Apr 10
Gate1 description of this day:
“Explore Todgha Canyon and Dades Valley. Continue your journey to Tinghir via the Tinjdad Road. Stop to visit the Todgha canyons which rise to a towering 800 feet. After lunch on your own, continue on the road of the thousand Kasbahs to the Dades Valley. Arrive at hotel in Bourmaine Dades.”
It was a long day on the bus. Pat and I started grabbing the seats way in the back that are not assigned to anyone so we had a little more space to store our backpacks. We stopped for a short walk in the Todra Gorge at Tinghir. There were scenic overlooks over the green oasis. Lunch at a tourist stop called ZTE where I tried a vegetarian couscous, which wasn’t bad.
I tried to get pictures of some of the kasbahs on this drive. Part of the trip was on the “Road of 1000 Kasbahs”. The Kasbahs in the southern part of Morocco are not meant to be fortresses like those in the northern regions. The southern kasbahs functioned as a place to host wealthy families and as a meeting point along trade routes. Some were in excellent condition and others were falling apart. If we had been driving in our own car, I would have liked to stop and take better pictures. But I had to make do with shooting phone photos from the bus windows.
In Boumaine Dades gorge, we stopped at a viewpoint called Monkey Fingers.
We stayed just one night at another Xaluca hotel in Boumaine Dades. We were greeted by a musical welcome from the staff.
This hotel has a nice pool with great service. The wind was blowing hard. We got into the lukewarm hot tub and drank some wine while Robyn braved the pool. Pat and I thought we might venture out and eat dinner on our own. We walked a while through a deserted village to check out a nearby inn with advertised dinner. They weren’t serving for several hours and it didn’t look like much so we hiked back to the hotel and settled for their buffet dinner and then chilled in a private event room. Robyn was on the hunt for some shopping and took a cab to the town where she found some great buys on jewelry.
Apr 11
Travel day from Boumaine Dades to Marakesh with interesting stops at Ourzazate and Ait Ben Haddou. The overall drive was beautiful through the Atlas Mountains with peaks at 8000 feet, green valleys with ancient villages, desert terrain. I wasn’t impressed with the Valley of Roses.
Ouarzazate is a town south of the Atlas Mountains. For tour groups it is best known for the nearby movie studios. Many well known movies have been filmed in the Atlas Studios. The “Ouallywood” movement gradually developed here after the French left in 1950. We stopped here for a tour of the studios. Our guide said this location has inexpensive labor, good geography and a government encouraging of the film industry. There were film sets meant to represent Rome, Greece, Egypt and other iconic locations.
The most fun part of this tour was when the guide had us line up in front of a throne where one of our passengers was Cleopatra and the rest of the group waved at her which he filmed. He then edited his short video to create this fun clip. If you watch towards the end, you will see me standing on the stairs to the left to Cleopatra. Of course I don’t want to do what I’m told!
I thought the visit to Ouarzazate was a bit hokey, especially since I am not a big movie buff. However the rest of the group thought it was fun. I was more intriqued with out next stop at Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah.
Ait Ben Haddou is actually a ksar, not a kasbah. A ksar is a fortified town with several kasbahs made of an adobe mixture that uses local materials. This is a magical place that overlooks the Ounila river valley. It was very crowded with tourists but was still a special place to explore. Ait Ben Haddou is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the best preserved and oldest ksars in the country. It may have been built in the 11th century on an old caravan trade route between the Sahara and and the imperial cities of Marrakech, Fez and Meknes. Our Tour Manager gave us some history and explanation of the site but we basically just walked through the narrow streets as a group and most climbed to a structure at the top of the village with views. I decided to go halfway and enjoyed a cup of hot mint tea on a rooftop overlooking the river valley.
We arrived in Marrakesh in the afternoon after a beautiful drive through through the Tichka Pass in the Atlas Mountains. In the evening most of us attended a dinner at a local family’s home. It was a beautiful modern home and the mother/wife had prepared a delicious dinner erved on fine china. The meal included many Moroccan salads, chicken with preserved lemons and onions and fresh fruit and cookies for desesert. She introduced her three girls before the meal.
Gate1 put us up in a Movenpick Hotel which is very nice – I’d say 5 star. It is located just off a major boulevard in the newer part of Marrakesh and in walking distance of lots of nice restaurants.