Friday 11 January 2013

Day 39 Ouarzazate to Marrakech



As we left Ouarzazate we left the Sahara and headed for the High Atlas mountains.  On the outskirts, we passed several film studios - its the film capital of Morocco and films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars have been filmed there.

Ouarzazate

We stopped at Ait Benhaddou, a beautiful Kasbah used in many films.



We called into a woman's cooperative where they processed argan nuts into oil and cosmetics.  We tasted the oil, argan honey and an argan, almond and honey paste that was so yummy.

We crossed the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi N'Tichka pass at about 2200 metres and then drove down via a series of hairpin bends.



We then drove through a beautiful valley with lots of lovely little villages.


We drove over another pass, and then it was on to Marrakech, where we arrived early afternoon.



There was nothing planned for the afternoon, but our guide and driver took us to a silver jewellery store and then a souvenir store than sold everything from clothes to silver to leather and people were able to indulge in some retail therapy.

We get to sleep in an extra 15 mins tomorrow as we have 2 nights here!!!

2 comments:

  1. Enjoy your 15 mins! We may have snow at the weekend, just thought you'd like to know. We had sun yesterday and the winter jasmine is flowering and there are new lambs in the field on the way into Hay, so spring must be nearer than it was a few weeks ago! Nothing like the lovely blue skies you are getting tho.

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  2. Such amazing experiences to be amongst that barren,brown and desolate landscape.... and, by the sounds of it,fascinating too. Such memorable experiences!

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