Ouarzazte

“ Ouarzazate is more than a gateway to the Sahara - it’s a mirror for solitudes and a canvas for quite thoughts”

~ unknown

How to pronounce Ouarzazate it’s a struggle until you understand the colonialism by the French then it’s easy

Our -sound like war

Za - za as in pizza

Zate -lit zat as in hat

War-za-zat easy when you know how.

The drive was long climbing down the mountains a comfort stop. Many date and olive groves when a oasis was near we stopped for lunch at Tinejdad a oasis in the middle of nowere the food was yummy again but so much of it I forgot to take photos of the Tagine chicken on the bone, meat balls and vegetables so much food

The town had many walk ways and we stopped at the local kindergarten to sit in on a class so cute and they all wanted to talk English with us

Finally we arrived at the town Ouarzazate the hotel was amazing the rooms were large and elegant the swimming pool so amazing

The main reason for visiting was to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ait Benhaddou it defies gravity as it is perch on steep slops some of these building are featured in movies it was great to explore up and down the mud houses some are still lived in by the locals

Many may remember the song about “Rock the Casbah” by the English group The Clash well it exists in Ouarzazate and we made a stop it is being restored but you are able to walk inside and the guide played the song on his phone such a hoot

Ouarzazate is also known as the Hollywood of Morocco with many famous films made at the studio like gladiator one of the India Jones movies and many more. We went on a guided tour but let’s say Universal studios in LA do it so much better

As you travel on the road you see many building which have been painted bright colours a sharp contrast to the normal white or red. They are schools. At the end of a school year the students and teachers paint the buildings