Moving on
Today, I move on to Ourzazat, the Hollywood of Morocco. Parts of Gladiator and Jesus of Nazareth was filmed there … and many other movies. But I’m going there for more traditional sights; there are a number of kasbahs in the area.
I said goodbye to my hosts at the Palmeraie and waited about 30 mins for a taxi to Tinehir. When one finally go to me, I managed to upset the driver. I had forgotten that I could open the boot of his Mercedes from the outside using the button, to store my luggage. I had expected him to open it from the inside as with a Japanese car.
The bus from Tinehir to Ourzazat was full. I resorted to a shared taxi but that took some time to fill the final seat. Arriving into Ourzazat, I was lucky today. I spotted my accommodation Riad Tichka Salam from the road as we drove into town. It was good to be dropped off without having to get and pay for another ride. It was a lovely hotel with two pools! Not so useful at this time of year though.
There are many foreigners limping around town today. They are spillover guests from the Marathon Des Sables, a six day 251km marathon in the desert.
Kasbah Taourirt
I grabbed lunch in town and after some errands, visited the Kasbah Taourirt. It was brown on the outside but white on the inside, as far as the wall colours went anyway. My attempt to visit had been waylaid by kids that try to mislead me, telling me the entrance was on the other side, where they shops were located.
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- Sunset at Kasbah Taourirt in Ouarzazat.
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- Kasbah Taourirt.
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- View from Kasbah Taourirt.
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- At Kasbah Taourirt.
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- Souvenir shops near Kasbah Taorirt.
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- Football at sunset at Kasbah Taourirt.
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- Kasbah Taourirt.
For a change, I enjoyed a buffet dinner at the hotel comprising of soup, salads, Moroccan-style mains with a dessert of swiss roll and fruits.
Hollywood
I had mentioned earlier that Ourzazat is like the Hollywood of Morocco having been the location of movies like Jesus of Nazareth.
Well, Morocco seems pretty open-minded. Some Muslim countries would be quite opposed to filming of such movies as they can be considered blasphemous. Jesus, Moses or Abraham (amongst others) are also Muslim prophets and depiction of their faces are not usually permitted.
Communication
Today I bought my CTM bus ticket to Marrakech completely in Arabic! I notice sometimes that I get better service in Arabic than trying to get them to understand English. But on the other hand, I find some people completely dismissive when I speak in Arabic. Perhaps they only speak Berber and French.