Vallée du Drâa and Ait-Benhaddou
18/09/07 17:08 Filed in: Morocco
In the morning, absent any towels, we used sheets.
We had a coffe before heading south along the Vallée du Drâa towards Zagora. On our Michelin map it looked as though the valley was completely filled with palm plantations. It wasn't.
First we had to cross another mountain range, the Jebel Saharo. Not as high as the High Atlas but spectacular nonetheless.
Not a plant in sight. Just bleak mountains and valleys as far as we could see. It was a very long way down on the other side of this barrier.
Bleakness on a grand scale.
Looking south from the highest pass the Vallée du Drâa with it's river virtually dry and the first of the Palms in the distance.
As we passed palm plantations vendors would appear and wave boxes of dates. Their marketing strategy was often suspect as they chose locations without much space to stop and where traffic was travelling quite fast.
One of the many villages along the valley. All built in a similar style with reddish brown mudbrick.
As we approached Zagora the plantations became more extensive. In Zagora itself the hustlers started even before we had stopped the car.
On the way down we had had the car windows open to benefit from a strongish breeze. We hadn't noticed that the breeze was carrying a lot of red dust. We and the car intererior we covered in it.
There seemed little reason to linger. We had a quick drink here before returning north. Now with the windows closed and the air conditioning on.
Just outside Zagora we went for a walk through one of the plantations. These were magnificent Palm trees.
It was almost time for the date harvest. We tried some and they were delicious.
Back into the Jebel Saharo and more of the spectacular rock formations.
Looking down into a dry river bed. The few palms surviving until it rains again.
Considering the robust terrain the roads were generally quite good though not suited for high speeds.
Our little Atoz and the view south.
We returned to Oarzazate and carried on to Âit-Benhaddou a few miles to the NW. This turned out to be a hilltop village where we were told a number of films had been shot in the 80's including Indiana Jones and Jewel of the Nile.
Looking towards the village across a wide and dry river bed.
The village looked a bit twee and I wondered whether it had been built especially for filming. Apparently not, as we later saw many similar villages.
There was a 10Dhm admission into the village to fund "restoration". Once inside it seemed pretty run down, not untypical, although a path to the hilltop was being refurbished.
A view from the hilltop with the wide river bed clearly visible. In winter this becomes a fast flowing river.
Rock formations nearby. Tomas and I both thought this landscape very similar to what we had seen in "Western" films.
Back in Oarzazate we decided to try for a least one star. We hadn't bought any towels. Finally we chose the 3 star La Perle du Sud. Rule number 1 in Morocco always check carefully before handing over any money. Even in this 3 star hotel the first two rooms they offered were not acceptable. The third was fine.
We had a coffe before heading south along the Vallée du Drâa towards Zagora. On our Michelin map it looked as though the valley was completely filled with palm plantations. It wasn't.
First we had to cross another mountain range, the Jebel Saharo. Not as high as the High Atlas but spectacular nonetheless.
Not a plant in sight. Just bleak mountains and valleys as far as we could see. It was a very long way down on the other side of this barrier.
Bleakness on a grand scale.
Looking south from the highest pass the Vallée du Drâa with it's river virtually dry and the first of the Palms in the distance.
As we passed palm plantations vendors would appear and wave boxes of dates. Their marketing strategy was often suspect as they chose locations without much space to stop and where traffic was travelling quite fast.
One of the many villages along the valley. All built in a similar style with reddish brown mudbrick.
As we approached Zagora the plantations became more extensive. In Zagora itself the hustlers started even before we had stopped the car.
On the way down we had had the car windows open to benefit from a strongish breeze. We hadn't noticed that the breeze was carrying a lot of red dust. We and the car intererior we covered in it.
There seemed little reason to linger. We had a quick drink here before returning north. Now with the windows closed and the air conditioning on.
Just outside Zagora we went for a walk through one of the plantations. These were magnificent Palm trees.
It was almost time for the date harvest. We tried some and they were delicious.
Back into the Jebel Saharo and more of the spectacular rock formations.
Looking down into a dry river bed. The few palms surviving until it rains again.
Considering the robust terrain the roads were generally quite good though not suited for high speeds.
Our little Atoz and the view south.
We returned to Oarzazate and carried on to Âit-Benhaddou a few miles to the NW. This turned out to be a hilltop village where we were told a number of films had been shot in the 80's including Indiana Jones and Jewel of the Nile.
Looking towards the village across a wide and dry river bed.
The village looked a bit twee and I wondered whether it had been built especially for filming. Apparently not, as we later saw many similar villages.
There was a 10Dhm admission into the village to fund "restoration". Once inside it seemed pretty run down, not untypical, although a path to the hilltop was being refurbished.
A view from the hilltop with the wide river bed clearly visible. In winter this becomes a fast flowing river.
Rock formations nearby. Tomas and I both thought this landscape very similar to what we had seen in "Western" films.
Back in Oarzazate we decided to try for a least one star. We hadn't bought any towels. Finally we chose the 3 star La Perle du Sud. Rule number 1 in Morocco always check carefully before handing over any money. Even in this 3 star hotel the first two rooms they offered were not acceptable. The third was fine.