It Ain't Bad at Ait Ben Haddou

Having eventually come to the end of Bourmalne we were only a couple of hours from Ait Ben Haddou. After about 90 minutes of driving through pretty bleak, flat and treeless country we reached Ourtzazate, which is a bit of a Hollywood town on account of the number of movies that have used locations in the area. You can even do a studio tour here - though we didn't. However we did find a supermarket and used it to stock up on some fruit and nibblies.

Then it was only another 20 minutes out along the road to Marrakesh before turning off at Tizgzaouine for the 10 minute run to Ait Ben Haddou. This little town with it's old mud brick Kasr, or Berber Castle, is a famous movie and TV location in its own right. Most recently famous for being used as a filming location for "Game of Throwns", it has also featured in such films as Gladiator, The Mummy, The Living Daylights, The Jewel of the Nile, and Lawrence of Arabia. In former times it was an important stop for caravanserai on the trade routes of North Africa.

Our window view.

We found our lodgings without any problems and checked into our room which offered uninterrupted views across the river to the Kasr itself. Perfect! We had deliberately timed our arrival for late in the day because the setting sun is supposed to bring out the colours of the mud brick walls.

A bridge to the Kasr.

About 4:30pm we set off through the "back streets" (unpaved lanes between houses) to reach the street that ran to the bridge across the river. Once across the bridge you are almost straight into the Kasr (no entry fee, nice) and into the ubiquitous craft / souvenir stalls. In places there were restoration works going on and some parts you could not enter but we had no problems winding our way through the various levels as we climbed to the top.

The small round hill next to the Kasr.

View of lower Kasr from the top.

The keep at the summit of the Kasr.

The stonework pattern in the upper wall.

Berber musician.

Formations in the upper Kasr.

The view was expansive and included the low coloured hill that surrounded the Kasr. It was interesting to see some of the patterns in the stonework in the wall around the summit. We explored a different route on the way down, and since the build up of cloud on the western horizon meant that there would be no setting sun on the mud walls today, we didn't worry about loitering until sunset.

We took the low road back to our hotel - which meant walking along the river bed and crossing the ankle deep water in the middle on a series of stepping stones reinforced with sand bags that was pretty much opposite our hotel. From our bedroom window we were able to see that there were no last minute breaks in the cloud as the sun set.

We had declined the hotel's offer to partake of their tajine dinner for 140 dirhams each because it seemed pretty expensive. We figured we'd get something nice up in the main street instead. As it happened, this turned out to be more difficult than we thought. There really wasn't much on offer and what there was wasn't cheap either. We managed to get caught in a rain shower too, so just as well I'd taken my rain jacket for us to share. In desperation we checked out a restaurant that had no-one in it and found to our surprise that it was a Chinese restaurant - which was very reasonably priced and, as it turned out, served quite delicious food too.

Dawn shoot setup.

Sunrise on the Kasr.

I wanted to get some photos of the Kasr next morning as it was lit by the rising sun, and this required the arduous job of sitting on the edge of my bed at 7:00am, opening the window and lining up the tripod and camera in front of it. Very civilised - why can't all sunrise shoots be this easy! Laura even sat up and watched through the other window as the sun moved down the walls of the Kasr. We could see some other poor sods who had to actually get up and climb to the top of the Kasr or the big round hill next to it to watch the sunrise play out.

Laura crosses the stepping stones.

The included hotel breakfast was upstairs on the terrace, which also offered a nice clear view across to the Kasr. After we had eaten, packed up and checked out we decided to go for one more look across the river. We took the stepping stone route, but declined the assistance of the trio of youths who turned up wanting to hold as hands as we crossed - seeking a few dirhams for their trouble no doubt. This time we took a different route though a small grove of trees leading, passed some nice craft stalls to the base of the big round hill. Since there was a pretty straightforward track up the hill we climbed it to admire the view of the Kasr on one side and the surrounding desert on the other.

Panorama of the surrounding desert from the hill we climbed.

Colourful scarves for sale.

Colourful plates for sale.

Front-on view of the Kasr.

After walking down the hill we went for one last stroll through the lower levels of the Kasr before returning across the stepping stones to where our car was parked at the hotel. Just before we reached the hotel we were entertained for a few minutes watching three men and a woman trying to persuade a cow to get into the back of a little ute. After much pushing and shoving and lifting of back legs they eventually succeeded.

A cow being taken for a ride.

Our next major port of call was to be Marrakesh to our west, which once back on the main road we could have reached in about three and a half hours. However we had a much more elaborate plan for getting to Marrakesh. Our plans was to head south west for a similar amount of time and spend the night in Oulad Berhil so that we could get to Marrakesh via the much more renowned and challenging Tizi n' Test Pass.

Some of the less barren country we drove through.

We shared the driving though country that was still pretty barren looking for the most part with mostly gentle hills rather than any testing mountains. We spotted a little market in Tassousfi around lunch time and decided we'd get some eats there. I tried going into a bank to break a 200 dirham note, but after having to take a number and wait five minutes while the only teller was putting bundles of notes though a counting machine for the same customer at least six ahead of me, I gave up on that idea. I was subsequently able to break the note straight away at a Western Union exchange counter further down the street. This enabled us to buy some fruit and yoghurt for lunch. Then on the way out of town I spotted some inviting shade next to a large wall around a big empty square, so we parked there to eat.

It was still barely mid afternoon and quite warm by the time we arrived in Oulad Berhil, so after checking into our room we rested up for a bit. To get some exercise we then undertook a hot walk for the kilometre or so into the centre of town where Google Maps promised a bakery.

Interesting mural, with child watching us.

Not being a noted tourist town the one we found was not very promising, so we continued exploring the local markets. In the process Laura found a nice broad rimmed hat that cost all of 20 dirhams. A little further along the main street we found a much nicer patisserie. A local chap helped us select what we wanted and translate the cost - which wasn't much. He then suggested that we go to what looked like a bar (though it obviously wasn't) down the little arcade beside the patisserie where lots of men were watching a soccer game on the TV. We were able to buy lovely cold orange juices for only a couple of dirhams and sit and eat our pastries in the nice cool room. Afterwards we finished exploring the main street, noting some murals on one of the wall,
selected a likely candidate for dinner later, and bought some fruit before the hot walk bag to our hotel room. The aircon was very welcome.

Later, come dinner time, we drove back downtown and had a pleasant dinner at our selected diner before revisiting the patisserie for dessert.