The Marrakesh Express

[garry55]

Day 19 in Morocco.
Back on the road through the last part of the lovely Dades Gorge, then a pretty uninspiring drive to Carrefours supermarket in Ouarzazate to stock up on essentials. From there it's a short drive to Ait Ben Haddou where we are staying tonight. Ait Ben Haddou is part of "Ouarzawood", Morocco's film industry, and has been the setting for many a good film (Lawrence if Arabia, The Jewel of the Nile and Gladiator, to name but a few). It's a well preserved ksar (fortified village), frozen in time with the small narrow alley ways now full of souvenir and carpet shops, winding their way up to the ruined igherm.(granary) which affords stunning views over the surrounding countryside. Film makers were on site, preparing to shoot scenes for another movie, which I guessed had something to do with Trojans as we saw a bloody big wooden horse from our coffee taking vantage point. A sign we saw later in the village confirmed my thoughts. Luck was on our side as tomorrow the ksar is closed to everyone not associated with the film, including all the traders. We scored a few bargains thanks to Sharon's haggling skills and the fact that the traders were losing a days work.

 

[Baggydave]

Day 19 in Morocco.
Back on the road through the last part of the lovely Dades Gorge, then a pretty uninspiring drive to Carrefours supermarket in Ouarzazate to stock up on essentials. From there it's a short drive to Ait Ben Haddou where we are staying tonight. Ait Ben Haddou is part of "Ouarzawood", Morocco's film industry, and has been the setting for many a good film (Lawrence if Arabia, The Jewel of the Nile and Gladiator, to name but a few). It's a well preserved ksar (fortified village), frozen in time with the small narrow alley ways now full of souvenir and carpet shops, winding their way up to the ruined igherm.(granary) which affords stunning views over the surrounding countryside. Film makers were on site, preparing to shoot scenes for another movie, which I guessed had something to do with Trojans as we saw a bloody big wooden horse from our coffee taking vantage point. A sign we saw later in the village confirmed my thoughts. Luck was on our side as tomorrow the ksar is closed to everyone not associated with the film, including all the traders. We scored a few bargains thanks to Sharon's haggling skills and the fact that the traders were losing a days work.
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What a stunning collection of pictures. A real epic trip & crazy roads by the look of it. We hope to be in Morocco next year. It will be our first time so I don’t think we will be as adventurous as you. Keep it coming.

 

[garry55]

What a stunning collection of pictures. A real epic trip & crazy roads by the look of it. We hope to be in Morocco next year. It will be our first time so I don’t think we will be as adventurous as you. Keep it coming.

Thank you. We are enjoying what this country has to offer if you go looking for it. It's our first time here and won't be out last!
Just get out here and do it!

 

[garry55]

A few of the bargains we scored on our saunter around the kasbah. Thanks to Sharon's haggling and the fact that the traders were losing a days takings due to the closure for filming, we did well.
A dodgy looking local and Sopwith the camel.

 

[MartinandBev]

Film makers were on site, preparing to shoot scenes for another movie, which I guessed had something to do with Trojans as we saw a bloody big wooden horse from our coffee taking vantage point

A new film called The Odyssey, we also saw them preparing the costumes (by paint spraying them) at the film set in Ouarzazate, the wife caught a picture and was quickly told off -didn’t tell her to delete the pic tho

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[garry55]

Day 20 in Morocco.
A steady 3 hour drive today took us from Ait Ben Haddou to the trading city of Zagora. Along the way we passed through Agdz, which looked like a good place for a stop over, crossed the small Atlas mountain range (having stopped for a coffee at the top) and marvelled at the palmeraie that accompanied us for the final 54 Kms to Zagora. Unfortunately, Zagora is tout- land personified. Whilst looking for our chosen campsite (Camping Sindibad) we were stopped by a moped rider who informed me that I had a serious problem with my offside rear wheel. When I said I would get it fixed later, he then offered to take us to the campsite but took us instead to a back street garage where 3 motorhomes sat at the side of the road in various states of disrepair. Flatly refusing his offer to get my wheel fixed ( there is nothing wrong with it), he eventually led us to the campsite. After setting up, we had a walk down to the dried up river bed and back through the outskirts of town and were continually hassled by boys on mopeds and young kids playing in the streets. Beware!
It was a bright, sunny and 22c this afternoon but tonight we are having thunderstorms and it's rained on and off ever since. Still very warm though - it's 77c in the van with all the vents and 2 side windows open.

 

[Just smiffy]

I’m probably going to give Zagora a miss, as I’ll be in dades gorge to merzuga..

Tomorrow.. night tissint
Next night ouarzazate
Then on to dades gorge

 

[garry55]

Depending on the weather we may be staying in Zagora for another night. We have laundry to do.

 

[CaptainPaul]

They've cleaned that Tombouctou sign up well since I was last there, at least you can read it now! lol

 

[Roger S]

A new film called The Odyssey, we also saw them preparing the costumes (by paint spraying them) at the film set in Ouarzazate, the wife caught a picture and was quickly told off -didn’t tell her to delete the pic tho

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That looks like my wardrobe !

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[garry55]

Day 21 in Morocco.
Still at Camping Sindibad in Zagora.
Sharon sorted the clothes washing, I cleaned all the outsides of the van windows of the bright orange residue left by last night's storm then we sat back and soaked up the sun. In the afternoon we had a walk into town to stock up on essentials at the indoor market. Despite Ramadan, there were a lot of cafes open (well before the 19:00 deadline) and we took a coffee break whilst Sharon did a bit of present buying. For herself. She came away wearing a head scarf, a very nice ring and carrying a painting for me / the motorhome.
Back at the site we sat drinking cocktails then Vermouth whilst watching the sunset. Could be another strenuous day tomorrow

 

[garry55]

Day 22 in Morocco
We left Zagora on the N7 heading for our overnight stop at Tata, 270 Kms away. The scenery was pretty unremarkable, flat desolate scrubland framed on either side by grey mountain ranges. After many "route deviations" (dusty, rocky tracks) around on-going work to replace bridges and whole sections of the N7 that were washed away in the recent floods, we made it to the first town along the route - Foum Zguid. The 131 Kms took us just over 3 hours! We had a nice lunch then set off to cover the last 140 Kms to Tata greeted by more of the same scenery but enlivened by a surfeit of "dust devils" - like mini tornadoes, some only a couple of metres high, others much taller.
We made Tata in less than 3 hours and are staying on the municipal campsite, right in the centre of town. It's a gated, concrete compound with super clean toilets and showers that are the best we have used so far on our journey through Morocco. All for 100 dirhams a day.

 

[Just smiffy]

We must have passed each other….

 

[garry55]

Only saw 1 UK reg van en route and that was white. As has been the norm for the past couple of weeks, we are the only UK people on this site too.

 

[garry55]

Day 23 in Morocco.
A steady drive, with Sharon at the controls, along an unblemished stretch of the N7 took us to Icht, our stop for tonight. Famous for it's underground village, we joined a tour party and explored the village and surrounding area. A great way to spend an afternoon. We were planning on driving to Tafraoute tomorrow but with a weather forecast of rain and 8c it looks like we may be heading for the Western Sahara desert and a sunny 21c.

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[garry55]

Day 24 in Morocco.
A long drive from Icht to El Oudia on the Atlantic coast, via a supermarket shop at Guelmim. We hadn't seen a single motorhome since leaving Icht - that's because they were all at the Marjane supermarket at Guelmim! With stocks replenished, we continued to TanTan plage / El Oudia and our next stop at Camping Atlantique. It's a very good site, right on the beach, with hood sized plots, all facilities and plenty of spaces when we arrived. And it's in the only green weather zone in Morocco - the rest of the country has had yellow, orange and red weather warnings issued today. So I think we may linger here for a few days before moving down the coast and further into the Western Sahara desert region.

 

[Jane NotRog]

Thanks for this thread and great photos, we’re picking up some good spots for our return to Morocco, hopefully next winter.

 

[Just smiffy]

Certainly doing a lot of driving, are you going to stay anywhere for a length of time…

 

[garry55]

Thanks for this thread and great photos, we’re picking up some good spots for our return to Morocco, hopefully next winter.

They've cleaned that Tombouctou sign up well since I was last there, at least you can read it now! lolView attachment 1021861

They have also changed the direction to Tomboctou - is it the same sign?

 

[garry55]

Thanks for this thread and great photos, we’re picking up some good spots for our return to Morocco, hopefully next winter.

I look forward to reading your trip report - we are hoping to return to Morocco in December. We absolutely love it!

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[garry55]

Certainly doing a lot of driving, are you going to stay anywhere for a length of time…

Why? So much to see and do. And I have itchy feet.....

 

[garry55]

Day 25 in Morocco.
We walked from the campsite along the road to the port but we weren't allowed access so walked back along the beach to the site. The local seller of fresh seafood appeared at our van door on his moped so be bought a large bowl of prawns for £8 which Sharon used later to make a delicious prawn stir fry with Teriyaki sauce for our tea. We then went into town to get some food items and withdraw some cash to pay for the 4 new tyres that we are having fitted on Tuesday. The van is also booked in at the local car wash for a thorough clean afterwards.
It clouded over later in the afternoon and even rained briefly so there was no sunset to watch on our late dog walk.

 

[garry55]

Day 26 in Morocco.
120 Kms south of El Oualia on the N1 dual carriageway lies the Khenifiss national park and the Naila lagoon, where the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert run into the Atlantic Ocean. We are "wild" camping, with the blessing of the Maroc army who's checkpoint we had to pass through to access the lagoon, and are perched on a cliff top overlooking the lagoon and above where the local fishermen ply their trade. Our "guardian" has charged us 20 dirhams for the privilege, even though access to the park is free! It's a small price to pay though to be able to witness this spectacle of nature.

 

[garry55]

Day 27 in Morocco.
Back up the N1 dual carriageway to Camping Atlantique in readiness for our 11:00 am appointment at a local garage to have all 4 tyres replaced. The N1 is a beautifully surfaced road that runs from Agadir to Laayoune in the Western Sahara. Signs advise you to maintain a 70 metre distance from the vehicle in front of you (we passed 3 trucks and got passed by 1 van in 120 Kms of driving today), to take a rest every 2 hours to prevent fatigue (obviously ignored judging by the frequency of severely impacted crash barriers - I lost count but guess most of them were caused by trucks) and that it is a 100 Kms per hour speed limit all the way to Laayoune (forgetting to tell you that there are 80 and 60 limits where you will find local police armed with speed cameras).
Back at the site, the garage owner appeared to attend to another motorhome, saw me and asked me to be at his garage in 10 minutes so he could fit the new tyres. 2 hours later Ziggy (our motorhome) was rolling around on 4 new (budget) tyres which gives us an early start tomorrow on our journey to our next stop - Sidi Ifni.

 

[garry55]

Day 28 in Morocco.
The N1 from El Oualia to Guelmim was it's usual boring self, but when we turned onto the N21 for Sidi Ifni things improved no end. The single carriageway road had bends and changes in elevation as it wound it's way through a valley that afforded vistas far more interesting and varied than the N1's stony wasteland. We are staying at Camping Gran Canaria, a good, level site with great showers and toilets and easy access to the beach and town. We are here for 2 nights as we are having a minor repair (overhanging tree branch / roof interface) on the motorhome repaired in situ. He has already applied the matting and resin and is coming back tomorrow to rub it down and paint it. All this for £60.

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[garry55]

Day 29 in Morocco.
Had a lazy day today - walked into town to recharge our Maroc Telecom SIM cards, looked around the shops and market then back to the campsite to do some lazing in the sun until it clouded over later in the afternoon. The mechanics returned to complete the roof repair and have done an excellent job. Well pleased.
Tomorrow we leave for Tafraout.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Can't believe the roof repair was only £60.
Think you could have added another zero to that in the UK.

 

[guy b]

Day 18 in Morocco.
Posted a day late due to a lack of wi-fi.
We had a GORGEous day today. We left Tinghir after breakfast and headed up the Todra Gorge, a truly spectacular site to behold. But instead of turning around and heading back for Tinghir, as it appears almost everyone else does, we pushed on along a challenging road that took us up and over the High Atlas mountains to Agoudal, the highest village in Morocco. From there, an even more challenging road, at times part- covered in snow, part blocked by a rockfall and a 15 Kms section devoid if any solid road surface took us down to Dades Gorge, via 3 sets of wonderful switchbacks. Sharon's research paid dividends as we pitched up at Amana Maktoub Camping, the prettiest campsite we have stayed at so far. But being within the gorge meant that we had no wi-fi, a small price to pay for such a beautiful, tranquil stay.
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Wow. On our way down through Spain to Morocco and thought we’d have to turn round at some point in that gorge.
Like the sound of that route. Can you send a couple of points on that route I can use please. And the campsite

 

[garry55]

Can't believe the roof repair was only £60.
Think you could have added another zero to that in the UK.

And a 2 week waiting list!

 

[garry55]

Wow. On our way down through Spain to Morocco and thought we’d have to turn round at some point in that gorge.
Like the sound of that route. Can you send a couple of points on that route I can use please. And the campsite

Sent you a message.

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