The Road to Marrakech

Ouarzazate is the centre of the Moroccan Film Industry and, on the outskirts of town, we saw a couple of large film studios. Our first stop was the village of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO designated World Heritage kzar or Kasbah community. We were able to have a look inside some of these cool, spacious castle-like family dwellings and thus got a glimpse of an ancient culture and way of life. Ait Ben Haddou has been frequently utilized as the backdrop of several major international films such as the "Gladiator" and "Lawrence of Arabia". After our visit we climbed to the summit of the majestic High Atlas Mountains and began our descent to Marrakech via the Tizi n'Tichka pass from a height of 2,260 metres. It was a breathtaking drive down this scenic, serpentine mountain road. At one stage we stopped to admire and take some photos of the sheer cliffs and snow-capped peaks when, rather opportunistically, a couple of local snake charmers came out of the woodwork and entertained us with their dancing death adder and magic flute routine. We continued on to the old imperial city of Marrakech, also referred to as the "Jewel of the South", and are looking forward to seeing what we can of this infamous city in the short time we have here.