On to the third and last day of our desert tour which consisted in getting a glimpse of the Hollywood of Morocco! We drove on passing through the Rose Valley, and then reached the Skoura Oasis, known as "the valley of a thousand kasbahs." Along this route are plenty kasbahs, some in ruins and some still standing. We got out of the car to see just one of them, Kasbah Amridil. This 17th century kasbah is the largest one in Skoura and one of the largest in Morocco. The inside has been transformed into a living museum, but we opted out of going in and just admired it from the outside.
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| Kasbah Amridil |
We continued driving along the route and reached
Ourzazate about an hour later. In the olden days the town was an isolated military outpost and was given the name Ourzazate which means "no noise." Nowadays it's gotten quite popular as it's known as Morocco's Hollywood. Ourzazate's streets and desert landscape have appeared in numerous films, and the town now has a film museum as well as a film studio.
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| Ourzazate |
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| Film museum |
We drove a little bit out of the town proper to check out
Atlas Studios. This is Morocco's firs, most famous, and largest film studio.
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| Atlast Studios |
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| Atlas Studios |
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| Atlas Studios |
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| Atlas Studios |
Next to the studio is the Hotel Oscar where several movie stars stay when filming.
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| Hotel Oscar |
Then we drove 30km northwest of Ourzazate for our last major stop:
Aït Ben Haddou. The
ksar (fortified village) is made up of several
kasbahs, the oldest ones in South Morocco.
We chose to head in and explore on our own. The area near the main entrance is filled with stores and small cafés, but you can go inside deeper and higher to see more of the olden
kasbahs.
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| Stores near the main entrance |
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| Exploring |
The kasbahs are made of earth, and the red clay makes for a beautiful backdrop. It's not only been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but has also been the filming site of numerous movies and TV shows, Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Alexander, and Game of Thrones to name a few!
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| Kasbahs |
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| Going up |
We headed to the top to check out the magnificent view.
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top |
Then we made our way back down, trying to follow the signs to where the Gladiator filming location was.
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| Aït Ben Haddou |
This may or may not have been it, but we put on our best Gladiator faces anyway. :)
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| Gladiator faces |
Then it was back to the car to begin the 4 hour drive to Marrakesh, via
Tizi n'Tichka, a mountain pass that goes through the High Atlas and link Ouarzazate and Marrakesh. We stopped every now and then, once for lunch, another in Taourirte to check out some argan oil, and another time in a small café where Mohammad treated us to some mint tea.
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| Quick lunch stop - another tajine and more kebabs |
We finally arrived in Marrakesh close to 6pm, and Mohammad helped us get directions to our hostel. Somebody from the hostel met to pick us up, and we settled in before heading out to dinner. In Marrakesh we stayed in
Riad Dar Tamlil, a small place in the medina just about 5 minutes from the main square. The owner was another nice guy who gave us lots of tips for our stay in Marrakesh. For dinner, we headed to
Djemaa el Fna, Marrakesh's main square that comes to life at night. We walked around a bit, and it was truly overwhelming at first. We didn't go deep inside the souks, deciding to save it for another day. Instead we walked near the food stalls, and decided on Stall No. 14, a seafood stall which I read recommendations on online.
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| Recommended stall no. 14 |
It was simple and tasty, a nice change from all the meat we've been having the past couple of days.
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| Seafood - a fresh change from all the kebabs and tajines |
And that wraps up our tour with the
Sahara Desert Crew. A bit of notes on them: Overall, we had a really good experience with them. Prior to the trip, they were very easy to communicate with. The person I spoke with was very responsive and he answered all my questions in a timely manner. There was no hitch with payment, pickup, and our itinerary. We paid €200 each (lunch and drinks not included), which was one of the best rates I could find online, with a highly recommended company. It seemed to be the average, and we were okay with it. We also booked in advanced because we were going in peak season, and wanted to make sure we had a tour. It was only upon arriving in Morocco did we realize that there are literally dozens of these tour companies operating, so finding one at the last minute wouldn't have been a problem. We were still happy that we booked in advanced though because at least we could read reviews and make sure we were going with a reputable company. I would've recommended Sahara Desert Crew all the way until the end, but we had one exchange that I found quite unprofessional. After returning back to Spain, I gave the company a review on TripAdvisor (giving it 4 out of 5 stars). The person I had been communicating with actually emailed me back after asking me to take down the review because it "hurt them." I found that quite ridiculous because a 4 star review was still great (our only main concern was that the driver was more of just a driver rather than a driver-guide). He claimed that he had said that Mohammad was just a driver, citing his email, and I responded back with his original proposal that promised us a driver-guide. He promptly shut up after that, but I found the whole request quite rude and unprofessional, which is one of the only things holding me back from recommending them outright.
Moving on to our driver, Mohammad was really nice and friendly. He was very accommodating when we would ask to stop or to switch things up. We don't hold it against him that he could speak little English, but I do wish we had a driver who could've spoken more English. While Mohammad was able to answer some of our questions, there where times when he had a hard time communicating with us (for example when we would ask what type of government Morocco had or even what the Berber houses we saw were made of). I would have loved to learn more about Moroccan history and culture during the tour. But based on some other reviews, and hearing stories from other travelers we met, finding a driver-guide is really challenging, as most of the drivers offered on the tour were really just that. If I had to do it again, I would either look harder for an English speaking driver, or get a guidebook of some sort to really learn more about Morocco.
Last, while the three of us personally enjoyed the trip, this kind of tour isn't really for everyone. It requires long hours in the car, and most of the route is scenic. A trip to the desert (which I highly recommend!) is still possible from Merzouga or Marrakesh, and doesn't need 3 days.
And that's it for now. Last two days in Morocco (Essaouira and Marrakesh) coming up soon :)
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