Out of the Desert

We woke up to the sound of drums and the sun rising over the Saharan mountains. Jam bread, strong tea, and warm coffee greeted us on the cold morning, and we once again braced our camels to head back to the main road.

I soaked in the beauty of the surrounding landscape, knowing that if my camel took off and I plummeted to the ground, I would die a happy person. Just as we hit the halfway point, we saw three dogs barking and chasing after two mortified camels, and two berber men in turn running after the camels. It was comedy gold that I had to miss recording so as to not fall off of camelback. We reached the road, tipped the berbers, wished them farewell, and hit the road for Casbah on Hill, Ourzazate.

This berber town of migrants was built in the 17th century from traded over Yemenese adobe clay and straw.

The Berbers have no written language, so all of their thoughts were expressed in artwork. Although the high walls were once built to fend off attackers, the city is no longer dangerous- caravans pass through here safely for gold and silver trade under government administration. In 1956 the last official governor ruler helped them out in this regard. Lots of movies are sho in this town, and our tour guide Mohamed was an extra soldier and interpreter in Cleopatra. Of all the labguages he speaks, he prefers English because of listening to hip hop.

Because of what it is, anyone could buy land for for 300€ before movies were shot here. Now the land cost is closer to 40,000€. Jean Claude Van Damme shot a movie here and the people gave him whatever he and his cast needed. However, Moroccans would blast music to hustle them for money before police would cone, since begging was otherwise illegal.

Concerning these houses, people dig deeper cellars to stay cool in 50C summers. Modern houses have come in since 1917 for new people. They continue to use straw to prevent cracks in adobe during the adobe heat.

We were then shown various Ghilim and glawa carpets done by one woman to close off doors in tents. We had tea and browsed wares, and I walked away with a less-than-cheap tea set and oil lamp. We had lunch, i finally managed to withdraw money, and I saw more of the beautiful Moroccan landscape as I held deep conversation with another traveler all the way back down to Marrakech.

When I returned, I actually managed to overcome my anxieties of unfamiliarity and find my way back to my Riad without getting haggles and without getting lost. I left for my next Riad, unpacked, had more Moroccan Mint Tea, and left for a familiar sight: Northern Europeans.

Chez Brahim is along Derb Dabachi, a busy off-street filled with both motorcycles and pedestrians everywhere. The restaurant itself is quaint, artsy, and extremely Berber. Here, bread and chili sauce are served together as an appetizer and garam masala replaces pepper as a table condiment (as it should be). I had some veggie berber tagine, tipped my hat to the restaurant's prompt service (and similarity to the actual berbers I stayed with), and headed home to rest up for an action-packed day ahead.

Next up: Ourika Valley!