Sunday, December 03, 2006

Mountains and Movies (Morocco post 4 of 5)







I've been busy over the last few days - a hockey game and my first day back at work seemed to take up most of my free time. I've managed to come down with something stomach related, so I fell asleep early last night and slept right through until this morning. Hopefully a good 12 hours rest will cure whatever is going on.

At any rate, from the desert, our group headed out into Ait Benhaddou and the spectacular kasbah there. This location is just outside of Ouarzazate, which was featured on last week's episode of the Amazing Race. It's a region that has been featured in a ton of movies, including Gladiator and Jesus of Nazareth. The Kasbah here is still lived in by a couple of families, although most of the residents have moved into town.

We had dinner that night in the home of a local resident. His other profession is being an extra in all of the movies that take place accross the road, so he wanted to tell us about his movie roles. He was rather shocked that myself and the girl I was rooming with had never been married, and he offered us 10,000 camels in exchange for our hands. (Although part of the bargain was to come and help him make couscous, which I don't think is my idea of fun)

We then travelled into the High Atlas Mountains. Morocco is definitley a country of contrasts, and while the weather was very temperate in the cities, it was downright chilly in the mountains. I was glad I brought a fleece and warm clothes for this portion of the trip. We had spectacular weather for this period - the fall colours were beginning to appear, and we had a clear dry day to enjoy them with.

2 comments:

Christine S said...

I'm sure there aren't many North Americans who can say they were offered 10,000 camels in exchange for their hand in marriage!! (Did he really have 10,000?) Yet more gorgeous photos..thanks for sharing them!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an adventure!!! Great pictures, too!