Sofia Somewhere

For our last full day in Morocco we explored Marrakesh . Marrakesh is truly different from all the other Moroccan cities we visited. It's the most modern of them all (of the cities we visited at least, as we didn't see Casablanca nor Rabat), and the most used to tourists. There were many tourists dressed in Western clothes (including shorts and sleeveless tops). After breakfast at our riad , we crossed Djemaa el Fna, made our way down the boulevard which was lined with kalesas (nothing new to us Filipinos) to the Koutoubia Mosque and out of the medina . Kalesas lining the road with the Koutoubia Mosque at the end Our destination for the day was the Jardin Majorelle (Majorelle Gardens). We chose to take the almost 45 minute walk, and we arrived at the gardens a bit past 11. We queued, bought our tickets (70dh), and headed in. The Jardin Majorelle  is a stunning 12-acre botanical garden created by French painter Jacques Majorelle when he resided in Marrakesh. t...

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. 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 ...