Kasbahs and Movie Sets
We took a private four-day trip from Marrakech out to the Sahara Desert. A bit of a splurge, but we wanted to do the tour at our pace and schedule, rather than being at the mercy of a bigger group. It’s a 10-hour drive each way, so we only got to spend one-night camping in the desert. But that time in the desert was amazing and needs a blog post of its own. With all the travel, we got the opportunity to see some amazing things along the way there and back, taking different routes each way with just a couple of common stops/sections.
On our first day, we drove through the High Atlas Mountains again as we headed southeast from Marrakech. Our first stop of the day was the Ksar (fortified town) of Ait Ben Haddou. The name refers to the family that founded the village. I’m not sure of the exact age of the village, but it was apparently fortified in the 11th century.
The village is mostly vacant now, and more used for tourism and filming movies/shows. In fact, there was a section that was closed off during our visit for the filming of a movie. But walking through the ksar, we saw some beautiful buildings, tons of shops selling trinkets and souvenirs, some cafes serving tea, and beautiful views over the valley with the mountains as a backdrop. At the peak of the ksar, it was a stunning 360o view!
Many buildings looked to be in rough shape, so I can understand why the town’s inhabitants moved across the river into more modern buildings. But it is also easy to see how impressive this ksar would have been. It is in a strategic location along the former trading route between the Sahara Desert and Marrakech, which made it very important during the days of caravan traders. This ksar is important enough that it is a UNESCO heritage site. And, beautiful enough that many big films and shows used this area for filming scenes, including Gladiator (you can still see the area where a lot of the fight scenes were located), Gladiator 2 (coming out later this year), Game of Thrones, Prince of Persia, The Mummy, and tons of others.
We stopped in Ouarzazate for lunch, seeing this larger and more modern-looking city briefly on our drive-through. It is the home of two movie production companies, though one is closed now. The other, Atlas Studios, is very much open and active with filming. This city is nicknamed “Hollywood” because of the extensive movie production that happens here, and we did feel like this town had a more American feel to it. It is also considered the gateway to the desert.
We continued after lunch, stopping at a gorgeous Kasbah (fortified palace), Kasbah Amridil. Emmeline was feeling ill today and wanted to take it easy and not go inside to explore, but to relax outside in the beautiful green space with Jon. Katia and I went in and toured around on our own. It was stunning inside, and we were able to easily imagine what life would have been like back in the 17th century, as various items were in place to show how daily life was. Items such as cooking vessels, storage vessels, equipment to make argan oil and olive oil, furniture, stone ovens, chests for storage, and so much more!
We were beyond impressed, and we didn’t even get to tour the entire Kasbah! It’s been partitioned into three sections, with two you can go in to tour (we went into the middle section) and the third section to the left of where we went in is a hotel and restaurant. We went into the restaurant courtyard, but the restaurant itself was closed. If we ever come back to this part of Morocco, I am so tempted to book a room in this kasbah! I can imagine it must be an amazing experience to stay here.
We arrived at our destination in the Dades Gorge, where our gorgeous Kasbah Didis hotel had stunning views of the valley and softer mountains around. We stopped at a panoramic viewing point a little beyond our hotel, as well, before returning. The girls were tempted by the outdoor pool, but the water was too chilly for them to jump in! The views, dinner, and breakfast here were all amazing!
The next day, we continued to the Sahara Desert, stopping three times briefly. Once to go for a walk to stretch our legs and to look at a little spring with a now-closed picturesque hotel built to look like a kasbah. Rocks from the mountain behind fell, crashing into the kitchen. The government then condemned the building as not safe due to the potential for more damage from falling rocks.
Our second stop was in a smaller village, Tinejdad, where we had a delicious Moroccan lunch, complete with oranges with cinnamon for dessert! They had a very cool map on the wall showing this area of Morocco.
Our third stop was another small village just on the edge of the Sahara where we stopped and went through a traditional market. This was similar to the market we saw during our Atlas Mountain day trip, but much less maze-like and chaotic. It felt very peaceful here. We did walk through with a local that our driver knew so we didn’t get too lost, though! The girls loved looking at the sheep and cows in their respective livestock yards, all of which had been brought by locals to sell at the market. The locals arrive and bring their goods by donkey, so they also were intrigued by the donkey parking lot. Though they were distraught that there was no cover to protect them from the sun!
We then arrived at Merzouga where we got to see the camels. We had been watching the dunes for quite some time, as it was a very clear day, but finally got to see them up close. Our driver, Hamid, was born in the Sahara Desert and spent his first 11 years living in the desert as a nomad. His family then settled at the edge of the desert in a small village. He was very familiar with the desert and this area, and could find his way through the Sahara just by looking at the dunes as to him they are all very different. Seems an impressive and difficult task to me!
We kept hearing about Berber pizza and how delicious it was. Every other restaurant in Marrakech is a Berber restaurant, and you will find pizza on the menu in almost every one of them. We have tried the pizza twice now, and while good it just seems like pizza to us. We don’t know what’s special about Berber pizza. So, we asked Hamid about it. He said that the only place you will find traditional Berber pizza is in or next to the desert, as it is considered desert food. He grew up eating it regularly and said it is a very common and traditional food in that area. He described it to us. It is, indeed, very different to what we had experienced in Marrakech. We asked him if we could stop somewhere the next day for Berber pizza, but he said not really. But, being from this area he could hook us up. He called and arranged to have someone local make us a traditional Berber pizza the next morning that we could pick up and bring with us for a picnic lunch.
Jumping forward past our Sahara Desert time, we returned to Merzouga the next day and met Hamid to begin our journey back. Our first stop was back to the local market to pick up our pizza, which Hamid insisted on paying for as he said he was inviting us to share in his culture with him and it was only right. We carried on, stopping briefly for a coffee/bathroom break and then again around 2 for our lunch. We stopped at a café, where they put the pizza on the fire to warm it up and served us Moroccan tea and Moroccan salad with the pizza. It was all so delicious, but I would never have thought what we were eating was a pizza! The bread was soft and chewy and tasted a little like pizza dough. It was opened up and filled inside with a mixture of ground beef, almonds, garlic, herbs, eggs, and onions. It was delicious and we are so grateful to him that he was able to arrange for us to have this local and authentic food experience, and even paid for it all (including all the items at the café!).
We finally arrived back in Ouarzazate, where we spent the night in a gorgeous hotel, Riad Dar Chamaa. I love how they do check-ins in Morocco. At each place, we were greeted with smiles and led to a comfy couch where we enjoyed tea and snacks and rest, while they dealt with our luggage and getting our room open and ready for us. Hamid was shocked when we said we had never experienced such relaxed check-in procedures, as that is just the custom in Morocco. And indeed, it does seem that everyone is always very relaxed, slow-paced, and takes lots of long breaks to just sit and enjoy the moment. And drink tea! When we told him in Canada you’d go to a desk and wait in a line to get a key and go to the room yourself, he thought that was the strangest custom ever!
This riad also has a pool, and this time the girls did go right ahead and jump in, despite the cold water! Again, this hotel was stunning, with gorgeous views and amazing food at dinner and breakfast. We met an amazing group of older ladies who get together every couple of years to go and travel together somewhere fun and interesting. A couple of years ago it was touring around South India, this time all over Morocco, and who knows where next! They were such an inspiration! I hope to be like that when I’m their age!
The next morning, we went to Atlas Studios to do a tour of their production facilities. We saw tons of sets and props from various movies and shows that have been shot here, including more Gladiator and Game of Thrones sets, but also sets from Aladdin, Prison Break bus from Season 5 (I loved that show back in the day!), The Mummy, Cleopatra, Jewel of the Nile, Blackhawk Down, and tons of others. They were getting ready to shoot a new Netflix show in the next week about Mary (mother of Jesus) while we were there.
From there we continued back to Marrakech, stopping only briefly for lunch along the way. We got back late afternoon to our riad, where we were all happy to have a rest after such a busy and exhausting four days! While we rarely splurge and indulge, I’m so grateful that we decided to do it this time! It was money well spent on experiences and memories that we will never forget.
