Hotel La Perle Du Sud Ouarzazate

... br>We drove out of Marakech on the road to the High Atlas in the direction of Ouarzazate (pronounced "who said zat") We stopped on route for mint tea, and at lunch time had delicious Moroccan Tajine and Brocheta , we bought an ammonite at one of the en-route little shops, also available were the lovely crystals in rocks and onyx eggs that the place is famous for, but Sharkita has enough junk onboard to ...

... whizzed south across the 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.

... are based around some (vaguely) nearby mountain streams and areas for the animals so that the length of treks do vary. We are of course in the 'middle of nowhere' so you have to relax in camp with the bed rolls &amp; some rocks to lounge around on.<br>One day the stream is full enough for the cold water hair wash and clean up, otherwise it's mainly wet wipes &amp; the bush for the toilet stop. Impromtu English/Berber lessons continue as do the stone ...

Ait Ben Haddou is one of the oldest Kasbahs in Morocco. Onthe way to the hotel we saw goats on the side of a maountain. And from the roof of the hotel I took pictures of the kasbah and the neighbors garden. We met 2 German girls the next morning and gave them a ride to Casablanca. They were lots of fun.

... these essentials with us.We had been promised a hot meal on the flight but you had to buy sandwhiches at £6, coke was £2. I was pleased I had a malt loaf with me. The guy in front of us was reading something on the MDS so I said hello, he wasn't very chatty at all so I presumed he had trouble with English. We were 30minutes late flying at 12:30 for the 3.5 hour flight to Marakesh. It was only now I realised that the others were flying ...

... never numbered, had taken someone elses bus seat. Someone standing up in the aisle then got involved because they wanted a seat. Someone was taken off the bus and beaten up then the bus left. Nice one. The bus ride through the Dodes Valley was not as pretty as we imagined it to be but we did see lots of camels wandering the roadside. Uncomfortable bus with no leg room and blowing hot air from the air con vent. Welcome to the desert bus from hell. There was a fancy sign on ...

... world from the Holy Land to the American Wild West and have done so in such movies as Sheltering Sky, The Man Who Would Be King, The Last Temptation of Christ, Living Daylights, Kundun, Jewel of the Nile, The Mummy, Alexander the Great, and Lawrence of Arabia. I am not a major movie buff per se but was somewhat disappointed when the majority vote in the group (I think it was 11 to my 1) nixed Dave's suggestion that we stop for a visit at Atlas Studios outside of Ouarzazate.

... 6:30pm, so I found a room at a simple and a bit shabby hotel there and decided I'd go and see the old citadel the next day. Just took it easy and had a traditional Moroccan dinner at the hotel's restaurant - some sort of yellow curry couscous with chicken and vegetables - and what a STACK of food! And was in deed yummie!! I had officially become a fan of Moroccan cuisine. The room with hot water shower, dinner and breakfast the morning after cost me 150 dirhams ($19 USD).<br>

... men riding donkeys carrying heavy loads, herds of goats or sheep being herded by Berber women, children scampering off to school....lots of activity for such tiny places. As we zig and zagged down the mountain it looked as if we were back home in northern Arizona...the landscape is so much like the Navajo reservation...beautiful colors of rock and wind blown formations....and heat....lots of it (of course it is dry) but no a ...

... more reason to return with out it. One of the best parts about the trip through the mountains was not just the huge peaks towering over me but the small Berber villages and tribes along the way. At one point we topped out at about 6,000 FT which is probably the highest I have ever been on foot. The trip through the High Atlas took about 5 hours at which time we arrived at Ait-Ben-Haddou about 40 miles outside of Ouarzazate. This is Morroco's most ...