MOROCCO: Ouarzazate & Ait Ben Haddou

Our last but one (that’s right, only one post about Morocoo left!) led us to Ait Ben Haddou, a fortified berber city, and Ouarzazate, also known as the ‘Moroccan Hollywood’, since it is the set for films like the gladiator.  To get there, we had to take 5 hour drive by bus through the mountains (where it was freezing!), which made me so car sick (and I’m usually pretty immune), but luckily the amazing views made up for that.

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MOROCCO: Ourika & Imlil

On one of our trips outside Marrakech, we visited the Ourika valley and Imlil, a small village in the mountains.  This trip totally convinced me of the Morocco’s beauty.  How insane are those mountains?  On our way over there, we stopped at a traditional berber home and got the chance to take a look inside.  Imlil is a must-see by the way, we climbed all the way up to the mountains to see the water falls, and on our way up, we crossed all these small restaurants which looked so cosy and colorful.  There were so many restaurants, I’m assuming this place must be packed with tourists during the summer, but when we were there it was luckily quite calm.

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MOROCCO: Essaouira

When we were in Morocco, we made a little trip to Essaouira, a town by the seaside.  On our way over there, we stopped at a place where women made argan oil according to old traditions. (photo 1 and 2) They explained the process to us and we could try both the culinary oil (tastes so good with a piece of bread) and the cosmetic oil (of which I took a little bottle home, it’s supposed to work miracles for your hair and skin).  When we were in Essaouira, we enjoyed the view over the sea, ate fresh fish (including sea urchin!) and enjoyed the only beer we found on our entire trip, in a café which was nothing more then a roof and a view over the sea, and where they only served beer and coke.

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MOROCCO: sights of Marrakesh

In my second post about my Moroccan trip, I’m showing you photos of our more touristic outings in Marrakesh.  We saw several palaces (wish I remembered which one’s, but the names are so hard and there were so many… oops!) and the divine Jardin Majorelle (recognizable by the gorgeous blue building), once restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. That gorgeous blue color alone is enough reason for me to consider going back to Morocco!

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MOROCCO: the city of Marrakesh

Yay, my first post about my trip to Morocco!  I’m starting with my photos that portray the atmosphere of the old part of Marrakesh (the medina), where our hotel or ‘riad’ was located.  Below a few photos of Jemaa el-Fnaa, the (huge) main square of Marrakesh.  By day the place is filled with snake charmers, men with monkeys on leaches and women putting henna tattoos.  By night, the square turns into a giant restaurant with one stall after another, all offering ‘best price’.

On our walks through Marrakesh, we discovered the city, varying from wide roads with chaotic traffic and narrow little streets which are very crowded by day and almost empty at night.

On one of our walks through the old town, we came by an old cinema, which was unfortunately closed permanently but still open for curious passengers like us.

And finally, some photos from inside the souks, where you can find anything from leather bags, authentic pairs of kelim boots (which cost about a quarter of the price you pay for ‘real’ kiboots), colorful slippers and scarfs, kelim carpets, djellabas (the traditional costume in Morocco), beautiful lanterns and all kinds of jewelry.

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