It’s a beautiful morning in Tinghir as we leave bound for Ouarzazate. Our first stop this morning is the viewpoint of the Dades Valley that is actually a series of separate gorges carved out by the passage of the Dades River and is navigable via a road known locally as the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. Fortunately, it’s Abdu or brilliant driver who is navigating the hairpin bends whilst we can admire the scenary that ossilates from rock formations in colors that range from tan and beige to gold, rust red, and dusky mauve to historic kasbahs and ksours among groves of palm and almond trees.
Next stop is the town of El Kelaa des M’Gouna, famous for its roses, the town is blanketed by a landscape of scented blooms each spring, which are harvested in the May during the Festival of Roses which is commences 2 days after we visit. The blossoms are used to make rosewater, which is sold throughout the Islamic world. We visit a co-operative where we are shown the rosewater distillation process. It takes 1kg roses to make 1 kg of rosewater. The co-op estimates that during April and May they will harvest up to 600kgs of roses. I’m not a fan of rose water but have to say the scent emanating from the pile of harvested roses is divine. Our visit is another retail opportunity but we all decide to pass on this occasion.
We stop at the Kasbah Taourirt for a quick photo stop at the entrance to Ouarzazate. It’s an impressive kasbah that was first built in the 17th century by a powerful local family. At the height of its importance in the late 19th century, the kasbah controlled an important location at the confluence of several river valleys that included the Draaa and the Dades which were part of the Saharan trade routes. For centuries, it was a gathering place for traders from the High Atlas and the Sahara who met to do business at the sprawling kasbah. In the 1920s, the French established a Foreign Legion garrison to oversee their colonial interests.
Just outside Ouarzazate, Morocco recently built one of the largest solar energy stations in the world at a cost of about 9 billion dollars. We can just see the tower poking over the top of a hill so this stock photo of the installation will have to suffice. It’s a seriously impressive engineering undertaking.
Further info about the solar plant can be found. here: https://esfccompany.com/en/articles/solar-energy/noor-ouarzazate-the-world-s-largest-concentrated-solar-power-plant-csp-built-in-morocco/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/04/13/morocco-europe-solar-desert/
We stop in Ouazarette at Carrefour to purchase a picnic lunch and of course top up our alcohol supplies in advance of our next desert camp in a day’s time. We reboard the bus and drive through Ouarzazate headed for our next stop the fortified Berber settlement of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site widely considered to be one of Morocco’s most picturesque spots. With the help of some Hollywood touch-ups, this Unesco-protected red mudbrick ksar (fortified vilage) seems frozen in time, still resembling its days in the 17th century when it was constructed. This stunning fortified village is repeatedly inundated by tourists who are eager to visit a location featured in Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, Jewel of the Nile, Gladiator and Game of Thrones amongst many other films and TV shows. Inside it’s a depressing round of repeated retail opportunities and snaking lines of tourists, many on day trips from Marrakech. We picnic amongst the shady olive groves after we cross the river prior to our walk amongst the village.
It’s a hot afternoon and we relieved to reboard the air conditioned bus. We return to Ouazarette and our next stop is very exciting, its Atlas Studios. Since 1983, the studios have been churning out international blockbusters and the site covers a enormous 98,000 sq metres, making it one of the world’s largest film studios. To date, more than 200 films and TV programmes have been made here, including Gladiator and Prison Break, The Mummy, Blackhawk Down, Kundun and Asterix. The list is endless!! We join a tour and have an absolutely fantastic time bounding around the sets which are simply amazing although it’s very amusing to walk around the back of them to see just how flimsy they really are. It’s a brilliant afternoon we suspend our belief for a couple of hours entering via Egypt and the set of The Mummy and exiting via Tibet and the set of Kundun.
It’s been a full on hot day and we’re delighted to check into our hotel that has a lovely cool pool. Dinner is a delicious Berber omelette with a glass of red. We barely unpack our bags as guess what, we’re on the move again tomorrow and we don’t have much time.
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