Aït Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Aït Ben Haddou is a fortified city, or ksar, situated in Souss-Massa-Drâa on a hill along the Ounila River and is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village on the other side of the river; however, eight families still live within the ksar which has no running water or electricity. The ksar is constructed in the adobe style using sand, clay, water and straw and repairs need to be made usually after heavy rain.

Aït Ben Haddou has been featured in a number of well known films such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Living Daylights, Kundun, Indiana Jones, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Prince of Persia.

We arranged a private car from Marrakech to visit Aït Ben Haddou, as part of a day trip through the Atlas Mountains to see Ouarzazate and the Atlas Film Studios nearby. There is no entry fee, however it is customary to take a guide, who can provide you with the history and local insight into Aït Ben Haddou. Our guide’s family is one of the eight families that continue to live in the ksar.

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

Another 2 hours drive from the peak of Atlas Mountains is Ouarzazate – its name comes from a Berber phrase meaning “without noise” or “without confusion” and it is often nicknamed ‘the door of the desert’ as it is the last outpost before the Sahara desert which is just south of the town.

The town is chiefly inhabited by Berber-speakers, who constructed many of the prominent kasbahs and buildings for which the area is known. It is home to the kasbah of Taourirt, which was the casbah of the former caïd and later owned by T’hami El Glaoui or the Lord of the Atlas. Thami was the pasha of Marrakech from 1912-1956 and was the chief of the Berber Glaoua tribe of the southern Atlas. He is most notorious for conspiring with the French rulers of Morocco to overthrow Sultan Mohammed V.

 

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate

The Atlas Film Studios

Atlas Film Studio

The Atlas Film Studio is the largest film studio in North Africa and one of the largest film studios in the world. Spread over 20 hectares the studio consists mainly of desert and mountains and is located 5 km from the city of Ouarzazate. Thanks to a reliable climate and beautiful light a number of well known films such as Gladiator, Babel, The Mummy, Kingdom of Heaven, The Jewel of the Nile, The Living Daylights, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra and Kundun have been filmed here. Game of Thrones: Season 3 was also filmed here – we couldn’t go on site so this was shot from a distance (see picture below). The people of Ouarzazate are often featured as extras in the films and create a lot of the sets on site.

Many of the sets remain in place and guided tours are available. Visiting hours from October to February are from 08h15 to 17h15 and in March to September the visiting hours are from 08h15 to 18h45. The entrance fee is 50 Dhs for adults, 35 Dhs for children (6-12 years) and free for children 5 years and under. Tickets can be purchased from the Oscar Hotel adjacent to the studio. It’s best to arrange either private transport or a group tour to The Atlas Film Studio as part of a greater tour of Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou.

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

Atlas Film Studio

The Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

On the way to Ait Ben Haddou and Ourzazate we passed through the Atlas Mountains. We organised a private tour with our own chauffeur and highly recommend it over a group tour as you can stop anytime you want, travel at your own pace and we found our chauffeur to be very knowledgable about local artisans in the areas we visited.

There is only one road through the Atlas Mountains and it took about 3 hours to reach the summit, Col du Tischka at an altitude of 2260m. The terrain was rugged and the climate harsh but the landscape was undeniably beautiful.

At the summit you can visit a few local stalls selling pottery and an argan oil collective run by local women. We bought a few beautiful quartz geodes from a vendor (see picture below) – the naturally occurring colours – turquoise, orange/red, purple and a purple/green amethyst were incredible! Along the way, there were a number of vendors selling boucherouite rugs.

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

Here’s a close up of the quartz geodes now decorating our home.

Atlas Mountains

The Souks of the Medina

Souk Medina Marrakech

As I mentioned in earlier posts, we visited Morocco during Ramadan. The experience was still incredible but next time I would plan my trip around Ramadan which was in the middle of summer this year. Apart from contending with almost forty degree (celsius) heat, we found some of the more popular restaurants, souks and shops had closed for the month only to return in early September. Our hotel, the BAB Hotel was very quiet as was most of the Gueliz district – the new district outside of The Medina. Souk Cherifia was closed for renovation, Terrasse des Epices was not open and popular boutiques like KIS Boutique (Keep It A Secret), Lalla and Heritage Berbere were also closed.

The souks of the Medina are not for the faint hearted. It can be overwhelming with all the noise, colour, choice, number of people and the constant touts looking for your business. I happen to love markets and was up for the challenge but found it daunting the first time I visited. I would recommend, you spent the first visit just familiarising yourself with the atmosphere – take in the sites, sounds and get a feel for the prices. Stall holders are very persuasive and as soon as you open up a dialogue or catch their eye, you’ll find yourself haggling over prices before you know it. It is difficult to navigate (even with a map) and we found the most effective way to find restaurants or specific boutiques was to save the location on Google Map before we set out into the Medina, then use the GPS to get around. Some locals were super helpful and took us to the place we were looking for – others were more interested in taking us to their friends’ stall…all part of the experience and adventure! There are no official opening hours but we found most of the boutiques and stalls in The Medina opened around 11 in the morning.

Once we got a bit more comfortable with the layout of the Medina, we discovered some stalls with amazing pieces for the home. If you love Moroccan wedding blankets or handira, go visit the Soufiane Bros in the Souk des tapis – they specialise in handira and Beni Ourain rugs and have the most beautiful display in the Souk des tapis. You can’t miss them – they’re right at the end, with sparkling Moroccan wedding blankets hanging from the ceiling and piled up high to the ceiling. The most beautiful ones are on display and Mohid was very accommodating in showing us a number of handira, explaining that they work with a number of artisans and only collect the antique handira. You’ll find some cheaper handira at other stalls but if you ask, you’ll find that they’re machine made. It’s the antique handira with large wool tufts, sequins and two ties (so you can use the blanket like a cape) that you want to bring back! The rugs and blankets are made by the various tribes of The Atlas Mountains including the Ben Ourain and Azilal tribes.

Other items worth buying in the souks are leather poufs (the metallic ones are vinyl!) – ask for the export quality ones, hand hammered lamps and trays, baskets (all shapes and finishes) as well as Beni Ourain or Azilal carpets, flat kilim weave rugs and Boucherouite rugs a more recent style of rug made from the scraps of different material, designed free hand by the woman making the rug.

Some of the beautiful boutiques we discovered included: Michèle Baconnier Boutique, Tresor des Nomades by Mustapha Blaoui on 142 rue Bab Doukkala, 33 Rue Majorelle opposite Jardin Majorelle (try the Kaowa juice bar also on the same premise), Kif Kif, Bouriad Karim on Rue Fatima Zohra R’mila Dar El Bacha (beautiful selection of kaftans and boho-style clothing that he produces for the boutique Calypso) and El Abidi Nasser Eddine at #9 Souk Semmarine for beautiful Berber jewellery.

Souk Medina Marrakech

Souk Medina Marrakech

Souk Medina Marrakech

Here are a few of our purchases from the souks..

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Souk Medina Marrakech

The Beldi Country Club

Beldi Country Club

Beldi Country Club

Beldi Country Club

Beldi Country Club

Beldi Country Club

We visited Marrakech during Ramadan in the month of July where the temperature rose to in excess of 40 degrees celsius. On those days we escaped to The Beldi Country Club, located about 20 minutes away by car outside of Marrakech for lunch and a swim.

The Beldi Country Club sits on 14 hectares and over a thousand rose bushes have been planted on the property which used to be an olive grove – the smell upon arrival was incredible. The Beldi Country Club includes a hotel with 28 suites, a spa and 2 restaurants – “El Badia” located outside for a more casual dining experience during the day and “le Palmier Fou” situated within the hotel for a more formal a la carte dining experience in the evening. During the day there is a mini souk where you can watch artisans at work as well as purchase carpets, tapestries, embroidery, pottery and glass.

We didn’t stay at The Beldi Country Club but made a reservation for lunch at the restaurant El Badia which is located right next to the 35m long swimming pool surrounded by olives trees. There are also 2 swimming pools dedicated to children. The restaurant offers Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine with a French influence and the food was so good that we visited twice during the week that we spent in Morocco!

We asked our hotel to make a reservation and most taxis knew where it was located. Usually we were able to negotiate 40-50Dhs to get there from Gueliz but found that The Beldi hotel reception can also arrange transport back to your hotel or riad for 50 Dhs in an air conditioned private car (for the same price as an unconditioned taxi).

The Beldi Country Club address is Km 6, Route de Barrage, “Cherifia” Marrakech Morocco. For more information and pricing visit the Beldi Country Club website.
Note: As we visited during Ramadan, the Beldi was very quiet and we were easily able to make a lunch reservation on the same day. The souk however was closed as well as the hotel shop. Both restaurants, the hotel and spa however remained open. I was advised, that apart from Ramadan to make a reservation as it is very popular with the expat crowd.

Jamaa el Fna at night

Jamaa El Fna

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jamaa-el-efna-03

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Jamaa El Fna

There’s a huge difference in experience when visiting Jamaa el Fna during the evening compared to the day. During the day, it’s pretty sparse with a few orange juice vendors and a number of ladies offering to henna your hands, surrounded by carts pulled by donkeys and men pushing barrows or on scooters.

But at night the square comes alive – with the call of prayer in the background, you can enjoy the spectacle of the Jamaa el Fna unfold as you eat as much harissa, merguez and pigeon pastilla at one of the many food stalls there. We ate at Stall 32, ‘Hassan’ after much research. The food did not disappoint – the merguez in particular were incredible – tender, moist, beautifully seasoned with a great lamb flavour. The harissa (tomato and lentil type soup) and vegetable tagine were also very good – the vegetables literally melted in your mouth. We also tried a pigeon pastilla, a type of pie consisting of shredded pigeon enveloped in layers of flakey pastry topped with some icing sugar – it was an interesting combination of savoury and sweet and definitely worth a try.

After dinner you could purchase dessert from a separate cart and take a digestive walk through Jamaa el Fna. The atmosphere was intoxicating – with families dining together amongst snake charmers, monkeys handlers, henna tattooists along with the general noise and site of the stall vendors in the souks. It was fascinating to see the beautiful dried fruits and nuts and to see all the spices, dried flowers and argan oil alongside stalls that sold tea cups, lanterns, mirrors, babouches, leather bags, poufs and jewellery.

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Jamaa El Fna

Morocco

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

Morocco, Maroc

A few highlights from our trip to Morocco. We got lost in the souks of The Medina in Marrakech, traversed the Atlas Mountains to visit Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site which you’ll recognise in movies such as Prince of Persia, Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. The Atlas Studios was a 2 hour drive away near Ourzazate and is where films like Kundun and Jewel of the Nile were filmed. The Game of Thrones set was also nearby! We also did a day trip to visit Essaouira on the coast.

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

Jardin Majorelle

The Jardin Majorelle was initially established by Jacques Majorelle, an artist and passionate amateur botanist from Nancy France, who nurtured this private garden in the heart of Marrakech for almost forty years. He planted different varieties of plants from all five continents however the costly maintenance eventually forced him to open his garden to the public. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé discovered the Jardin Majorelle in 1966, during their first stay in Marrakech and eventually bought it in 1980 to save it from disrepair.

According to the Jardin Majorelle website they undertook the restoration of the garden in order to “make the Jardin Majorelle become the most beautiful garden – by respecting the vision of Jacques Majorelle.”

The Jardin Majorelle was a highlight of our visit to Marrakech. The cactus garden in particular was spectacular and a truly inspiring site. Open seven days a week, from 8am to 5:30pm except during the month of Ramadan where the opening hours are 9am to 5pm. Entrance fee to the garden is 50Dhs for anyone 9 yrs and older – concessions available. The address is Jardin Majorelle – Rue Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech, Morocco.