Through the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh

I left the sand dunes early in the morning, heading west toward Marrakesh. I won't get there for two days however. Although I had left the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi behind, I was still in the Sahara Desert. As I rode along I passed several towns  built at an oasis where somehow underground water comes close enough to the surface to support life.

The people who live in these oasis towns often do their work on donkeys, living as their ancestors must have done back in those long ago days of caravans and Romans and Bible heroes.

My goal for the day was to get to the famous Todra (or Todgha) Gorge at the south edge of the Atlas Mountains. Visiting that gorge is one of the top things to do in Morocco. Here is Odysseus looking at the entrance to the gorge. Maybe he was more interested in the motorcycles over there on the left than he was in the gorge.. See any female bikes over there Odysseus? Hmmm. He won't answer me.

As you can tell, we are down at the bottom of the gorge.

There is a lot of activity in that gorge. Tourists were walking around taking pictures, and Moroccans had stands set up to sell things to those tourists.

I liked it a lot in there.

After exploring Todra Gorge, it was time to move on down the Atlas Mountain chain to another gorge, this one not quite so famous. It is called Dades Gorge, and this one you have to look at from far up on the road.

I don't know if you can see how deep the gorge is in that last picture, but I can tell you that it is a long way down to the bottom. Perhaps this picture looking back at the road Odysseus and I came up will give you some idea.

Old Moroccan buildings are sometimes perched in the most precarious positions.

I stayed the night at a Riad just down the road from the gorge. I was the only one there. The hostess, a beautiful Moroccan woman, made me an evening supper which was probably the most tasty of any I have had in Morocco. Here is a picture of my bed for the night. Is there really a need to surround yourself with mosquito netting in the desert? Somehow I don't think so.

When I got up this morning there was a marvelous breakfast waiting for me: fried eggs, bread, yogurt, jams and jellies. I loved it.

My first stop today was in the Moroccan town of Ouarzazate. It is at the far northern edge of the desert, and it has been the location of several films. I stopped there to see some of the film sets. Most of them had to do with Bible stories, at least on the sets I visited;.

Here was the throne room in several movies.

Here is a list of some of the Biblical movies made here.

I didn't recognize any of those films, but, if they are to be believed, they also shot "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Mummy," "Gladiator" and many other movies here. They also shot parts of television's "Game of Thrones" here in Ouarzazate.

Leaving Ouarzazate I headed up and over the Atlas mountains. They were doing a lot of work on the road up there, and it was dusty going.

I was more than ready to be off the motorcycle and to knock the dust of myself with a shower once I reached Marrakesh. Now I am settled into a nice hotel room for the night after going out and eating a good meal.  I plan to be here at least tow nights, maybe more, exploring this vibrant, modern city. 

Ron

In the Sahara, a few miles from Algeria

Greeting from the hot and dry Sahara desert. After all that time coming down through the cold rains of France and Belgium, a little heat and aridity feels pretty good.

It was three days ago that I left my Riad in the heart of the Medina at Meknes. I pitched in to hire a porter to carry my gear to the motorcycle.

After a long day in the saddle, I started to see the Middle Atlas Mountains, all covered with snow.

I was in the fringes of the Sahara Desert, and I started seeing wattle-walled towns along the way. They were each at an oasis.

One of them, Merzouga, is where I am now. It is right at the end of the road; only a few miles from Algeria. The great sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi tower over the town.

                                 

I and two German men, one a judge and the other an electrical engineer, hired a guide to take us by camel caravan up into the dunes where we will sleep at a Bedouin camp. The two Germans live near Bremen, only a few miles from my daughter and son-in-law.

Here is Christian riding in front of me.

Once we reached the dunes, the shadows were very photogenic.

Here we are again: three wise guys on their camels (The Wise Men were not in the neighborhood).

Camels are slow going. Long ago it must have taken the caravans ages to cross the desert.

Once we reached our camp I was more than ready to get off. Camels are not as comfortable as motorcycles.

This is my camel. Isn't he cute?  Shhh. Don't answer that too loudly or he might hear you and not take me back tomorrow. The camel is the critter on the left in case you can't tell..

Our guide hobbled the camels so that they wouldn't go wandering off during the night.

There it is, our home for the night. It doesn't look like much, but it was comfortable inside.

Once the sun started going down the shadows made the dunes very interesting.

There were a few clumps of grass growing there. Where they get their water is a mystery to me. This one was lit by the setting sun while all around it was deep shadow.

I also took the grass picture in black and white. I can't decide when one I like better.

Here goes the sun

Once the sun was down and the show was over, it was time for some tajines for supper. Seated around the table was a guy from Japan, two Germans on the left (they never said their names) and the two Germans from Bremen that I rode up with.

The moon was too bright to see stars well, so I went to bed and got up at 4 a.m. I was surprised to find the other guys out looking at the stars also. My camera was not very good at taking star pictures, but I will add this shot anyway. We almost never get to see stars like this in America because of all the lights we use.

At 7 a.m. it was time to head back. I hope the camels don't get lost (Ha--I bet our guide knows the way). Here is our shadows again. Just for fun, I tried to make this picture look a little Egyptian.

Back home again. Bye camel. I hate to tell you, but I won't miss you much.

I am in a nice riad for the night. I decided to stay here for today while a Berber woman washes and dries my clothes for me. Tomorrow I will head north and west, up through some gorges through the Atlas Mountains.

Ron