On my first full day in Morocco, We drove into the Atlas and
then into the Sahara. The drive started in Marrakech and eventually found us
driving towards the Atlas mountains.
We eventually climbed so high that there was snow on the
mountains and the faint promise of clouds below us, proud along the mountainous
background. We were in Col de Kotchka's remit, 2 and a half kilometers above
sea level. High in the Atlas mountains, it was here that I found myself lost in
their visage.
And so, around 2.6 kilometers up, we came to an amazing vista.
Mountains surrounded us on all sides, and the valley gave way to - you guessed
it - even more mountains. It was as though time had stopped. I was breathless
(and not just because of the altitude).
We passed through our first high-mountain village (which blew my
mind to see anybody lived up there) and eventually arrived at our first
location and lunch stop: Ksair Ait Ben Haddou (Castle Berbers of Haddou) Prince
of Persia and Game of Thrones were shot here. The new part was built seven
years prior to my coming for the muslim berbers- the surviving castle houses
sixty five, mostly jewish berbers. The views from the top were the single best
I had ever seen.
After being used as a scarf model, we were taken to the
restaurant to soup up for our saharan adventure. I sat with a table full of
French-speaking individuals, all of whom would become friends despite my lack
of French language comprehension. It was also on this day that I learned that
my lack of paper currency would complicate things wherever I went in this
country, as almost everywhere only accepts cash.
And so we drove to Zagora, a little desert town, where we would
use the toilet and head to the Sahara. Once at the Sahara, our five new Berber
friends put us all on camels, and I got to ride an animal for the first time in
nearly 15 years (the last being a pony). We had a simple dinner of tagine,
soup, and fruit, after a Moroccan mint tea ceremony and cleaning the saharan
sand out of our eyes.
The tents got rather cold that night, but after a long day of
traveling and musical performances (where the Berbers catered to us Spanish
speakers by performing Shakira and Juanes), we didn't care. My roommates were
three girls from Seville, and by the end of the night, I could hardly remember
any English. We chatted about everything under the sun, and I further developed
my Spanish social skills.
Stay tuned for the following day!
