Dec 1 – Skoura, Ouarzazate and Marrakech

There was a fair amount of groaning and complaining this morning as we had arrived late last night and are leaving relatively early this morning.  So we didn’t have nearly enough time to explore this wonderful lodge and enjoy it’s lovely amenities.  We all absolutely love the place and many of spent a few minutes doing a bit of exploring before it was time to head out.

Sunrise from the rooftop was pretty.

Our room was spacious and comfortable.  In addition to a large bed it had a small sitting area (with chairs of a height that would make them appropriate for a preschool), a large walk-in shower, a balcony and an outdoor shower (which definitely did not get used).

The grounds were thoughtfully arranged with sitting areas on the rooftop of our building...

and sitting areas scattered around the ground.

The pool looked very inviting but it was pretty cold for a swim.

The reception room was really lovely and we had a great breakfast there.

There was just so much attention to detail here.  The lodge is a real gem.

The route today takes us down the road known as the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs.  

The first one we are seeing today is only about 15 minutes from our lodge, the Kasbah Amridil Skoura.  By prior agreement we only stopped for some exterior photos. 

Then it was off on our drive.  The next stop was the town of Ouarazate.  

The main attraction here was the movie museum.  A number of movies have been filmed in Morocco including The Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Babel, and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as part of the TV series Game of Thrones.  The museum was not like most.  It was actually set up like various movie sets. 

Although it did have some displays of movie equipment and costumes.

Randy tried his hand at lifting one of the massive "boulders".

On the way out of town we took a brief stop to take photos of one of the big studios. It certainly had a beautiful backdrop with the Atlas Mountains in the background.

Our next Kasbah was the Kasbah Taourirt.  With the Atlas Mountains in the background this is a pretty awesome place to visit.  

We walked over a bridge to the base of the town…

and then wove our way past the shops, through the narrow alleyways and up the stairs.  Paul and a few walked all the way to the top for some great views…

while Mary stayed part way down the hill with a few of the others.

After some window shopping we had lunch on a rooftop terrace with views of the Kasbah.

All over Morocco we see dates for sale.  Here we saw some date palms with large clusters of dates handing from them.  It's the first time we've seen date palms with the fruit.

Mary ordered a Coca Cola at lunch.  We have seen them in many places in Morocco.  However, this may be the first time we've seen it with the Coca Cola logo in Arabic.

Then it was a few more hours of driving to Marrakech.  Lots of "duty free" shopping at stops along the way.

Our accommodations for the next few nights are awesome.  The van had to drop us off on the main street where we were met with some bellmen from the Riad.  They took us down the small street and around the corner to our Riad where the lobby was simple, unassuming and small.  Hum? 

Not very impressive after the other places we have stayed. After checking us in they asked if we could figure out the door to the Riad.  It turned out to be one of three wall-to-wall bookshelves that swung out.  The walk into the Riad opened into a really spectacular multi-story central courtyard.  We arrive just late enough to be treated to a blazing chorus of bird calls as the birds were settling into the foliage around the balcony for the night.

Every room seems to be different and several of us spent time going from room to room to check them out.  Our room has a large sitting area with fireplace and a huge bathroom.  

And we have a set of private stairs to a rooftop terrace.  

The facility also has a pool.  We didn't use it but it's nice to know it was available.  Life doesn’t get much better.

In the evening several of us decided to go down to Jemaa el Fna square for dinner.  The Riad provided us with an escort to the nearby main street (so we wouldn't get lost in the warren of alleyways).

We are here during a major film festival and the square was jammed with people watching an Indian film on a large screen TV. 

We eat at a pop-up restaurant.  They are set up in the afternoons and taken down at night.  The restaurants consist of a large counter upon which the foods (produce, meats and fish) are displayed.  The tables are long narrow communal tables with benches.  They were set up with a paper place mat, cutlery and a flat, round loaf of Moroccan bread.  There were probably a couple of dozen of these restaurants set up in the square.

We selected one and set down for dinner.  The menus were minimal but adequate. 

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Watch video of pop-up restaurant
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After dinner we did a bit of window shopping and stopped for ice cream at a local ice cream shop. 

 Then it was back to the Riad and bed.