GUESTHOUSERESTAURANThere ). This women’s carpet-weaver’s association hosts Sunday open-houses, where visitors
can learn to weave a bookmark or spin raw wool into yarn under expert tutelage (sliding-scale
donation Dh200 to Dh500). Donations go directly to the democratically run association to pay
for rent, loom, and wool purchases, and charismatic director Khadija Ighilnasaf provides
donation receipts with a heartfelt Barakllafik (blessings go with you). Look for the roadside sign
in the village of Anzal, 30 minutes along the N10 north of Tazenakht.
Sleeping & Eating
Maison d’Hôtes Hiba $
( 0615 72 72 82; 8km Foum Zguid; per person incl half-board Dh220; ) A rock-studded
guesthouse and restaurant serving restorative meals of tajine, salad, and fruit (Dh80) on the
scenic terrace or on sofas in the air-conditioned salon. Comfy grotto-style rooms with new en-
suite bathrooms make this a welcome overnight stop after roughing it in the desert. Head 8km
north of Foum Zguid towards Marrakesh; look for the right-hand turn-off onto the piste to
Zagora/Amezrou.
Restaurant La Liberté $$
(Foum Ziguid; meals Dh70-80; 7am-10pm) Hot breakfasts and serviceable kebabs on the
west side of the town square, on your right after the major/only intersection.
DADÈS VALLEY & THE GORGES
Nomad crossings, rose valleys and two-tone kasbahs: even on paper, the Dadès Valley
stretches the imagination. From the daunting High Atlas to the north to the rugged Jebel Sarhro
range south, the valley is dotted with oases and mudbrick palaces that give the region its
fairytale nickname – Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs. Some of the best views are only glimpsed
on foot, on hidden passageways between the Dadès and Todra Gorges and nomad routes
across the Sarhro.
Skoura
POP 2800
By the time caravans laden with gold and spice reached Skoura, the camels must’ve been
gasping. After a two-month journey across the Sahara, blue-robed Tuareg desert traders
offloaded cargo from caravans in Skoura, where Middle Atlas mountaineers packed it onto
mules headed to Fez. Ouarzazate is now the region’s commercial centre 39km west, but
Skoura’s historic mudbrick castles remain, and desert traders throng Monday and Thursday
souqs brimming with intensely flavourful desert produce. When market days are done and
palm-tree shadows stretch across the road, no one seems in a hurry to leave. Elsewhere, life
goes on as usual – but in Skoura, it remains a wonder.