Belere Ouarzazate

... interiorior of Morocco - in a nice new Toyota 4x4. We sped though Todra Gorge, the Dades, Valley of the Roses et al, and landed for the night at a lovely little riad overlooking the city. Had a beer (along w/ my Muslim guide!) on the rooftop terrace, dinner, and then set off for Marrakech the next morning.

Will fill in the blanks/post pics later...

... Jewel of the Nile) and Ali Benhaddou with its famous Kasbah. We also drove through the rose growing area which was quite a surprise.
Ahmed shopped for some initial provisions - so that will be the meat from the hanging sheep carcasses then, plus fruit and vegetables. The snow looms on the mountain tops and a local shop is delighted that we want 36 bottles of water between the 4 of us.
A jolly first evening as we manage some sort of interaction ...

... been built by the owners but been done in an authentic way. The walls are mud and the ceiling lined with palm canes in lovely patterns. The area is a very desolate stony landscape but there are sudden patches of green wherever water is available. We get taken on a wild goose chase through extremely narrow bumpy lanes of a palmerie (lot of palm trees) and have an ...

... to Ouarzazate. I wondered why Helen looked so blank when I mentioned the bus ticket last night. We had forms to fill in at the passoport control and long queues. We got our bags fine and went through. We found our driver and got money changed as the others came though. Neil from the Isleof Man and David from Ipswitch, he's climbed Everest, not quite to the top. Not sure what the other guy was called. He sat in the front and took ...

... rental agency, we met a woman whose husband ran an agency in the desert where we were heading and we spoke to him on her cell phone. Although the rain had stopped, we drove though a lot of big puddles and mini lakes on our way. We had heard that there were some blocked roads but didn't think they'd be big obstacles until we saw what everyone was talking about. About 3 hours into the trip, we came to a huge river of ...

... dance). Wandered back down the Kasbah again past little market stalls back down t the creek for another crossing and back to Action's place. We then sat downstairs next to the kitchen and had a cooking demo by Action and his sister who showed us how they make tagines and couscous (a slow, tedious labour intensive process I don't think I'd have patience for). Mike kept eating all the carrots and capsicums. Dinner was delicious - soup and tagines.

... one - really fatty but so yum. Our bus was ready to leave and was practically pulling away (we knew this about 2 seconds before) and we found a bit juicy bit of meat - after grabbing it we quickly ran to get on the moving bus - the conductor was a little mad but we didn't know! oops At the bus station we were picked up by Mohammed our mini-van driver and were taken to a local establishment which made prosthetic limbs ...

Today morning we quickpack our things and leave for the Sixt office, where a silver Dacia Logan 1.5 diesel already awaits us. Again, the Sixt guy Said shows himself in very good light. So last breath and let's dive into local traffic. Frankly, seeing the traffic from sidewalks and thinking about driving in it is not so nice feeling...but once in it, it's not so bad (in daylight;)). We encircle Marrakech and drive through increasingly more beautiful landscape towards ...

... After enjoying a delicious lunch in a tiny cafe we took a side trip to Ait Benhaddou....one of the best preserved kasbahs and definitely our favorite stop of the day. This kasbah was used to film Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, and Gladiator....to name a few of the 20 movies set here. A local gentleman allowed us entry through his home and then because Benjamin was speaking to him in Arabic....we had to have tea ...

We already knew that the cost of a grand taxi from Rissani to Todra Gorge was ~300 dirhams and when we asked the price they charged typical moroccan price 500 DH. So we said we would find our own taxi, this ****** the guy off and we walked into town. The 6 of us stuck out like sore thumbs, I lead the gang to a place where I saw some taxis waiting around, once there we were swarmed by locals(false guides) all wanting to give us a better price on the taxi. This ...