10th October 2024 ( Day 1)
Early at 7 a.m., I took the CTM bus from Casablanca to Beni Mellal. On the highway, I enjoyed the landscape of green hills and saw some farmers working on their land. After three hours, we finally arrived at Beni Mellal. Firstly, I had breakfast, and I seized the opportunity to ask the man who served me about the transportation and how to get to Imilchil, and where to find it, and I got the answer.
Later, I headed to the bus station. I took the N18 bus to get to a small city called El Ksiba, 50km from Beni Mellal. On the bus, I met a nice guy. We had a nice conversation. He is from El Ksiba and helped me find a taxi to get me to Imilchil village.
From E Ksiba to Imilchil, was the final phase, it is 114km and the Taxi took 1 hour 30 minutes.
Finally, I am in Imilchil. I arrived at 4 p.m., checked in at the guesthouse, and booked on booking.com for three nights.
After checking the room, and unloading my backpack I went out to explore the center of Imilchil, a very small village with one main street where you can find some guesthouses and basic coffee shops, I went to one of the latest, ordered a small teapot with mint and watched the second part of the match of Man united VS Leicester City ( 3–0 ).
At night I ordered a soup ( Harira ), an egg, and some dates, it was tasty, after coming back to my room, I took a shower and slept like a baby.
11th October 2024 ( day 2 )
it was freezing in the morning, but I was prepared, I brought with me proper clothes, and after having my breakfast at the guesthouse while enjoying the mountains in front of me, I started my hike from Imilchil to Tisslit Lake.
Lake Tisslit is 19 meters deep and surrounded by some willow trees and you will meet some ducks enjoying their time on the lake.
After spending some time by the like, I resumed my hike towards Mount Bab-Nouayad summit at 2804m of altitude, the ascension was easy to moderate, I did it without a guide, only relying on Google Maps and some stones on the trail as guiding marks, and the the view from the top was astonishing.
When I reached the top of the mountain I met Mohamed a guardian who works there, he made tea for us alongside walnuts and some cookies, and I won’t forget the conversation we had while overlooking the mountains and the lakes, it was one of the highlights of my trip.
Later on, I descended the mountain and headed back to Imilchil, it was a total 20km hike.
12th October 2024 ( day 3 )
the plan was to visit Lake Isli, the deepest lake in Morocco ( 100m ) deep, it is 15km from Imilchil, so I rented a bike for the whole day, I started from Imilchil and passed by Lake Tisslit, I cycled in the mountains through a gravel road, when I reached Isli, I still remember how quiet and peaceful it was, I spent some time there then headed back to Imilchil.
Prices:
Accommodation: 177dh/night
Bike rent: 100/day
Casablanca-beni mellal CTM bus ticket: 120dh
Beni mellal-El Ksiba bus ticket: 9dh
Dinner ( harira soup, egg, dates, bread ): 12dh
small teapot: 6dh