Where’s Atlas?

 Writing this days later is terrible because everyday is starting to blend. It feels like we’ve been here a month even though our trip is about to end. Morocco is beautiful. Everyone is kind. Everything has been acceptable (not perfect. T.I.A. This is Africa)

Tuesday morning we left Marrakesh and headed towards Ouarzazate. To get there, we traveled through the Atlas Mountains. It became an inside joke between me and the other Sarah of “Where’s Atlas?” And every stop we’d name a different thing Atlas. The first stop was a cat. Next was a dog. Maybe a donkey was named Atlas. We stopped at several oases (plural of oasis) to see the palm trees. We stopped for panoramic views and warded off merchants peddling goods.

We left at 9:30; we ate lunch at about 3. We stopped at Ait-Ben-Haddou. That’s a famous place where so many movies were filmed (most of which I haven’t seen like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven). The village next to river was built in the 14th century. They had 5 kasbahs, places where caravans could stop and rest. It’s an official UNESCO site and is preserved to stay the way it was built. That means no running water or electricity. We crossed a river that looked dry, but was muddy in the middle. We were slipping and sliding all over. Ad said it had never been that way before; it was always dry before. I guess it had recently rained. 

In the theme of films, we past CLA studios, the third largest film industry in the world. If there’s a desert scene, people and movies come here to film. Adnane kept referencing Jason Momoa. Maybe Aquaman 2?

We stayed at a beautiful hotel. We were all excited to get in the pool and it was FREEZING! I walked around the shallow end after 45 minutes of slowly submerging myself. There was a great view of the surrounding area. We had a meal in the hotel restaurant for dinner then proceeded to celebrate ANOTHER traveler’s birthday. We ate cake, sang, and danced. Such a great way to end the day. 

Wednesday

We continued traveling through the Atlas Mountains, this time in the lower parts. We headed to Arfoud. We saw the Rose Valley (Desert Rose by Sting was hummed), Fig Oasis, and Oasis of Tinghir. 

We made a special, unscheduled stop. We participated in a tea ceremony at an imam’s house with his wife. We sat on the floor and watched her make the ubiquitous mint tea. It was delightful. Afterwards, two randomly selected travelers were chosen to make it. That batch was even sweeter. I’m going to have to buy some and take it home with me. We ate lunch soon after. Lots of bread, olives, and skewered meat. Fruit is a common dessert: oranges with cinnamon, apples, bananas, grapes, and melon. 

We were met with laughter when we got on the bus and one of the women imitated Adnane. She even put on his striped bucket hat! When he got the mic back, he just did a mic drop. We drove away from our destination to see the Todra Gorges. They were gorge-ous (I had to do it. The pun was just there, ready to be said). Coincidentally, my dress matched the sides of limestone. The stream was cold and had different colored rocks. Merchants were peddling kaftans, scarves, jewelry, and more down in the gorge. To get there, we drove around the luscious Oasis of Tinghir. It was so beautiful. 

Through the last oasis we stopped and were gifted a box of dates by the driver’s friend. It was so good; sweet with the texture of icing. We arrived at the hotel, settled until dinner at 8:30. This hotel is outside of Erfoud, far enough to make it feel like the middle of nowhere. Because we’re closer to the Sahara, sand is everywhere. We’re blaming the weird coloring of the pool to the sand; we can’t see the bottom it’s so opaque. Our group had some issues at this hotel with stinky rooms, ants, no/just dripping water, and no A/C. Ad is amazing and fixes them as quickly as he can. People were moved as soon as they complained. Hump day was over and so was half our trip