MOROCCO: ON THE ROAD

A minor downside to this tour was the fact that there were a few days of lengthy bus rides between destinations.  Those rides did not offer much in the way of photo opportunities.  Here is what I was able to get.

Between Fez and Erfoud.

Barbary macaques.

Between Erfoud and Ouarzazate.

There was a story here, but I didn't know what it was.

The only time it rained on the entire tour was on the road between Ouarzazate and Marrakech, as we were scaling the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass at an elevation of 7400 feet. The rain was accompanied by dense fog, as the bus negotiated the highway's hairpin curves. (See map diagram below.) During this period we passed by a serious accident between vehicles that had happened shortly before we arrived on the scene.

JOHN

 MOROCCO: OUARZAZATE

Leaving the Sahara, we next traveled to Ouarzazate where we stayed one night.  This town is known as the Hollywood of the Desert because of the many movies, both major and minor, that featured scenes shot in and around the town.  These include "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "The Mummy," "Star Wars," "Gladiator," and many others.  Of course, we visited the town's video museum, where I took a number of photos of movie sets and miscellaneous paraphernalia.

A long shot.

Fearsome Medusa.

Nice light on the pillars.

Our tour director enthroned . . . 

. . . along with a number of his "harem" of female travelers.

Across from the museum was a nicely restored casbah (fortress) and outside of the town is a much larger abandoned casbah, known as Ait Benhaddou, which served as a backdrop for the "Game of Thrones" series, among others. 

We also visited a restored riad that provided a panoramic view as well as a couple of artsy photo ops: 

A nice niche window in a stairwell

and another of my pot shots.

JOHN

 MOROCCO: THE SAHARA

The primary reason that our tour included a journey to the town of Erfoud in eastern Morocco was that it is a primary gateway to Morocco's only access to the Sahara, and we were promised a camel ride into the desert.  So, late in the afternoon, we 22 travelers, along with our tour director, piled into a half dozen 4x4 vehicles and rode across a trackless wasteland to the edge of the Sahara sand dunes, while the driver for my vehicle, at least, played contemporary Moroccan rock/jazz on the vehicle's sound system.  

At the dunes we were greeted by a troupe of white-garbed percussionist/dancers playing drums and castanets to get us in the mood for our ride.  After cups of tea, we were helped to mount our beasts and rode off (in relative slow motion, thankfully) for about a half hour to a nice setting among the dunes from which we could watch the sunset. We then rode back to the tented area to enjoy a dinner under the night sky before returning to our hotel in the 4x4s.

Drummers.

Castanetists.

In Action

Some of our beasts.

My own trusty mount.

Setting sun.  My only regret was that there was enough haze in the sky to obscure the sunset . .

. . . and to soften the contrast in the shadows of the dunes.

Local sand artist.

Camel handlers.

Back in camp for dinner.

JOHN

 MOROCCO: ERFOUD AND RISSANI

Continuing our Moroccan tour, after leaving Fez we took a long motor coach ride (more on that later) to Erfoud, a small city in western Morocco at the edge of the Sahara, where we spent two nights.

In the morning we traveled to the nearby town of Rissani, where we visited the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif.  Non-Muslims are not allowed to view the tomb, but the reception hall for the mausoleum is notable.

Following the mausoleum we visited an impressive private preschool for 4 and 5 year olds, all well behaved.  Their teacher displayed some of the students' workbooks, showing how they were learning to write in both French and Arabic.

Returning to Erfoud in the afternoon, we visited a fossil quarry and showroom.

During our stay in Erfoud, I found myself taking a few more artsy pics.

The chair's too simple, but I liked the composition.

Support pillar detail.

Preschool teacher.

Preschoolers' artwork outside school.

Fossil guide.

400 million year-old ammonite.

Gorgeous split-open ammonite for sale.

Stairway at Erfoud hotel, rendered in B&W.

Vessel still life, Erfoud marketplace.

Tile roof detail, Rissani.

I just liked the following composition: floor, wall, pot.

JOHN.

 MOROCCO: A FEW FEZ ARTSY SHOTS

Here are a few more photos of compositions in Fez that caught my eye.

Street scene.

Sun-dappled latticework.

Painted floor, Medina alleyway.

Woodwork detail.

Another doorknocker.

Al-Attarine Madrasa.

Containers, Medina.  Somehow, this was one of my favorite images, for the quality of light and composition.

JOHN

 MOROCCO: FEZ ARTISANS, FACTORIES AND SHOWROOMS

While in Fez we watched various artisans at work, including coppersmiths, leather goods makers, ceramics and pottery workers, and a master tea brewer.

Coppersmiths.

Coppersmith's hand.

Leather staining vats and finished goods.

Ceramics and pottery factory.

A number of us had cups of mint tea from a master brewer in the medina.

JOHN