SUNDAY 27 March
Sounds in the morning- Birds, Trumps, goats, kids
Sunrise opposite the mountains, making vibrant colors on the mountains
Standard Moroccan breakfast.
Walking through the oasis again and getting lost.
Walking through town, too beat to try to get to the nice parts.
Instead I find a cafe and sit Drinking tea until I see a dish someone else is eating that looks good- fried eggs in olive oil with cumin, so I order that and eat with bread, no utensils.
Searching for tobacco, can't find the good stuff.
Omar the tout who tried to get my attention yesterday wants to sit and drink coffee/tea. Wants me to take a selfie and email it to him. Do I want a tour of the mountains? No. Has been to London, New York, Turkey, Barcelona ... I pay for the drinks, then he asks me for money. Nope. He walks with me to the bus stop hoping to get some work from a fresh arrival but I see him walk away without any tourists.
Then Supra tours bus to Ouarzazate (pronounced "where's it's at") - cramped, but AC works.
Along the way Plastic bags fooling me with color, so I think there's flowers in the desert landscape. Sat next to a young guy named Mohamed. He is finishing his studies and going to work for the government, and although his English wasn't bad I couldn't really understand what he will be doing.
Young kids staring at me at the gas station where we stop for a break along the way. I don't want to eat for fear of needing to use a bathroom. Bus stop bathrooms are pretty primitive.
I sometimes still feel like a tourist, not a traveler. I'm following an itinerary. I'm staying at places found online and in travel books. I'm eating some meals at places suggested that while good, are still filled with tourists. Often loosing the desire to haggle cause things are so cheap anyway.
Cherimoyas are available everywhere and I have enjoyed being able to eat them on the regular. Bananas taste really good, even when the skin still has green on it, not like the ones we get back home.
Got off the bus in Ouarzazate and met a couple from Slovenia who were also heading to Ait Bin Haddou. They had heard the taxi ride was 30 dirham per person if you fill the taxi. The first guy we asked wanted 300 total. No thanks.
The next guy 50 each. We settled for 40 each in the end. This area of Morocco is a common sight for major films. Like Laurence of Arabia, Gladiator, Prince of Persia, and Game of Thrones. The drive was pretty nice, part of it in a one lane road so the driver had to pull to the side often.
I arrived at Bagdad Cafe, my hotel for the night. Checked in and chatted with Mohamed the owner. I cannot keep track of how many Mohamed's I have met.
After tea and meeting his youngest son, I went for a Walk to the Ksar.
It's an old fortress, neighborhood, with winding paths and stairs. It is a Unesco world heritage site. There is no admission fee, no guards or anything official. People still live there, making and selling the usual crafts you see at the souks and in the medinas. To get there you have to cross a river, and there are rocks and sandbags placed there so you can get across. There is a bridge further down the road but that seems boring.
You can climb and explore as you wish around the Ksar which I really like. There were a lot of tourists which still bugs me. They all speak German, Italian, or Spanish, and they have selfie sticks and some have guides, and they all stop to take the same pictures, which makes me look for rocks and stairs and other things to photograph. I climbed to the top, where there was the biggest concentration of tourists, so I took a few shots and took my time on the way down. I was pretty hungry and I should have time to explore in the morning when there's usually less of "them" around so I didn't feel the need to hang out all night.
Dinner at the hotel was really good. Lemon chicken tagine is so tasty. I sopped up all the juices I could with french fries. When asked how dinner was I respond "Sa-ha, Moomtaz". Mohamed likes that I know a few words (I'm sure I am spelling them wrong) he says Shokran and some other words I need to learn.
Tisba Allahcha
