La Perle Du Sud

The dreaded hole in the floor

by deeper_blue

So far in Morocco I had managed to escape the local toilet. Until Ouarzazate that is. I won't go into detail, the one I used was uncomfortably small and I felt pretty unwell beforehand, lets just say I was glad when it was over!

On the way to Ouarzazate (part IV)

by amsterdam_vallon

You will pass trought the High Atlas when driving to Ouarzazate.

On the picture :
Jbel Bou Ourioul (3573 metres) in the High Atlas. The Atlas is a crescent which stretches from the Aur?s to the secondary chains of the Tunisian dorsal. It is made of three parallel foldings: most imposing is the High Atlas, with Jbel Toubkal, which reaches 4167m. In north, the Middle Atlas culminates in Jbel Bou Naceur (3340m) and in the south the Anti Atlas culminates in Jbel Aklim (2531m).

Traditional decoration inside Taourirt

by angiebabe

One of the few sites in Morocco that Unesco has got involved with, the Taourirt kasbah here in Ouarzazate is a sprawling kasbah that provided additional housing for the Glaoui, Lords of the Atlas and Southern Morocco, with their main base at their main headquarters in the safety of the valley of Telouet - in all the grandeur and opulence that the Glaoui family had a reputation for demanding.

This kasbah had been deteriorating but with the assistance of Unesco parts of it have been saved and renovated in time, unlike the even more beautifully and opulently decorated Kasbah at Telouet (which is down to one section of two rooms and the roof with more damage and deterioration each visit Ive had to it so only time will tell how much longer it will accessible for).

Though there is only one room remaining that one can get an idea of how heavily decorated the Lords living rooms were it is interesting to see the use of beautiful colours and artwork on the ceilings and around the room in this one room and to compare with other palaces and kasbahs that can also be visited around Morocco.

Between Palm Valleys

by SirRichard

"A desert city"

Ouarzazate is a good basecamp to explore 2 of the nicest valleys in Morocco: The Draa Valleys (to the south, towards Zagora) and the Kasbah Valley (to the east, towards Erfoud).
Besides, the city has a wonderful kasbah that can be visited inside and is very near of the cinema-famous kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou.

"A nice trip from Marrakesh"

Although Ouarzazate has airport, most of the visitors come from Marrakesh, and use it as a basecamp to explore nearby areas