Place from a different time

From Marrakech we made our way over the Atlas mountains to Ouarzazate to organise a trip into the Sahara. Unfortunately it was bit more expensive than last time around and we probably would have been better making out way down to M'Hamid to negotiate from there, as it is the actual starting point. We did a pretty good deal though and made the trip to Ouarzazate worthwhile by taking a day to go out to Ait Ben Hadou. We made our way to the local bus station to get a Grand Taxi (a bit like the micros in Latin America) and found some great beans for breakfast as well as a cheap ride out there.

Ait Ben Hadou is a gorgeous old mud brick town just outside Ouarzazate. It's World Heritage listed and looks almost exactly like it did when it was built. Parts of around 40 films have been shot there including Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia.

We had heard that if you crossed into the town via the stepping stones over the river it was free to enter. This didn't turn out to be true any more but crossing over the stepping stones was great fun and you can't complain when the entry is only 10 Dirhams. It also means that you make your way up through to town to reach the hill and old granary on top which was a lot nicer than just scooting straight up there. The views were almost as nice as the town itself.

We wandered out to the main road to flag down one of the Grand Taxis on its route back, but in the end a taxi driver dropping off a man further up the road was keen for a return trip and only cost us 10 Dirhams more.

We made it back in plenty of time to get our 4pm bus down to M'Hamid to begin our Saharan adventure.