In the morning we left Ouarzazate around 9am, taking the main road towards Marrakesh.
I liked the lights along the road, wouldn't surprise me that the lamps are hand-made.
The Atlas Film Studios are situated just outside of town, along the main road, and can be recognized by the two huge Pharaoh statues on each side of the gates.
Measured by acreage, it is the world's largest film studio. Most of the property consists of desert and mountains, since the studios are build at the beginning of the steppe and the whole territory is exposed to the sun. To walk around you must buy a guided tour, available in several languages. The English group was just about to start the tour, so we joined in at the last moment.
The decorations are from different films that were made here partially or completely.
Not sure which movie was this, but the set makes you feel like you are in a real town hundreds of years ago. Even from a very close distance it doesn't look fake...
One of the sets we recognized immediately was from the film Lawrence of Arabia.
Here is very visible that they are just decorations, not the real buildings. Too bad, though...
Also films like The Mummy, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven were made here. The sets are scattered all over the place, and some of them are almost completely destroyed by the wind and the desert, with just a few bits and pieces left standing.
Another film set we recognized was the one from Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra. This is how it looks now...
and this is the scene from the movie that was shot here then...
And last but not least, only here we learned that one of our favorite movies "The Way Back", which depicts a group of foreign prisoners during World War II, who escaped from a Siberian prison camp Gulag and subsequently walked 4,000-miles towards their freedom all the way to India, was filmed here as well. This was the set for the part when they reached Mongolia only to find out that it became communist as well. The deserted half-ruined monastery was behind those gates.
Visiting the studios turned out to be fun, we didn't expect much from it and were pleasantly surprised.
On the way further, we saw another film studio, but not as famous. It's actually funny that they make Egyptian theme movies in Morocco, you would think that they would be filmed in actual Egypt.
About half an hour further we stopped at Ait Benhaddou - a fortified town, or as the locals call it ksar. It stands on a hill along the Ounila River, along the former caravan route between the Sahara desert and Marrakech and is mostly known for its kasbahs, filmed in more than a dozen movies, although they've been damaged by rainstorms over the years. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site.
In the village we were asked several times about wanting a guide, but we refused. There wasn't really a road leading to the old town, so we just walked through a couple of backyards to get to the bridge.
After crossing the bridge, the town street goes all the way to the top.
From the top, there is an awesome view on the surrounding valley and other houses built half-way into the mountain.
Everything in the old town is built out of the same material - red mud, even the streets.
As everywhere, the locals here are also eager to sell you all kind of souvenirs and Moroccan crafts.
Almost every house is open for visiting and they tried to preserve the traditional home décor.
Most of the town's inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; only, eight families still live within the ksar. Despite being "modern" the difference with the old town is not that big :-)
We didn't stay long, because we still needed to drive to Imlil, and we wanted to get there before dark.
The drive through the Atlas is great as you can see many different types of mountains, in all possible shapes and colors.
When driving here, the roads usually have just one lane each way, with lots of twists and turns. So, if you happen to get stuck behind one of those lovely vehicles...
... it really takes a while to pass it. The stunk and the amount of carbon monoxide that they produced made us wonder if such thing as MOT test even exists in Morocco. :-)
The road takes almost twice as long because of the situations like this :-)
Along the road there are occasional so called "restaurants", but mostly they look abandoned...
We stopped at one that looked like they are still in business to get some late launch. Here we met a really cute family of dogs))
Our GPS brought us to a place that wasn't Imlil, although according to the maps it was. We tried calling the riad to get some directions, but nobody picked up. So finally, we managed to get hold of the riad owner by calling booking.com and they forwarded us to the right number. We were surprised that the owner immediately understood where we got lost and explained exactly where we had to take the side road leading to Imlil (apparently we missed it by half kilometer). Probably we were not the first ones to call.
Although we took a detour, we got to see some really cute old-timers along the way.
15 kilometers later we arrived to Imlil, a small village close to Toubkal mountain. Our riad was up on the hill, behind some other riads and the owner sent a boy to help us with the bags. It was a good thing that he did, because we would have never found the way to riad otherwise.
It was getting dark, so we had a quick look at the scenery around us from the building's roof-top
but because it was chilly that night, we went to eat inside.
We've tried traditional local soep, no idea what its made of, but very tasty.
Since Imlil is a traditional starting point for many trekking routes or for climbing Mt. Toubkal - the highest mountain in North Africa(4167m) - we met here some climbers who've been to the top earlier that day. As a result, we spent a great evening together with newly found friends from Poland, Norway and Israel.
The next day we went out on a walk. We didn't have plans to do the climbing this time, but it is definitely something to be considered for the future.
On the way back to riad we met a couple of girls playing outside. It's funny how different the kids are here from the ones that live in a western world.
After spending the second night in the mountains we started on our final drive back to Marrakesh.
Next: Last day in Morocco
On the way further, we saw another film studio, but not as famous. It's actually funny that they make Egyptian theme movies in Morocco, you would think that they would be filmed in actual Egypt.
The drive through the Atlas is great as you can see many different types of mountains, in all possible shapes and colors.
The road takes almost twice as long because of the situations like this :-)
As we got closer to Imlil, the mountain villages started to appear.
Although we took a detour, we got to see some really cute old-timers along the way.
It was getting dark, so we had a quick look at the scenery around us from the building's roof-top
The next day we went out on a walk. We didn't have plans to do the climbing this time, but it is definitely something to be considered for the future.
Next: Last day in Morocco
