Whiskey Jack Adventures: Ait Ben Haddou, Morocco

With a very cool start (3C) we made our way north following the oasis created by the Dades River. It is amazing how desolate the area looks except around the river where there is a lush green area with lots of palm trees. The road surface was a bit broken in areas, not quite as good as previous days.

We rode through many small sleepy villages past some pretty red rock and formations. These are known as monkey hands similar to the hoodoos we see at home. The aim of this ride was to get to the Dades River canyon viewpoint which entails five very sharp switchbacks on a narrow road. We were given the option of riding up or leaving the bikes at the bottom and riding up in the van. Three bikes, us included, opted for the latter (this is not a good “2-up on a 700 lb. 1600 cc motorcycle” road – see picture). As it would have meant the van would need to make three trips Norma rode up with Sergi, the guide. It gave her a chance to ride on BMW’s GS 1200 adventure bike! It was a fun ride, watching for oncoming traffic. Once we were all at the top we had our coffee/mint tea break and photo ops. It was very impressive seeing how the road climbed up to this point. The road doesn’t go where we were going so we needed to head back down the same piece of road. Apparently it turns into a dirt road shortly after where we stopped.

Overall it was a very pleasant ride in the afternoon, again seeing the desert with oases and small towns. It is known as the “Route of the Kasbahs”. Once again the small boys seemed to be delighted as we rode by. Often we saw women with large bundles of sticks for burning and hay for animals. The men seemed to be mostly sitting around. One of the larger towns we passed through was Quarzazate (so-called Moroccan Hollywood) where many movies have been made. We even passed the some of the studios. On our way out we passed one of the ubiquitous police checkpoints, this time we captured an image.

Our lunch break was at a very impressive Riad hotel where apparently movies have been filmed. There were a few props scattered about. We all opted for pizza as tonight is tagine. We had an outside lunch around the pool.

After lunch we rode to the Ait Ben Haddou kasbah for a walk through and possible shopping. Lots of stuff we weren’t sure was authentic. None of us shopped, we just opted to visit and enjoy the views and the sunshine. This is where some scenes from Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. Just up the road our accommodation tonight is a Boutique Hotel in Moroccan style of course.

Tomorrow we go to Marrakesh! Remember: “Would you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express”?