Drive to the Merzouga Desert and Sights on the Way - Eighth Day in Morocco

24. September 2022

I think I keep jinxing myself with the "we've never gotten up this early before". It was 6:33 that day and we were all up, in line for the bathroom. We had less than an hour to prepare for a 3-day trip. At 7:20 we would be picked up for the tour of the Merzouga desert. Part of the Sahara.

When we finally came out of the building, not late really, a minibus was already waiting for us. It took us to the actual meeting point where we transferred to another minibus. The vehicle was great and modern, and we hoped that the second bus would also be as nice. We drove a couple of minutes through Marrakesh to the final meeting point. The place was naturally empty at such an early hour.

Well, the second bus was also nice, but full of people. The demand for the tour was quite high. The guide/driver's name was Mustafa and when he wore sunglasses he looked exactly like Andrew Tate (not as muscular, though).

Anyway, we had a 6-hour drive ahead of us. Of just driving. The journey to the first hotel would take a whole day with all the stops. We drove through Marrakesh again. It wasn't as modern as Casablanca, but that might be because we only saw the centre of the 'White House', while we didn't even know where in Marrakesh we were driving (somewhere out).

Despite that, the public transport buses here were decidedly worse than in Casablanca. They looked brand new there. The ones in Marrakesh looked like they were going to fall apart at any moment.

The city itself around us looked... well, mixed. The roads were, of course, excellent, as elsewhere in the country. And the buildings seemed new but had a sense of age, probably because of the architecture. They felt older than they looked. They were also mostly in shades of red and orange.

After we left the city, I fell asleep for a bit. The subtle vibrations of a driving minibus tend to put people to sleep.

Our first stop was at the beginning of the Atlas Mountains. The spot had a nice view of the lower plains and some valleys ahead in the mountains. Then we drove on.

The second stop was another panoramic point, this one overlooking the curvy road leading through the mountains, hugging the cliffs. Yeah, it wasn't bad. But the pictures were better, heh.

The third stop was longer. It was in the village of Ait Ben Haddou. You may have heard of it, but you've almost certainly seen it. More than 30 Hollywood films had been shot here, including Gladiator and Indiana Jones. Also, a couple of scenes for Game of Thrones (Slaver's Bay) were filmed here. It was super nice.

The village has a new part and an old part over the river (it was dry when we were there). The new part has everything, electricity, sewage, internet. The old part has none of that. The settlement has been around for about 700 years. But, the oldest building, the granary on top of the hill, is 1500 years old. Bruh!

The point of the village is said to be the castles - in these tower-like houses, which served for defence, the richest families still live today. The addresses of the people living in the houses are carved into the wooden door frames. Kind of how we have our house numbers on the walls. The buildings themselves are built of mud and straw. Which is great for insulation, but means constant renewal is required.

We were shown a crazy way to paint, with completely natural colours. When the painting was finished, the colours were not really recognizable until they were exposed to an open flame. Only then did they appear and become what we know them to be. Yellow and red and various shades appeared. The demonstration was sick.

We were also told that to go to the Sahara we needed a shawl or a scarf, the "desert passport". The best protection against the sun is said to be blue and white. Never black. I didn't quite believe this, because the same people who told us this were talking about Bedouins who travelled the desert dressed in black. Regardless, I bought a 4-meter-long blue scarf for 130 DAM. A bit of a scam, but okay. Hopefully, it would hold up for other trips to the deserts. It was beautiful.

Then they took us to a restaurant. These guides probably get a commission for the groups they bring there. But we brought a bunch of food because we didn't know where/when we were supposed to eat in our trip planning. Only breakfasts and dinners were included in the price of the trip.

So we went by cheap.

Hunger sated, we went on. I fell asleep again. When I woke up we were pulling over and the driver was getting out to check the engine. It was a nice break. Then after half an hour, we stopped again, this time in the middle of nowhere. The driver popped the hood again and checked the engine.

Fuck, please don't tell me we would be stuck in the middle of the desert!

Well, the minibus continued normally after that. And yes, the view from the window hadn't changed at all. Brown, red and yellow fields. Plants stuck out of the ground practically at random, with occasional settlements in the distance.

After a while, we descended to a plain with extremely small bushes. The ground was covered with green bushes, but the individual plants were far apart and most of the ground was still only yellowish soil.

After a long drive, we stopped at our hotel. It was very elegant, it had a pool! Unfortunately, we didn't have swimwear as we didn't know about the possibility of a pool! We should go to the desert! For some, the lack of equipment was not an obstacle. All they needed was fresh underwear.

At 20:30 we went to dinner. Then some of the group bought beer - yes! It was available at the hotel! So they chilled by the pool and rested. I went to sleep. It was a nice night.