Day Eleven - Ouarzazate - Marrakesh

Day  Eleven

Date:     8 May 2013

Place:    Ouarzazate – Marrakesh

Weather:   Sunny and very hot

Accommodation:   Hotel Lakhiti

After a very enjoyable evening we were up and ready to hit the road again.  One of our fellow travellers has been up all night with gastro and unfortunately, the same one who was sick the first couple of days.  It was a five hour drive to Marrakesh so it was an extremely long day for him.

Mesmerising .... on the road again and just out of Ouarzazate.

Stark, barren and captivating...the Kasbah is top left.

 

We stopped overlooking Ait Ben Haddou a three hundred year old Kasbah. 

Great shopping....we all succumbed a little - for a good price of course!

 

Walking over the dry river bed to explore the Ait Ben Haddou.

 

We met on the way to the top!

 

On arrival our guide at the Kasbah lead us past shops to cross over the dry river bed and up into the inhabited complex.  Ait Ben Haddou is famous for many films, once again, including Gladiator and Jewel of the Nile.  A dug-out circle on the exterior of the Kasbah is where the colosseum in Gladiator was built.  We moved slowly through the complex diving in and out of rooms, shops and even a small pen with goats and chickens.  The views over the valley were worth the hot climb up.

It was time for a rest and we joined up at a café with those who did not make the hot trip up the Kasbah including our sick traveller.  He had been in the café all the time lying on his back asleep. 

The landscape from here to the top of the pass was extremely barren broken only by greenery and villages in water ways between the mountains.  The road to the Tischka Pass at 2360 metres was long and slow.  The drop to the bottom from the roadside was huge so I was glad I was seated near the centre of the road – I put on my seatbelt!  Driving sensibly is sometimes an option here and there were a few narrow escapes with overtaking from both directions (all of which I missed as I couldn’t see through the front window) and I heard gasps of ‘ooh’ followed by ‘aahs’ after another narrow escape!

On the descent to lunch....wonder how we ever ate after this!

 



 But undeterred we ate.....inside the Berber tent on top of the restaurant.

 

I kid you not.....took this from the top of the restaurant!

 

After we passed the gap we made our way down the mountain with only one stop for photos and then on to lunch.  We sat upstairs under a Berber tent and our guide put a rug on the floor with a pillow for our sick traveller who looked like death as he made his way to lie down while we ate. 

We were now two hours out of Marrakesh with reports it was 40 degrees there.  It was a long drive and from the top pass it had taken an hour to reach the valley floor.

Nearly at the bottom.....found the washing drying on hot rocks spread out on the far mountain!

 

We arrived in a very hot Marrakesh at 5.15 to our riad style hotel which is only 5 minute’s walk from the main square.  The hotel is very old and quite grand in a very tired way.  The pungent odour of toilets permeated the air as we sat waiting for our keys in the central area.  Fortunately, our room did not have this smell – however I can’t quite make out what the other smell is either!

Our riad for two nights - looking down on some strange house guests!

 

After a rest we met up at 7pm for a wander down to the main square The Djemaa el Fna.  What madness – thousands of people walking and watching with plenty of entertainment including snake charmers.  We saw cobras and what looked like death adders on the concrete fortunately staying where they were!  One charmer sounded his trumpet and the cobra stood up and danced.  Fascinating!

 

This tall Moroccan had a good view of whatever was going on!

Paid 10 dirham to take photos - about $1.  We can't complain as this is how they make their living.

 

Our guide settled us in to our restaurant and most of us ordered pizzas….missing some western food.  We sat and overlooked the square taking in the sounds, smells and sights as darkness descended and the lights shone over the scene.

Smoke emanating from the food tents, wild musicians, snake charmers....an exotic mix!