da da dades

We could have continued to sleep for some
more hours but at 7o’clock it was time to get up, pack our stuff and get breakfast. At around 8 we met Hisham, a 28 year old guy that is now our driver until we leave Marocco. Today’s plan was to drive up to a pass called Tichka (I think), then down to the Marocco-Hollywood called Ouarzazate, going to a roseoil/ -essence cooperative and then to the valley of Dades. Hisham was talking a lot from the beginning, very friendly and explaining a lot like why he didn’t like French tourists and also that he never generalizes.. So actually he mostly doesn’t like French tourists because they treat him as a servant rather then with due respect. Anyway, he speaks wonderfully English, French, Darija (Maroccan Arab) as well as Tamaziɣt, a berber language. Quite impressive. The journey was very interesting passing many little or bigger villages first the same way like we came from Marrakesh but then turning east taking the N9 to Tazentout. That road is one to remember. Firstly, it is so curvy you think you are on a roller coaster. Even more if you have Hisham as a (mad) driver. Puh. He rushed because he realized that we couldn’t visit Ait Ben Haddou on Monday, our flught being too early. So he suggested to do it today. Oh feel the rush, oh yes. Haiaiaiai. Breakfast stayed where it should. Before the adventurous drive up that pass we had a coffee break at a lovely place where we had the best coffee so far. There is heavy construction going on, they want to make that road straighter. They just make way through the rocks. Not as a tunnel but they kind of cut in half the thing. Impressive. The way down is already finished and yes, less curvy. You can still see the old road passing next to the mountain. As said, Hisham was drivingvery fast and shortly before Ait Ben Haddou he was stopped by the police and had to pay 300 Dirham (30€). A lot of money. He was not pleased. We had then diner with a view over that famous UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. A very beautiful place with a lot of people watching possibilities. It is one of the hot spots to be in Marocco. We had a guide named Mohamed whose family still owns a house in the Kabash (fortified village). It is composed with houses out of mud and straw, approximately 70 families stayed there, 57 berber and 13 jewish families. Each caravans going from Marrakesh to Timbuktu made a break at this place. The last caravan passed 50 years ago. Families started to leave the old city to build a new one on the other side of the lake in the 50ies. Habitat is quite basic, it is difficult to get the water and there is still no electricity. Now the UNESCO doesn’t want thise installations. There are 4-5 families remaining in the old city and they have solar panels. Ait Ben Haddou (I like that I am able to write that name without looking it up) is got famous as a place where movies were shot: Gladiator, Bond was here and Angelina, too, for the Prince of Persia. It stays a beautiful place even though it is touristy and now almost a dead city. At the moment there i not enough water and restoration of the buildings is expensive. Let’s hope it will survive some other 1000years since the first mentioning of that place are around 1000. We then continued our way to the Dades valley, skipped the Rose-stuff, had fun while listening to music and driving through marvelous landscapes. Just wow. We are now at the hotel and we will leave again at 8 tomorrow to have a better look at that valley.Read more