huge empire stretching right through North Africa
22:40and into southern Spain.
22:4650 miles to the east, the Atlas Mountains provide a spectacular backdrop.
22:51Some of the most popular merchandise on the Trans-Saharan trade routes were leather goods.
23:03And some of the best quality leather was produced here in Marrakesh's oldest tannery.
23:20It's as ancient as the salt roads themselves, and I'm surprised to find it's still in full swing.
23:27It's still in full swing.
23:30Yeah.
23:31Salaamu Alaikum.
23:34Good morning, Najib.
23:36Najib Moulijay is one of the tannery's oldest workers.
23:39He's been here for 48 years.
23:42It takes 20 days to turn an animal hide into the leather used for the world-famous
24:09bags, shoes, and belts sold in the local markets. It's dirty work.
24:15I'm primed, ready for action.
24:17Yalla.
24:18Yalla.
24:19Yalla.
24:20Yalla.
24:21Yalla.
24:22Yalla.
24:23Yalla.
24:24Yalla.
24:25Yalla.
24:26OK.
24:28So this tank is full of gypsum. It smells totally and utterly disgusting. And I can't believe
24:37what this guy is doing with his bare hands because I reckon this stuff burns.
24:41This potent cocktail removes the hair from the hide.
24:45Yalla.
24:46It actually comes off really, really easily.
24:49But there's worse to come.
24:51Yalla.
24:54Yuck.
24:55Yuck.
24:56Yuck.
24:57Yuck.
24:58Yuck.
24:59It smells fantastic. Excited to get in.
25:02Yeah.
25:03Can you see?
25:04Pigeon excrement contains ammonia, which acts as a softening agent to make the hides more
25:09malleable.
25:10This is harder than it looks. We're trampling on the animals in like a circle, but I can't
25:14keep up with them. It's like being in a whirlpool. A whirlpool of pigeon shit.
25:21Finally, we move the hides into a vat of water for rinsing. Is this what would have been
25:27happening a thousand years ago?
25:29Why are you doing this place here?
25:31This place?
25:32I don't know.
25:33I don't know.
25:34I don't know.
25:35I don't know.
25:36I don't know.
25:37I don't know.
25:38I don't know.
25:39I don't know.
25:40I don't know.
25:41I don't know.
25:42I don't know.
25:43I don't know.
25:44I don't know.
25:45So the process is exactly the same, passed down from father to son.
25:49So basically what I'm doing now, apart from the fact I've got new waders on, is the same
25:52exactly as they've done in the 11th century.
26:05This labour intensive process was a highly skilled craft, which back then ensured the
26:10global reputation of Moroccan leather.
26:15And it's amazing that this tannery is still providing fine quality hides for the shoes,
26:20bags and belts in the souks of Marrakesh and markets all over the world.
26:32At night, Marrakesh, the party town, comes to life.
26:36In the main square, Jamal Fana, you're transported back in time to a more exotic world.
26:44The air is rife with hawkers' cries, wandering minstrels and magicians.
26:50You could end up with a monkey on your shoulder or eating a bowl of snails.
26:55And I can't help noticing how many more West African faces there are here.
26:59Echoes of traders from the past who would have arrived from across the Sahara with their wares.
27:08But the performer who's attracting the biggest crowd is offering perhaps the simplest and
27:13oldest form of entertainment.
27:16Storytelling.
27:17This is the most interesting history lesson in the history of the world.
27:21He's talking about the trans-Saharan trend and about crossing the Sahara.
27:25And he's got this line where he says the sun was beating down from above and the sun was burning
27:30up from below.
27:31The camels were dying.
27:32The men were dying.
27:33They were loaded with skins and hides from the south coming north.
27:37And they were searching for gold and for salt.
27:39Many years ago, these stories would have been the only way for people to learn about life
27:59in faraway lands.
28:01Now they're opening a door into the past for us.
28:04And it's thrilling to hear a thousand years of history and the journey I'm making come alive.
28:14In this magical world, I feel like Timbuktu could be just around the corner.
28:19But I've still got 1500 miles to travel.
28:24Time for me to get some sleep as North Africa's largest mountain range awaits me.
28:29For this next leg of my journey, I've left Morocco's cities behind me.
28:39And I'm continuing on foot through the Atlas Mountains.
28:44They stretch right across the country, forming a massive natural barrier
28:48and climb to over 4,000 meters.
28:51I'm no stranger to endurance treks, having completed the grueling Marathon de Sable across the Sahara,
29:01and run races through these mountains.
29:04But this will be a different kind of challenge, as the snows have come early,
29:09making it cold and treacherous underfoot.
29:12Up here it's Berber country.
29:18There are around 14 million of them in Morocco, and many of them live in these mountains.
29:27I'm starting my trek in the Berber village of Afra.
29:30In these villages, traditions are part of everyday life.
29:44This lady's been explaining to me about her henna.
29:51So I asked if it was for a wedding and she said no,
29:55but apparently she just wanted to look nice for her family.
29:57So she went and got it done.
29:59And it doesn't last as long as you'd think.
30:01I thought it would last a couple of weeks, but she says it goes quickly
30:03because of course she's working hard here, using her hands.
30:06I'm meeting my friend, Saeed Na'ana, who's a mountain guide.
30:23How are you, Saeed?
30:25How are you?
30:26How are you?
30:27How are you?
30:28We've taken on these mountains together before, but never in the snow.
30:33If anyone can get me across these steep peaks in one piece, it's him.
30:37We're heading for Tisiantishka, the highest major pass in North Africa,
30:48a gratifyingly tough half-day hike away.
30:53Trans-Saharan merchants would have made this journey by mule, or like us, on foot.
30:59How high are we up here?
31:00We are here about 2,100 meters.
31:04No, I can feel it already in my chest.
31:06Yeah, me too.
31:07It's normal.
31:08Really?
31:09Yeah.
31:10Up here, the air is thin, making it harder to breathe, even for Saeed,
31:15who has spent most of his life here in the mountains.
31:18Saeed, my friend.
31:19Yes?
31:20You're a Berber.
31:21Yes, I am a Berber.
31:23What does that mean?
31:25Um, Berber is, they say that it's a nickname given by the Romans
31:30when they're occupied in North Africa.
31:32Yeah.
31:33But their original, I mean, original name is Amazigh.
31:37It means free people or noble people, if you want.
31:40Yeah.
31:41The Berbers, or Amazigh, are the indigenous people of North Africa
31:46and can trace their heritage back to 3000 BC.
31:50Does Berber have its own language?
31:52Uh, the Berber, they have their language, which is totally different than Arabic.
31:57So Arabic, you write from re, from right to left, and then the Berber is the opposite,
32:04from left to right, or you can write like Chinese, down.
32:12The weather is closing in, which is worrying because the paths ahead are getting seriously precarious.
32:18You see the path is going down from here.
32:21Yeah.
32:22Then we see that rock.
32:23Whoa.
32:24And then you get that uphill to the path.
32:28So we've done the easy bit.
32:29This is the hard bit, isn't it?
32:30Yeah.
32:36We've still got four miles to go, and the light will soon be disappearing.
32:40I really like Saeed, right at the moment I actually hate him.
32:49He's making me go fast and we're uphill, because we're worried about the dark.
32:54I don't really want to go fast uphill, frankly.
32:57He's all chirpy.
32:59I'm not Elizabeth chirpy.
33:05And how they ever did this, with donkeys and mules laden with goods,
33:09totally beyond me.
33:18It's zero degrees and plummeting as the afternoon draws on,
33:22and I'm cold and wet.
33:25Have we got long to go?
33:27There we go.
33:28Nearly.
33:29This is the Tishka Pass?
33:30Yeah.
33:31There we go.
33:32You'll be there.
33:33Well done.
33:34Good job.
33:35I'm beginning to feel it a bit.
33:37It's one last push to reach the top.
33:39And we make the Tishka Summit just in the nick of time,
33:42before the bad weather really rolls in.
33:46Is this it, Saeed?
33:48We made it.
33:49Yeah, you did it.
33:51Woo-hoo!
33:52Woo-hoo!
33:53Good job.
33:54Well done.
33:55Woo-hoo!
33:56Well done.
33:57Woo-hoo!
34:04We spend the night in the tiny village of Tasga,
34:07where we're lucky enough to find rooms.
34:10For the merchants centuries ago,
34:12it might have meant a cold night under canvas.
34:16In the morning,
34:17with the toughest part of this leg behind me,
34:20I set off alone.
34:26Whoa!
34:28It's refreshing.
34:33I'm following an old trade route south along the Unila Valley.
34:37The mountains here are rich in natural deposits.
34:40Copper, silver, iron ore.
34:42And a commodity much favoured by the traders.
34:45Salt.
34:48The salt mines marked on my map are all in the desert,
34:51so I didn't expect to find one this far north.
34:56The track is dusted with the stuff.
34:58The first evidence I've come across
35:00of why these routes are named salt roads.
35:03The place seems deserted,
35:10but as if from nowhere,
35:12someone arrives to open the mine up.
35:15It looks pretty old,
35:16and I'm wondering whether it was around
35:18in the days of the ancient salt roads themselves.
35:21One of the men,
35:27Zacharia Ouboulkasem,
35:28is a co-owner of the mine
35:30and knows its history well.
35:32Oh, wow!
35:33This is the...
35:34The salt?
35:35This is the salt block.
35:36Yes?
35:37This is the salt block.
35:38All this is salt.
35:39All this is salt.
35:40Wow.
35:41You can taste it.
35:42It's salt.
35:43Salt.
35:44Salt.
35:45Salt.
35:46Salt.
35:47Salt.
35:48Salt.
35:49Salt.
35:50Salt.
35:51Salt.
35:52Salt.
35:53Parts of the mine date back to the 13th century,
35:55which puts it right at the peak of trans-Saharan trade.
35:59The mine is situated on the caravaniers.
36:03Yes.
36:04It was used to make the truck with it.
36:07The truck with it was going to the sub-Saharan or Saharan
36:10in the sub-Saharan or Saharan.
36:14Ah, yes?
36:15They took the salt and the lint.
36:18They went with it and returned with the ore,
36:22with the slaves.
36:24Two-sept mines here?
36:26Well, one mine among the others was used for that.
36:29So, the salt went from here?
36:32To the Mali.
36:33To the Niger.
36:34Yes.
36:35To the Timbaktou.
36:36Yes.
36:37So, maybe the salt is from here?
36:39I can find it in Timbaktou.
36:42Very probable.
36:43Probable.
36:44Probable.
36:45Probable, alors.
36:46Probable.
36:47That's enough for me.
36:49No, no.
36:50Here's a piece.
36:51A piece.
36:52A piece of salt.
36:53A piece of salt.
36:54A piece of salt.
36:56A piece of salt.
36:58A piece of salt.
37:00It's delicious.
37:05It's delicious.
37:07It's good.
37:08It's good.
37:09It's good.
37:10It's good.
37:11It's good.
37:12It's more refined than the other.
37:14Can I take it?
37:16A gift.
37:17A gift.
37:19There were salt mines all along the routes to Timbuktu.
37:26Until paper money was introduced by French colonisers in the early 20th century, it was used as a form of currency and it's where our word salary comes from.
37:37Some say that at the height of the trade across the desert, salt was as valuable as gold by weight.
37:44I feel like Indiana Jones have just been down this incredible salt mine and this is where they'd have come, the traders, with their mules and their donkeys which they'd just brought over that snowy pass and load up with the salt to take to Timbuktu.
37:58As I continue my journey southwards, I'm finding evidence all along the way that travelling merchants used this route.
38:13It became known as the Valley of the Kasbahs because it's dotted with ancient buildings where the traders stayed.
38:25Proof of the sheer volume of trade crossing the desert.
38:32Kasbahs like this beautiful one in the small village of Tamadaght were built by rich and powerful families as fortresses for themselves but also for the many merchants who passed through the area.
38:48This is a fortified village, absolutely typical along this route where all the merchants travelled.
38:54You've got every single thing you would need in it for a stay, somewhere to put your animals, a water supply, a granary, somewhere to store your goods and to sleep and also things like a mosque.
39:05And even in some of them they had two cemeteries, one for the Jews and one for the Muslims in case you were unlucky enough to die on the route.
39:12But really the main reason that the merchants wanted to come here was for the Kasbah.
39:19The Kasbah was the fortress and typically it had four big towers, one on each corner, tiny little windows and each one of those towers would have soldiers guarding it.
39:28So once you got yourself into a fortified area, into a Kasbah, you knew that your goods were safe and that you weren't going to get robbed because there were a load of robbers and thieves on this highway.
39:38And the only downside I guess is that of course you had to pay for it.
39:42So the guy who owned this would take a tax and there were really quite rich pickings from those caravans.
39:54A safe and secure place to rest for the night was something sensible merchants would gladly pay for.
40:00After all, most were carrying a precious cargo.
40:03Six days passed, a nobleman arrived here from Gargo called Jorda Basha.
40:10He brought with him 30 camels laden with tie bar, which is unrefined gold.
40:15Also a great store of pepper, unicorn horns and a great quantity of eunuchs, dwarves and men and women slaves, besides 15 virgins.
40:26This must have made extraordinary reading for 16th century Europeans.
40:33Tales of this kind of cargo on the salt roads would only have added to Timbuktu's already glittering reputation.
40:48This morning I've left the valley of the Kasbahs and I'm heading into the mountains and plains of the Djebel Sagro.
40:53I'm trying to reach the ancient city of Sigil Massa, the great northern crossroads of the old trade routes.
41:04But first I have to cross some of the most barren terrain in the world.
41:11Djebel Sagro means mountains of drought.
41:14This area of the atlas gets a mere 10 centimetres of rain a year.
41:18The same as parts of the neighbouring Sahara Desert.
41:23This landscape feels completely prehistoric.
41:25It's so rugged.
41:26It's so violent in some way.
41:29And yet it is completely beautiful.
41:31And very, very few outsiders, very, very few Westerners get to come here.
41:36So it's unchanged.
41:44I have some help to navigate this vast territory.
41:51This is home to the eight Atta tribe of Berber nomads,
41:54who for centuries have guided traders across these mountains.
41:59I'm lucky enough to count one of the last surviving nomad families as friends.
42:06I'm so glad I can see the whole family waiting for me.
42:09How are you?
42:11How are you?
42:12How are you?
42:13How are you?
42:14How are you?
42:15How are you?
42:16How are you?
42:17Zaid is the head of a large family.
42:19He and his wife Iza have six children, including a little one, Brahim, who I haven't met before.
42:26Zaid's mother Aisha is 77.
42:30Berbers venerate their elders and she commands a certain respect.
42:34Zaid and his family have 250 goats, which are the main source of income.
42:44To find grazing for them, they have to keep on the move.
42:48Every day in summer, they pack up the tent they live in and all their belongings to find new pastures.
42:56All the family, young and old, help out.
43:05Traversing this rocky landscape is no mean feat, with all the animals, goods and people in tow.
43:12We have six miles to cover before we stop for the night.
43:15And there are few paths or landmarks to navigate by.
43:19Their knowledge of the area made these Berber tribes invaluable to the merchants who needed to get their goods across the terrain.
43:26Centuries ago, these Berbers were doing exactly this.
43:32They were transporting goods across these treacherous mountains, down these difficult paths that they know so well.
43:40And still today, it's the Berbers with their mules and donkeys who get things to the very remote villages that aren't accessible by vehicle.
43:47So nothing has changed.
43:58Zaid's family come from the Eight Atta tribe of Berbers, whose history dates back to before the arrival of Arabs and Islam in the 7th century.
44:06At the height of Transaharan trade, they were the leading Berber tribe.
44:16But now, nomad numbers are dwindling.
44:18Zaid has just been telling me about how he came into this life and his father was a nomad before him.
44:34And his father used to migrate between here and Eight Bugmez, which is a three-week trek.
44:38And he did that all his life. And then when he got older and a bit more tired, he bought a very small piece of land down in the valley.
44:50And Zaid is carrying on the tradition with his family, which he will pass on to his sons probably.
44:55After five hours, our entourage finally comes to a halt.
45:09It doesn't look much to my eye, but this is going to be home for the night.
45:16But first, there's some work to do.
45:18The first thing the women did when they got into camp was to go and collect the kind of dry scrub.
45:27And then they just put it straight onto the fire because it burns immediately and they put the tea on. First thing.
45:34This is an azib left behind by other nomads passing through.
45:39Experienced hands quickly turn the tumble-down walls into a robust enclosure and shelter.
45:44Once the goat hair tent is up, it's time to think about dinner.
45:55With typical Berber hospitality, they're preparing a meal in my honour.
46:00And with no supermarket for miles, there's only one thing on the menu.
46:05Zaid and two Zaid's are taking a goat up here to kill it for a celebration for my arrival.
46:09And of course, for me, it's really difficult to watch an animal being killed, even though I do eat meat.
46:14So I'm not looking forward to this, but I have to do it, so I'm going to.
46:17Okay?
46:24Okay?
46:26I'm.
46:28I'm almost.
46:31You just stay.
46:35Go Szi.
46:38It's hard to watch, but it's a great honour.
46:44Goats represent the family's wealth, so it's a big deal to eat one.
46:52They immediately set to work to skin the carcass.
47:08As night falls in the Jebel Sahru mountains, Zayd is preparing skewers to put the best bits of a goat on the open fire.
47:18Nothing of this animal will be wasted.
47:30He's just cutting up the heart.
47:32The liver is cooking already, and the kidneys are somewhere in the middle.
47:38The smell of the meat and Isa's bread cooking on the fire is making everybody hungry after a long and active day.
47:46But I'm not sure whether hearts, livers and kidneys are going to be as much of a treat for me as they clearly are for them.
47:56It tastes really, really good. It's salty and really savoury, but it's a little bit crunchy.
48:03Yeah.
48:08By 8.30 I'm ready for bed.
48:11The family all sleep together under rugs and blankets in the tent, much as their ancestors would have done.
48:17And I'm bedding down with them.
48:19It's just off to six in the morning, and everyone's starting to wake up.
48:31Mother's got up and is put on the fire.
48:32The kids are awake.
48:33I'm beginning to get a feel for what the caravan must have been like, loading up the animals, unloading them, living in a big tent.
48:34All together, eating together.
48:35All together, eating together.
48:36And everyone having their job to do and doing it.
48:37It's just off to six in the morning.
48:38It's just off to six in the morning, and everyone's starting to wake up.
48:43And everyone's starting to wake up.
48:44Mother's got up and is put on the fire.
48:47And the kids are awake.
48:50I'm beginning to get a feel for what the caravan must have been like, loading up the animals, unloading them.
48:59Living in a big tent all together, eating together.
49:03And everyone having their job to do and doing it quickly and efficiently as they can.
49:08But I still haven't experienced the burning sands of the desert, and I'm beginning to look forward to that.
49:13It's been so cold.
49:16The morning fire takes a little chill off the mountain air, and the hot sweet tea helps as well.
49:32How are we doing?
49:46May Allah be ะณะพัะพะฒO timeframe
49:48Sache's just telling you that life here in the mountains is too hard, that it's too cold,
49:51but a day when we're packing up the tent, pulling up the tent.
49:55Trying to find food for the animals.
49:57The children always, always being culled, the children getting sick because there's no medicines here, that it's too much.
50:04And what he really wants within the next 10 years is to settle in a village.
50:08And what he wants for his children is that they go to school and that they get jobs like, things like drivers.
50:14Which of course to us seems, you know, it's such a romantic lifestyle.
50:18It's when you see it, when you see the family all together, when you see how happy they are, when you see how hard they're working.
50:23But having spent the night under canvas, it is absolutely freezing.
50:28And seeing how hard they have to work even to get a fire going, it makes you think, you know, would you want to do this?
50:34And I have to say the answer is no, I wouldn't.
50:36It is too hard.
50:37So I can completely understand why he would want something different for his children.
50:50It's sad to say goodbye to Zaid and his family.
50:53There are a few nomads left in these mountains, and in a few years' time, this way of life may have disappeared altogether.
51:03I'm leaving the rocky mountain terrain of the Jebel Sahro, and travelling east.
51:17A hundred miles away is my next destination, Sigil Massa, an ancient city which was a mecca for trans-Saharan traders,
51:25due to its position on the edge of the Sahara.
51:28Strangely, it's not marked on any modern maps, but I do know that it's next to the modern town of Rosani.
51:42Rosani seems typical of so many towns in Morocco.
51:45A bustling market in the centre of town, and a lot of new houses going up on the outskirts.
51:52And so far, there's nothing to give me a clue as to where the ancient city might be.
51:58It's proving very difficult to find.
52:00No signs, no blue plaques, and at the moment, I'm in what appears to be a great big building site.
52:06Then, something begins to show itself above the skyline.
52:24A vast, lost city in the sand.
52:27Sigil Massa was founded at the end of the 8th century,
52:37and became the most important city on the trade routes north of the Sahara.
52:44Its position on the northern edge of the desert meant it could control the gold supply coming up from the south.
52:52It boasted a mosque, a palace, and probably barracks for soldiers.
52:57And on its fringes, a huge oasis meant there was one thing in abundance, water.
53:07A lifeline for travellers arriving after a gruelling journey through the desert.
53:15I've arranged to meet Chloe Capel, a French archaeologist, and one of very few who have worked on this site.
53:22It's about two kilometres long, and 800 metres wide,
53:26and there are so many things to know about it.
53:29It's not done, not yet.
53:31There are lots of work for archaeologists here on this site.
53:35The site has remained a well-kept secret, and no one has excavated here for several years.
53:48There are still pieces of history lying all over the place.
53:51Here, as you can see, there is a lid, you can take it this way, on the top of a cup or a little jar, something like that, and it's medieval.
54:07How do you know?
54:08Because of the shape, because of the paste, maybe it's 12th century or 14th century.
54:15And it's just lying here on the site.
54:16And it's everywhere all around you, on the two kilometres wide of the site.
54:20Wow.
54:20And if I were here at the height of the Trans-Saharan trade, what would I have seen?
54:26Probably a very rich city with many houses and gardens, numerous gardens,
54:34because medieval texts tell us that there were many gardens inside the city.
54:39And it was spectacular for travellers, because they were just emerging from the desert,
54:45and they find these oasis.
54:46It was impressive for them.
54:48The oasis was large enough to cater not only for the townsfolk, but visiting traders and caravans too.
55:03And Chloe believes it was planned that way, to attract the burgeoning Trans-Saharan traffic of the time.
55:11People, travellers, merchants, were aware that when you stop in Sijilmasa,
55:17whenever you stop here, whenever it is in the season, you can find food, water, camels,
55:24numerous camels to travel, dates, fodders, everything to be sure to go safe until Timbuktu and until the Sub-Saharan Africa.
55:33It seems to me that in its way, this was the Timbuktu of the north,
55:46a vital refuelling stop for traders coming out of, or heading into, the Sahara.
55:51How sad, then, that this great city was destroyed in the early 19th century by invading Berber nomads.
56:00In fact, the same tribe as the nomad family I've just stayed with.
56:05It's less than a mile back into the centre of Rosani, and I'm travelling in the way of most traders here, by donkey carts.
56:20We park up at the town's answer to pay and display.
56:23In Rosani's bustling market, you can buy just about anything, and there are stalls laden with the same fresh produce
56:37that would have gladdened the hearts of weary desert travellers of the Middle Ages.
56:41I've come here to meet Hafida Duban, Morocco's first ever female trekking guide.
56:54Looking for some dates?
56:55Hafida's taking me on the next, most dangerous leg of the journey, into the Sahara Desert, and she's stocking up with provisions.
57:03Taste it, if it's okay. That's nice. I think the best one is that, so I will take from there.
57:11Dates were a staple food for people crossing the Sahara.
57:15They say you can survive on just seven a day, and their high sugar content means they last for ages.
57:22Very energetic and very nice, and now we are lucky because it's a time for the date.
57:28Ah, perfect.
57:29It's for this year, it's the new one, because in October we have a date, so it's okay.
57:37Tomorrow, Hafida and I will be embarking on the most challenging part of my journey so far,
57:43one which many a trans-Saharan trader didn't survive.
57:47Next time, we trek into three and a half million square miles of desert, and some of the most extreme temperatures on the planet, the Great Sahara.
58:05It was incredibly perilous. This is why the goods, when they got to the other end, cost so much. It was the danger factor.
58:14Modern life takes an ugly turn.
58:17My security contingent has got extremely nervous, and they won't let me go any further.
58:21And I finally make it to the city of my dreams, Timbuktu.
58:27Now I get it. My first glimpse of the icon of Timbuktu.
58:31This is the icon of Timbuktu.
58:32This is the icon of Timbuktu.
58:33This is the icon of Timbuktu.
58:38His name is Timbuktu.
58:45It's the icon of Timbuktu.
58:48It's the icon of Timbuktu.
58:53Oh, my frickin' my grant to the Internetัะตat.
58:56This is the icon of Timbuktu.
58:57This will be known as Google tablet flexibly by YouTube'sciones.
59:01Oh, have you done theendeu planes?
59:03Once a film comes, you'll see you.
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