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Ouarzazate
After lunch at the Iman's house, Kirsten and I were selected
to be "married." Before we knew what was
happening, we were dressed in traditional clothes, had a mother
of the bride and father of the groom assigned. Then the
fun began with deciding on a dowry from the groom's
father. The group finally decided on a donkey and 50,000
dirham plus a house. The Iman wrote the official
document with names, date, dowry and we all signed.
Leaving the house we made so much noise that the local people
came out to see the commotion. There was still about an
hour drive to Ouarzazate. We were then assigned the
"honeymoon" suite on the top floor overlooking the
pool.
In the morning was a trip to the Äit Benhaddou
ksar, a citadel like village on the side of the
mountain. It's like
something straight out of desert folklore. Its squat towers and
small-windowed buildings are exactly the same red-brown color
as the surrounding desert (not surprising as they're made from
the same stuff), and wandering the streets of the ancient
citadel is like stepping back in time. It's also surprisingly
cool and an excellent shelter from the wind, which kicks back in
again as you escape from the shelter of the dwellings and onto
the top of the ksar. It is about 250
years old. It's purpose was a caravan stop.
As desert experiences go, it's difficult to
beat the feeling of sitting on top of an ancient castle, looking
over the same hills, valleys and oases that the ancient Berbers
would have surveyed from their fortified town. Although ksars
are built from sun-dried clay and mud (known as pisé)
and don't last very long in the rain – if left untended, your
average Berber ksar would be in ruins after 50 years
– it makes no difference that they aren't completely identical
to the ksars of ancient times. The atmosphere is
completely authentic.
A family we visited inside was very interesting. The
man had three wives - first wife no children, second wife one
child, third wife 2 children. His brother has 4 wives with
24 children. They told us that only the descendants of the
original owners can live there. Currently only five
families still live in the complex
We had a few rest stops on our way over the summit of
the High Atlas
Mountains.
Finally we arrive at our last stop --> Marrakech
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