We left the luxurious surrounds of Les Jardins at about 9am, after a wonderful breakfast of omelette avec fromage (when we asked for our omelettes to be with cheese, our waitperson only blinked once, although he did ask did we want it “au naturale” and shouldn’t be surprised when we said no). R asked for a glass of hot water with lemon and honey to ease our coughs, which occasioned even less of a blink from our intrepid waiter.
Apparently we were supposed to be having a walking tour of the Skoura Palmerae this morning, but we had organised with Abdel to meet at 9 since there was another long drive.
Ouazazate, the “Hollywood of Morocco” was first up, and we drove past the film studios, decorated in the theme of Cleopatra, the first Hollywood film shot here. There’s even the Oscar Hotel to stay at, for those with stars in their eyes!
Beyond the studio is a big fake kasbah! This is used for most of the filming these day, with additions and deletions much more easily done than when dealing with a real historical kasbah!
Our next stop was to see Ait Ben Haddou kasbah, which we viewed from the opposite cliff, a spot inhabited by savvy businessmen who laid out souvenirs and a gentleman in possession of a lime green snake which he was very eager to drape about our persons! After initial trepidation, I allowed myself to be persuaded (after first watching R deal with the mysterious reptile).
The sight of Ait Ben Haddou was pretty awesome as well, where they filmed Gladiator, amongst others!
To get to Marrakech, we pass through the High Atlas Mountains, another winding, nail-biting stretch of roads hanging precariously to the side of very steep mountains. There are quite a few spots where the barricading at the side of the road has been smashed through. What a comforting thought!
We stopped at a cooperative to see Argan oil being made. R was very disappointed to only see a poster of goats climbing the trees to eat the argan nuts, rather than the real thing, but a group of ladies were showing the different aspects of oil production at the coop, from splitting the fruit, cracking the nuts, roasting, grinding and hand-pressing the pulp. R enjoyed a taste of the oil, and an oil, honey and almond meal mix used for dipping bread, and we bought a jar of that, plus a couple of soaps for people back home. I also nabbed a small pot of lip balm, as my lips have been crazily chapped from the cold.
We had lunch next door at a small restaurant, where they served the oil, almond and honey mix with the bread. I had a Berber Omelette for lunch (omelette with tomato and onion cooked in a tagine), and rice, which was cooked with butter and sultanas (and I drizzled the almond/argan sauce onto it as well, which worked quite nicely!)
Then the long drive through the mountains continued to Marrakech. We asked Abdel to take us to a supermarket where we could get cough lollies etc, and he stopped at a Marjane, a HUGE cross between a Coles and a K-Mart. Food on one side, and clothes, electrical and small furniture on the other! Unfortunately we couldn’t find what we wanted, but I did pick up some rice cakes for breakfast, and we hit the pharmacie next door for medications. Luckily the fantastic pharmacist spoke “a little” English, enough to work out what we needed and offer many alternatives! (Soooo much better than my “un petit” French. Must learn some more – it’s a useful language, especially here) Yay!
The driving here is manic – much more like I’d expected from experiencing the streets of Cairo on a good day! We almost hit an old man who was lurching through traffic for some reason, possibly begging, who then gave us a dirty look as if it was our fault he was there. We don’t really want to be doing much crossing of streets here! Too many cars, bikes, motor bikes, horses and carts, donkeys… you name it.
We said a sad goodbye to Abdel at the gates of the medina, (and gave him a tip and a nicely tacky pen emblazoned with the Australian flag) and headed off to the hotel, Riad La Croix Berbere. It’s as pretty as it looks in the photos, but a bit less bright and airy (probably due to it being winter). The pool in the main room is fantastic, and the stairs are wider and less steep. The rooms are beautifully decorated, but pretty small compared to the ones we’ve been in, and there is an extended family staying here with at least four children at the moment, which means it is quite noisy! They seem lovely, but all the noise bounces off the hard surfaces and travels very well.
We’re in the Afra room on the first floor, which has another very firm bed, and a gorgeous bathroom, with a shower like another little room, done in lovely tadelakt. Dinner was a tasty chicken and olive tagine, but didn’t really live up to the extremely high standards set by the other places we’ve eaten so far!
Time for an early night – we’re being met by a local guide early tomorrow who will show us some of the sights, and we want to be awake and on the ball to deal with much more busyness than we’ve experienced so far.
Two Weeks Away 