Saturday, July 14, 2012

Ouarzazate

July 8, 2012

Ouarzazate is a city on the Saharan side of the Atlas Mountains. It is also known as "Quallywood". The city, its studios, film museum, and landscape are the reasons why such movies as "Babel", "Gladiator", "Kundun", "Lawrence of Arabia". and other desert-themed movies are made here.

The person who sold me the tour assured me the van would be air-conditioned and the driver would speak English. It van was air-conditioned. It just didn't work. As for the driver he was good and safe, his English consisted of "Huh?".

The trip in a rented van takes four hours one way over the Atlas Mountains with hundreds of switchbacks, missing guard rail sections, trucks, and large tour buses. Of the starting eight people, one couple got out early to catch a bus back to Marrakesh after the woman vomited at the side of the road for twenty minutes, another young man passenger simply vomited in the van and continued.

Mary took and passed out to others her Peace Corps motion sickness pills. Other than bruises on my thigh and her gasps, the trip went well.

The road to Quarzazate
Quarzazate

Medina of Ouarzazate
Medina of Ouarzazate

Entrance to movie studio
 Movie set

No comments: