Taroudant Rooftops
After leaving Legzira, I spent one night in a town called Taroudant. I stayed in a nice little riad, but was only in the town for a very short time, so although I walked around in the Kasbah a bit, I didn’t really go to any specific locations or see anything that was particularly notable. There was a quite nice garden on top of the riad, however, and when I looked over the walls, I could see into some rather rundown areas of the town.
Tent and Satellite
I’ve noticed the rooftops of the cities here in Morocco are liberally coated with satellite dishes. I may have mentioned this before, but it’s quite interesting to see that even in the poorer parts of town, there is still no shortage of satellite tv and internet access. While wireless hasn’t quite become commonplace here yet, internet access certainly has.
Hi-Tech sign….Visit the Museum!
I made the decision to go out to the edge of the Sahara Desert, as I have been told by many people that this is amn experience not to be missed while I’m here in Morocco, so I began the journey there from Taroudant via Ouarzazate. I stayed in a little hotel right near the bus station, called Hotel Baba, for the night in Ouarzazate. It was a pretty great place, and the guy working at the front desk was really nice about giving me information about the town and how to get around, where to go for dinner, etc. Ouarzazate is rather famous for its movie industry, actually, and has a film studio/museum located just outside of town. There is a city right nearby that I would like to try and visit on my way back through called Ait Ben Haddou. I didn’t have time to go now since I only stayed one night, but it’s a UNESCO site and was used for filming many movies, including Lawrence of Arabia, as it has been preserved as it was originally built.
The guy at the front desk at Hotel Baba had given me great instructions on how to take the bus from Ouarzazate to M’Hamid. This is the town where I had booked my few days’ stay on the edge of the Sahara. To get there, I had a couple of options but the easiest was to get a bus that went all the way to M’Hamid via Zagora and Tagounite.
My hotel is a “resort” called Hamada du Draa, located literally on the edge of the Sahara desert. It’s a walled compound with many individual rooms shaped like nomadic tents of the type the Saharaoui people live in in the desert (only with ensuite bathrooms). I booked one, as the room rates were relatively low. I guess this is the off-season, as it’s getting rather hot now, with the summer approaching. There’s also a nice swimming pool where you can look out at the desert (pretty nice in this increasing heat), and usually people who stay there book either a camel tour or four-wheel drive tour out into the desert where they stay for a night in a tent at some dunes. Apparently, it’s all part and parcel of the desert experience which is not to be missed….
Anyway, I left from my hotel in Ouarzazate and walked to the bus station, where I managed to get a ticket on the bus through to M’Hamid. I got onto the bus, but it didn’t leave. It seemed there was a problem with the actual bus itself. We sat for a while, and then got out for a bit, as it was getting quite warm in the bus. I sort of befriended a girl there, who didn’t really speak any English (or French, really) and we went to get some water and use the facilities. When we returned, some guys were elbow-deep in the engine of the bus – it didn’t look like we’d be going anywhere anytime soon.
After a couple more hours in the sweltering bus, another bus arrived and they put all of the passengers from the broken one onto the new one and we were off. I was hopeful that it would get me where I wanted to go, but honestly, I wasn’t sure that it would. I asked someone about Zagora (the only name I could remember at that point), and got a nod. After a some hours, we arrived in a town, which was Zagora, and everyone got off the bus. I didn’t because I was supposed to continue on to M’Hamid via Tagounite. At worst, I thought I might have to get a taxi from Tagounite. However, some guy got on the bus and told me to get off, saying that this was as far as this bus was supposed to go.
Woman near Taxi Stop
I said I’d paid to go all the way to M’Hamid. He called a petite taxi driver over and spoke with him. Then he indicated to me that I should get in it. I asked how much it would cost, since I’d paid to go to the next town. He gave me some money. Mollified, I got into the cab, thinking I’d be taken to my destination. Then, the guy drove me across town to the grande taxi station. I asked him when we got there if he’d been paid, because I now realized I had to get into a grande taxi to go to the next town. He held out his hand, and I gave him the money. Then, when I arranged the grande taxi, they asked for the exact amount I had just given the petite taxi driver, the swindling bastard! I’m sure the bus station guy had already paid him, had actually thought I’d seen money pass between their hands at the bus station, in fact, but foolishly didn’t question it when he asked for the fare. So I had to pay for the grande taxi to M’Hamid myself. (Don’t get me wrong, it was only a couple of dollars, but it was the principle of the thing, and I was rather pissed off.) I then had to wait until the taxi was full before we could leave, cause that’s the way grande taxis work in Morocco.
Finally, there were enough people to go and we headed towards M’Hamid. Of course, I finally eventually realized that this first grande taxi was only going to take me to Tagounite. Then, I’d still have to get (and pay for) the grande taxi to M’Hamid, a few more kilometers down the road. Ah, the joys of travel where you don’t speak a word of the language. By then, I was only a couple hours later than I’d been planning….
The owner of the resort, Hassan, had been supposed to meet me at the bus station to take me to the hotel, but I assumed that when the bus didn’t come at all, he’d get the idea I’d be late – I didn’t have any service on my phone out there between towns, but I sent him an email along the way to let him know I was running late and would be arriving by taxi.
When I arrived (finally) in M’Hamid, a guy in Berber clothing (robe and turban) was waiting for me at the station. He told me that Hassan had gone to watch a football match (it’s world cup playoff time) and so he took me through the town square and across the river (or, rather, dry riverbed) to the hotel, leaving my luggage to be brought by someone else in a car after a little bit. It was close to town and it was really nice to stretch my legs after such a long time cramped in the bus and taxis. His name was Omar, and he works at the resort as the chef and I’m not sure what else.
View from inside Hamada du Draa
At the resort, Omar gave me a tour and some mint tea (naturally) and then cooked me an egg tangine for dinner. It was delicious! After a little while, Hassan came home and checked to make sure I was settled in. After a little bit, I turned in – I’d had a rather exhausting day.
My little hut is great. It turns out that I am currently the only person at the entire resort. They may be expecting someone else this week, but for now, I have the whole place to myself! Pretty nice. I’ll talk to Hassan today about booking some sort of desert expedition. But first, they’re going to serve me breakfast under the dining tent.