Day 8 - October 17 - Ouarzazate to Marrakech

We started the day with a tour of the kasbah of Taourirt. This kasbah was the former residence of the Pacha Glaoui. He was known as the Lord of the Atlas Region. 

Between Tomboutoo and Marrakech there are 1000 kasbahs. It is called the way of the 1000 kasbahs. When travelers saw the 3 step decorations on the top corners of the roof of the kasbah that is how they knew it was a kasbah and that they could stop for a rest.

In the kasbah, they are only allowed to use the original materials of clay, hay and bamboo. Outside of the kasbah they can utilise whatever they want.

There was a festival up until yesterday.

Bamboo structure to support the roof.

Clay bricks.

Berber alphabet

At a couple of places during the day as well as here we saw the damage done by the big earthquake that they had 2 years ago in 2023. It was a 6.8 on the Richter scale with the epicenter in the Atlas Mountains.

After the kasbah was a visit inside the palace of Ait Benhaddou. This kasbah was declared a world heritage site by Unesco. We saw where the favorite wife and 1st son lived. He had four wives and the first one to have a son became the favorite wife. If he was not able to produce a child, the first son of his brother had the responsibility to do the job. Around their rooms it is like a maze in order to make it more difficult to find them therefore protecting them.

This 17th century kasbah is considered one of the most beautiful in the country. It is decorated with correlated towers and has often been a filming location for movies. Many movies have been filmed here for a variety of reasons, the lighting because of the clear sun, the quietness of the city, the scenery of mountains, dessert and kasbahs and also the cheap labour. On our way out of the city we stopped for a quick photo of the Atlas Studios.  

Before lunch we also visited another kasbah which is being restored. No-one lives in this one. It is only stores and tourists. It was in this kasbah that they filmed the Gladiator movie.  Walking in this kasbah was on uneven terrain with sand, small pebbles and uneven flat stones.  

Workers making clay bricks.

Location of training scenes for Russell Crowe in the film Gladiator.

Artist heating his sketch over a flame to reveal the finished picture.

Many movies were filmed in Ouarzazate.

This was located in the distance behind the studio. Perhaps a movie set.

After a late lunch we hopped on the bus to cross the Atlas mountains on the cobra road, it is named this because of all the zigzags. We climbed as high as 2260 meters high. It was a bit scary around those hairpin curves.

Someone was not enjoying the ride.

We arrived at our hotel around 7:15.