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After our flight from Amsterdam/Casablanca we arrived in hotel Jardins de Ouarzazate around midnight. We booked the hotel at home by www.marokkoonline.nl. The hotel arranged the transfer from the airport to the hotel. This was a very comfortable way to start our trip in Morocco in 2008.
The hotel is built in kasbah style (picture 1). Allready in the patio with a fountain and nice colourful Moroccan decorations we felt totally in Moroccan atmosphere (picture 3&4). Also the 27 rooms are nice with the traditonal decorations. The next day we saw that our room had a splendid view at the palmgrove and the Atlas mountains at the background.
The hotel has two restaurants. Outdoors in the lovely garden is a terrace with a bar, a berber tent and a swimmingpool (picture 5). From the garden you have a great view at the surrounding landscape and the Atlas mountains.
Directions: 1km south of the centre of Ouarzazate on the way to Zagora
Tizi'n'Tinififft Pass
Restaurant Massinissa and rue du Marché
Jbel Tifrnine and Tizi-n-Tinififft
desert trip
urgently need opening hours to Taourirt Kasbah in Ouarzazate.
According to my notes made this year in April when I was there, it is open from 8.00 until 18.30. Cost is 10DH pp. There are guides inside the walled area. Not compulsory to take one but helpful to explain a few things as there is no furniture or anything just bare walls. We negociated the guide to give us the tour plus the visit to the medina behind for 4 of us @ 50DH.
depends when you are going - its generally open during daylight hours - gets dark early in winter so in the winter months wont be open much later than 5pm generally - but yes in summer when the days are longer its open til later
The french word herboriste means one specialised in herbs and spices.
The herboriste we visited was very interesting. In his shop he has hundreds of herbs, soms known to us but most unknown. He invites you to smell and guess.
We bought some couscous herbs and tea.
Our daughters each got a small, nice gift from the man.
Telouet was one of the principle residences of the Glaoui pasha of Marrakech and from where he ruled over much of the High Atlas until his family was exiled in 1956 when King Hassan regained his throne.
But unlike the Taourirt kasbah at Ouarzazate this kasbah has not been maintained nor restored and is gradually deteriorating and with one but stunning building remaining accessible i would strongly recommend visiting this beautiful kasbah while you can.
The area is also beautiful with the high atlas mountains surrounding the area and its fertile and colourful valleys and berber villages.
Also highly recommend reading the book Lord of the Atlas by Gavin Maxwell, an excellent source of information on the history and lives of the Glaoui rulers, the politics of the era and some fascinating old photos of people and places.
Quarzazate
One of the best things about Ouarzazate was getting there by bus from Marrakech, ok nothing special but the journey crossed the snow covered High Atlas Mountains with magnificent views. For me these where the first views of the mountains in Morocco, something that I wanted to see but just a shame that I wasn't trekking through it. I guess that will be another trip.
Quarzazate is a sleepy mordern town but many tourist come here to arrange tours to the Desert and surrounding area but Quarzazate is also the centre for some of Hollywoods blockbuster movies, such as Gladiator, The Sheltering, The Mummy 1 & 2, The Last Temptation of Christ, Alexander The Great etc... all where made here.
The Taourirt Kasbah is an interesting place to visit but there is not much more to see in Quarzazate apart from the Souqs and other film studios dotted around the town.
The Hotel Royal was where I stayed and was surprised they arrange tours to the desert and surrounding area and best of all they had a tour lined up for Christmas in the Sand Dunes of Merzouga and this would be the high point of my trip in Morocco and now after 4 trips here in this country nothing can knock of the desert from the top spot. The tour did a circuit and went to the following places Skoura, Dades Valley, Valley des Roses, Dades Gorge, Todra Gorge, The Sand Dunes of Merzouga and Draa Valley. The accommodation was decent but the food was excellent. Some of the places where we stopped off for lunch where in picturesque places like Boumalne du Dades and K'nob and the landscape secenery around the whole of Jebel Sarhro area was awesome. If you are tight for time and can't rely on Buses then a tour like this is ideal. The tour lasted 3 days with a 4WD.
You will find pages of these places I went to on the tour below.
Destinations In Morocco
Essaouira - Marrakesh - Agadir - Merzouga - Boumalne
Fes - Meknes - Tangiers - Casablanca - Moulay Idriss
Volubilis - Rabat - Skoura - Tinerhir - N'kob
Al-Hoceima - Asilah - Chefchaouen - Larache - Lixus
Nador - Oujda - Safi - Taza - Tetouan
More Destinations In Morocco
OUARZAZATE
Ait Benhaddou, High Atlas Mountains, Tizi'n'Tinfifft Pass, Tizi'n'Tichka Pass
BOUMALNE
El-kalaa M'Gouna, Ait Airb, Dades Valley, Dades Gorge
N'KOB
Draa Valley, Jebel Sarhro
TINERHIR
Todra Gorge
BERKANE
Zegzel Gorge
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