Wednesday (Ouarzazate to Marrakech)…

The rain shower head in our room felt wonderful this morning…hot and invigorating…truly unexpected in the desert. But isn’t that the definition of an oasis? Breakfast was a simple buffet with crepes and pastries and luscious coffee. We dined one last time with Lynn and Greg…truly a delightful couple we hope to keep in touch with after our itineraries diverge.


Lynn and Greg joined us in our return to the carpet shop to see if Jeff could make a deal. Greg (who is from Kenya originally) told me stories of Africa as we looked at objects and jewelry. Jeff and Lynn played hardball with the carpet salesman. I will leave the tale of the carpet sale to Jeff, but suffice it to say he got a very, very good deal.


After the sale, Lynn and Greg returned to the riad to start their drive. We said our goodbyes, hoping to meet them for a drink in Marrakech. We went to a nearby post office to ship Jeff’s new treasures home. A tale in and of itself.


More colorful deserts. More lush oases. What a beautiful country…full of contrasts, but at the same time a harmonious synergy. There is a natural equilibrium at work here. As Youssef stated quite eloquently today: everything has its purpose; if something doesn’t serve a purpose, then it doesn’t exist.


Ouarzazate is a huge home for Hollywood film production. The area provides a dramatic locale for scenes mimicking sites all over the Mediterranean and places as far away as Tibet. Youssef drove us out into the nearby desert to see fake fortresses and walled cities. Catapults and siege towers dotted the land. We stopped and knocked on one of the imposing stone fortresses…hollow. Truly fascinating.


Our first major sight for the day was a UNESCO-protected kasbah…Ait Ben Handou. Youssef found us a rocky vista with views across a wide oasis. The kasbah was dramatically nestled on a hillside above the oasis. Deep brown earthen walls formed boxy buildings that climbed the hill, seemingly on top of each other. We learned that this kasbah was the backdrop for the northern Africa scenes in the movie “Gladiator”…complete with a fake mini-coliseum (now dismantled). The view was breathtaking.


Heading back towards our main route, Youssef gleefully took a “short cut”, which was code for off-roading. We wove up and down thru bone-dry creek beds, following a twisting route.


To reach Marrakech, we had to climb through the Tichka pass, a long winding passage through the High Atlas. As we climbed from the desert below, we watched the mountains transform from reds and browns to almost a gray-green hue. Sun and soil…foliage and minerals…all played brilliantly to produce an ever-changing range of colors. We stopped at precarious overlooks along the route to stare up at majestic peaks, out across fantastic valleys, and down at the zig-zag roads below us.


We passed the top of the pass–the Col du Tichka–at a windy 2260 meters altitude.


Our route down was even more stunning, and we entered a wetter zone where trees and grass greeted us. Tiny villages and tiered gardens hugged every valley wall. Sheep and goats dotted the hillsides, with invisible herders always nearby.


We stopped for a quick bite on the road down. A tiny roadside cafe served an amazing Berber omlette in a bubbling hot tangine.


On the narrow road down, we passed truck after truck laden with live cattle, just-sold in Marrakech and off to butcher in the desert towns we had just left. Such a funny sight actually. The cattle were transported in rickety double-decker trucks…with cattle standing on the top deck. They had better views than the tourists crammed into sealed-up busses!


As we reached the bottom of the pass and flattened into the land approaching Marrakech, olive trees and palms re-appeared. We soon passed golf courses and other signs of the wealth in and around Marrakech. The suburbs of Marrakech were filled with manicured medians and carefully laid out parks. Roses and other flowers surprised us.


We entered the Medina walls…a vastly different experience than the medieval medina in Fes. This is a medina for tomorrow’s adventure and tomorrow’s tales, but our first impressions were energizing yet oddly comforting. The lanes narrowed considerably as we neared our riad. Cars, bikes, and scooters seemed to share the same physical space simultaneously. Throngs of everyday pedestrians, with a notable injection of foreigners. Again…oddly comforting.


The drivable street ended, and we made the last bit of our trek on foot…guided by Youssef and aided by a young teen with a cart to help carry luggage. Narrower and narrower lanes. And finally a non-descript door…the Ryad Dyor…our home for the next few days. We said our goodbyes to Youssef, certainly a new friend. Hopefully we will see him again to take a day trip during our stay.


The riad is very small, but beautifully appointed. It truly feels like a home, as it once was. We met the two young men staffing the riad for the day, and got a helpful orientation to the riad and Marrakech.


7:11pm and we are relaxing on our private rooftop terrace. Sipping a cool rosé in a light warm breeze. An evening call to prayer emanates from minarets all around us, filling the evening with a low peaceful chant.


We had dinner on our terrace…just the two of us and the night breeze. Three wonderfully fresh salad spreads with bread to start. Two piping hot tangines…one with beef and prunes in a rich sauce, the other a moist chicken with citrus and olives. Dessert was a simple-yet-luscious creme brûlée. What a wonderful way to end our long day.