LOCALpisé-walled salon with Kasbah views.
Auberge Cafe-Restaurant Bilal $
( 0668 24 83 70) For lunch with a view, pull up a patio chair and gaze at Aït Benhaddou
across the way. À la carte options include omelettes (Dh35), couscous (Dh50), and kebabs
(Dh60).
Getting There & Away
To get here from Ouarzazate, take the main road towards Marrakesh to the signposted turn-off
(22km); Aït Benhaddou is another 9km down a bitumen road. Cycling from Ouarzazate takes
three hours.
Grands taxis run from outside Ouarzazate bus station when full (Dh20 per person) and from
the turn-off (Dh120 one-way or Dh250 to Dh350 half-day with return). Minibuses run from
Tamdaght to Ouarzazate in the morning when full.
Ouarzazate
POP 79,000
Strategically located Ouarzazate (war-zazat) has gotten by largely on its wits instead of its
looks. For centuries, people from the Atlas, Drâa and Dadès Valleys converged to do business
at Ouarzazate’s sprawling Taourirt Kasbah, and a modern garrison town was established here
in the 1920s to oversee France’s colonial interests. The movie business gradually took off in
Ouarzazate after the French protectorate left in the 1950s, and ‘Ouallywood’ movie studios
have built quite a résumé providing convincingly exotic backdrops for movies supposedly set in
Tibet, ancient Rome, Somalia and Egypt.
Since King Mohammed VI started visiting here and fixing up the roads, Ouarzazate has been
developing quickly, with new condo-hotel complexes and a spacious pedestrian plaza in the
town centre. Ouarzazate is always ready for action, with well-stocked supermarkets where you
can pick up essential desert supplies from wet wipes to whisky. With scores of agencies
offering bikes, motorbikes and camels, this is an ideal launching pad for mountains, desert and
gorges. But from November to March, be prepared for icy winds that can come whipping down
from the High Atlas.