Skoura to Marrakesh

Thursday, May 16, 2013

After breakfast in the lovely garden, we were on our way again.  That is, after a search for Frankie's glasses once again.  It's pretty well expected that she will lose them at least once per trip, and so far they have always shown up again.  Aha, coat pocket.

From Skoura we drove to the nearby city of Ouarzazate, which is famous for being the set location for movies.  Some of the movies shot here include Kingdom of Heaven (Orlando Bloom), Jewel of the Nile, and The Mummy Returns.  We took a guided tour of Atlas Corporation Studio and walked through many different sets.  Alot of them were just facades with scaffolding behind them.

Many of them are reused for different movies, and they might just paint windows a different colour.  The set for Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Heaven looks nothing like Jerusalem, we've been there.

Just a little further Brahim walked us through a real kasbah called Ait Ben Haddou.  It was built in the 11th century by the nomadic Touraug people.  No, Volkswagon did not make that word up.  The Touraugs were nomadic people from subsaharan countries around Morocco who settled here.  Today of course immigration laws would be much stricter.  Four or five families still live here, but they will never get electricity because it would ruin the "charm" of the kasbah, which was made into a UNESCO site in 1987.

We walked among tunnels and around twists and turns, and climbed alot of stone steps.  We stopped to watch a "painter" who used a paintbrush and tea to draw a picture for us, then he put the paper over a propane tank to burn the colour in.  We didn't stay long, however, because of the hashish smokers in the next room.  There was a lady sweeping a walk who demanded money for her picture before Frankie even clicked the camera.  And a young boy petting a dead bird who asked if we wanted a picture of it, but we passed.

We drove for several hours through the Tichka Pass in the High Atlas Mountains.  The road was quite "snaky" as Brahim described it.  The elevation was 2260 meters high, we were driving through clouds.

We chatted with Brahim about traditions in Morocco.  He doesn't know his exact birthdate.  When parents were asked to register their children, they might be able to pick out the year by a certain event, for example there was a big walk in Egypt that year.  Then when asked the month, well it was very cold so maybe winter.  Brahim's passport says January 1, but that's what everyone's birthday says who was born in winter.

We arrived in the busy busy city of Marrakesh around supper time (of course we didn't eat until 8 pm).  They gave us a tour of Riad Siwan where we are staying, including showing us several of the rooms, which we found odd.  Then it was a bit disappointing when we were shown our room because it wasn't nearly as large as some of the others.  The room is half the size of the others we've had, and the riad twice as "fancy".  It feels a little too formal for us, even though it certainly is lovely and pristine.  The courtyard is very small.  We're having a lot of trouble with internet here.

After a very quiet and foo-foo dinner at the riad, we decided to brave the zigs and zags of the medina, map in hand.  You had to watch out for the hundreds of motorcycles going in every direction.  We made our way to the world famous Djemaa el Fna Square, which was sheer and utter madness on a grand scale.  Vendors selling everything under the sun, including the most beautiful lamps we've ever seen.  Fresh orange juice stalls.  People sitting on the ground shaking balloons.  Some chained up or caged up monkeys, we felt so sorry for them.  Circles of people around story tellers.  Anton got caught taking a picture and had to pay a dirham, and the picture didn't even turn out.  The nice lamp guy did let Anton take a picture for free, but just one.