Ait Ben Haddou
Ancient Berber Village/Movie Set
On my second day in Morocco, I planned to see Ait Ben Haddou. This is a well preserved 11th or 12th century Berber village on the Northern edge of the Sahara. It has been used as a backdrop for numerous movies, from Jewell of the Nile in 1983 to the Russell Crowe Gladiator movie to recent episodes of Game of Thrones. It turned out that most of the things to see and do in Marrakech I was able to see in the first day of walking around. A day trip would be nice, and I could clean up anything else I wanted to do in the highly touristy old market town before heading over to the coast for a day or two.
I had three options to get out to Ait Ben Haddou, as far as I could tell. It is pretty far from Marrakech – about a three hour drive. By far the easiest and cheapest option would be to join a day trip small group tour that stopped at a high pass over the Atlas Mountains, the community of Ouarzazate, an Argan oil coop, and a movie production facility near Ouarzazate. The tour would cost just $25, and prevent me from having to figure out the logistics of getting to these far flung places. One of the drawbacks was that I would get to spend no more than an hour at Ait Ben Haddou. I could hire a private driver and guide. In that case, I had no idea how useful the guide would be, but it would probably cost ten times as much. I might have more say in how long I stayed at different sites. That might make more sense if I wasn’t a solo traveler. I could also, if I were confident enough, just try to figure out how to get to these places on my own. Then, I could spend whatever time I wanted. I still don’t know that public transport could be had to most of these stops.
Ultimately, I opted for the small group tour. I don’t really like that alternative, but I get to meet other travelers that way, and I don’t have to worry about the details. I waited until the night before to reserve the trip. The tour companies advertisement said I could book it as late as 5:00 a.m. the morning of the tour, and that they would pick up at any number of a pre-selected list of sites around the city, and they would contact me if they needed to work out details. I figured this meant someone would be checking the messages. Not hearing anything differently before I went to bed, or once I got up, I planned to meet the tour at Bahia Palace at 7:00 a.m. This was one of their pickup points. I had been there the day before. It was only about ¼ mile from my hostel.
(Continued)
While I was in the shower the next morning – at 6:25 – I received a message that instead I should meet at 6:40 at a place well over half a mile away. I didn’t see the message until several minutes later as I was drying off. I send a quick reply expressing my doubt that I could make it to that point at their designated time. I threw on some clothes and literally ran all the way to their rendezvous spot and made it just as they were ready to leave. It was about 6:50. It was an inauspicious beginning.
I cooled off in the van as we drove around the city collecting other passengers. We made it out another hour or so before making a stop to get snacks. As is usually the case with these trips, everywhere we stopped had snacks and drinks that were more than double the going rate in Morocco. This is still on par with what you’d pay for such things in an American or Western European convenience store, so most tourists probably don’t think twice about it. I bought something since I was a captive audience.
Most of those traveling were already in groups of two. I ended up visiting quite a bit with another solo traveler. This was a Japanese girl in her 20s who wanted to practice her English. She had a very serious American boyfriend who was in the Air Force. He had even proposed, but she was trying to go out and travel the world before (in her perception) she would be tied down and prevented from making such trips. Her beaux apparently preferred international trips to more swanky destinations like Scandinavia. She was itching to see India and other places she saw as more exotic and adventurous. Her English listening and comprehension were a bit of a struggle for her, I could see, so I used my Stacy English to help her understand me, and this worked well. In other words, I spoke slowly, enunciated clearly, and tried not to use overly complex structures or slang. This seemed to work just fine.
My guess that much of the time we spent outside the van would be used on sales opportunities rather than visiting the main attractions was correct. There were trinket stands, of course, lining the mountain pass parking lot where we stopped for what were some very nice views atop the high Atlas. We spent a few minutes at an Argan oil coop. There was a 2-3 minute presentation in what I think was Arabic, but most of the stop was designed to give passengers the opportunity to buy the Argan oil products. This oil is supposed to be good for your skin and hair. I am not sure what arghan oil is supposed to cost, but I’m pretty sure that place wasn’t where you should buy it.
(Continued)
Once we made it to Ait Ben Haddou, we did stay for roughly an hour. We stopped periodically for photo opportunities. We stood in the riverbed at a distance suitable for good pictures. We made a slow climb up the village toward what amounted to a siege bastion on the top. Along the way, we were given the chance to see a fellow making art from a special process that acted as invisible ink. This is apparently an indigenous art that was used in a scene in Lawrence of Arabia. We rested here, but it was another pre-arranged sales pitch. Once we got to the top of the hill at Ait Ben Haddou, we were told we had ten minutes to enjoy the view. Ten minutes. To be fair, the better view was had below. I suppose many tourists would be happy to take their ten minutes, get a couple of selfies, then sleep in the van on the way back to Marrakech, so it probably works for most people. This is a real reason, though, why I prefer independent travel when I can manage it.
The lunch was pretty disappointing as well. We were given a menu with three choices. Each alternative came in a package that cost 130 dirhams. After buying your drink, you’d spend about 150, plus tip. The portion was less than half of what a standard chicken tagine looks like in any cafe in Morocco, and a top flight price would be something like 80 dirhams. The chicken variety is usually about 60. I ate my tiny tagine, and waited for my arrival back in town to eat a hearty supper.
I was pleasantly surprised by the visit to the movie studio, however. There is a large studio complex with many indoor and outdoor sets that have been used in different movies needing an old world desert feel. There are faux scenes from Egypt, North Africa, and the Middle East. Because there are mountains around, the area is even used to depict Himalayan scenes for movies, including one about the life of a 20th century Dalai Lama. So Morocco can also sit in for Tibet, if needed. I had lots of fun driving chariots, sitting in Cleopatra thrones, and that sort of thing.
It was well after 8:00 p.m. by the time we delivered everyone else and I was dropped back in Marrakech. I walked back through the Jemaa al Fnaa, and found a place that would serve some tangia. It was the last time I found any in Morocco. That’s too bad, it was my favorite dish from that country. I was glad to have gotten to see Ait Ben Haddou, I enjoyed the studio more than I thought I would. There didn’t seem to be too much more to see right in Marrakech, so I decided to grab a train the next day to El Jadida.
