Marrakech: Day 1

Sad to leave the hotel in Ouarzazate, because it was very nice. We started the day heading towards Marrakech.

We visited the kasbah, Alt Ben Haddou. We didn't go inside as apparently it is very touristy, but did the photo shots from outside. Unknown to us a local approach us and suddenly pulled a few snakes out of a bag and took a few snaps with them.

The trip to Marrakech, requires a crossing of the High Atlas Mountains. The highest point is Col Du Tichka, over 2200m above sea level. Nearby we sampled Argan oil products.

The drive to Marrakech was straight forward  after that.  We visited the Majorelle Gardens  (Jadins du Majorelle). The gardens contain a collection of plants from all over the world. A lot of cacti. Named after the original owner, Majorelle, an artist,  was renovated by Yves Saint Laurent and another Frenchman.

Our riad (Riad Marana) is on the heart of the old Mefina,  down a few back alleys. It is very comfortable and in a great time location.

We went for drinks at a place called Cafe Arabe, where we knew we could get a beer,  and we did! Kristin initiated a conversation with two ladies ( Sara & Lucy) from Sheffield.  Of course they made the fatal mistake of asking where we had been. We had a good time there having a chat about travelling and the he UK.

After leaving the bar,  we headed to the main square, Jaama El-Fina. In the square there were gambling games,  side-show activities, street food stores and many locals. Kristin did show market shopping before we turned in for the night.

Cheers,

A & K.

Dades, Cave dwellers & Kasbahs

Morocco has such a diverse environment.  We have started at the Med, went to the lush Rif mountains,  crossed the Atlas Mountains with snow peaks, seen the sandy desert (Sahara), rocky deserts, high plains and  spectacular gorges with more to come.

Our day started with a trip along the Dades Gorge,  probably better than the gorge yesterday.

Next part of the trip was 4x4 driving over very rocky terrain to visit the Berber Nomads who live in caves. The lifestyle is very primitive. The caves are in a very large valley, maybe 20 km long and 1 km wide. There would be about 10 families in this valley, who mainly have goat and sheep herds.

After the cave dwellers we headed towards Skoura, the home of Rose Water (eau de rose). The road from here is called the 1001 kasbahs road. There actually maybe more! I think "The Clash"  may have been here because some were nearly rubble.

We visited a "non-touristy" kasbah, the Kasbah Amridil. This is famous for several movies and also the image on the 50 Dirham bank note. The kasbah was the setting for Alu Baba & the 40 thieves (1950s), Lawerence of Arabia  (1960s) and more recently  (2011) a film starring Cate Blanchett (& Eric Bana) , called Hanna.

After that we headed to Ouarzazate, the Hollywood of Morocco, which has a big movie industry. Our driver/guide,  Mbarek, says he has been in a couple of movies, Four feathers and some French film. He said he also worked with Claude Van Damme, but wasn't  impressed with him (also said he is a short-arse!).

Our hotel/riad in Ouarzazate is very good for several reasons.  A lovely pool, big rooms,  excellent food but more importantly you can get a beer!

Cheers,

A &  K.