Grooving in the old Kasbah

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Day 9. 28^thJan (Tuesday)

Last night we went to the on-site bar! It had a pool table and football on screens, just like home! Quite strange really over here. Eventually we settled on a bottle of red wine from the Meknes area (to the North, near Fez) which we drank after a game of pool which Mike won. Were given a large plate of fritters, olives & cold chick peas and another plate of salted popcorn. The only downside was the loud local music which we found annoying and had to shout over. Most others in the bar seemed local Moroccans. When I went to pay it was not the 70Dhs we had expected but 150Dhs (£14)! We left at midnight feeling merry…

Got up late and had a good hot shower and washed 2 t-shirts, 2 undies & 6 socks, hope they dry! When we went for breakfast at 10 they had obviously been waiting for us and I promised we would be earlier tomorrow (no more wine). It was a buffet type breakfast with croissants, brioche, pancakes etc with orange juice and coffee.

Then we headed towards an ATM which google had located, but which didn’t exist. But we were near the Tambourine Kasbah (the local Lord’s Palace) so decided to visit that (20Dhs). It’s amazing what you can build with a bit of straw, sticks and mud. The rooms were a real maze and the doors varied in height from 6’ to 3’, there were many low beams across the stairways and signs that heads had hit them (not blood but smashed plaster). The only real decoration was on the top floor (prayer room) where intricate tiles line the join from wall to ceiling. The ceilings were impressive as you could see the rough-hewn beams, which support other cross-beams, these in turn are surmounted by a solid lattice of bamboo, upon which rest the plaster floors upstairs.

Taourirt Kasbah was saved from ruin by being used as a backdrop to such Hollywood films as The Sheltered Sky, Gladiator and Prince of Persia. This made Unesco interested and they have now funded the careful restoration of the inner sanctum.

Outside and across the road is a large Artisans Area where local craft stalls abound and nearby is a Movie Museum appropriately located in a dusty old cinema (may see that tomorrow).

Still searching for an ATM I insisted we catch a cab to the main Square (Place al Mouahidine) which only cost 10Dh even though further than our initial taxi to our hotel which cost 30…. soon found a row of ATM’s for various banks (including Lloyds which I didn’t use) and I got 1000Dhs out (£90) which should last a while.

We wandered into the Place al Mouahidine which is a large modern square (everything around here seems quite modern except the Taourirt Kasbah). I had a snack & orange juice, Mike just the juice. As we left Mike found a guy a few doors down who sold mobile phones and I bought one for 125Dhs (£11) so now we can ring each other if we get separated! Really nice guy in shop, we really got along. I seem to have lost my comb and I asked him for a comb or brush so he left us in his shop and went out to buy me one which he didn’t charge me for! Meanwhile we were trying to explain to other customers that he wouldn’t be long. After my deal was done we bid him a fond farewell and handshakes (the physical contact seems appropriate here). Michael’s French seems to be picking up, whilst my Berber is dropping off…

Walking into the square where a large stage area with lights & PA was being set up at one end (famous singers I was told) we saw a teenage guy playing tennis with a young girl – just passing to each other, but if they missed then the ball went a long way to the surrounding shops. Michael comes from a strong tennis family – his Dad once beat me at a game in London when he was 65 and I was 35. Anyway he went over and gave them a tennis lesson whilst another guy on a push-bike joined them, they got to talking tennis (in French) about a famous Moroccan tennis player from 20 years ago. At the end is was hand shakes all round and fond farewells.

We wandered back to our hotel.

Ouarzazate is a strange place although very laid back and friendly it is the starting point for many treks and activities around such places as the Draâ & Dadès Valleys, so there are lots of car & motorbike hire places and the supermarkets are well stocked with Western style goods for those stocking up before hitting the Sahara. The Marathon des Sables starts from here – a gruelling 6 day, 250km ultra-marathon across the Sahara.

At around 6pm we headed back to have a meal and see the band. They have these strange places here that look like pubs but just sell mint tea, there’s a large one on the corner not far from our hotel (next to the fish restaurant we went to last night). We stopped in for a tea and got free bottles of water too (which I needed). No food though so we carried on, stopping at a few other places that had signs saying restaurant but only selling tea or coffee, very misnamed! At one very posh one the manager came to us to apologise and gave us warm handshakes as we left. Eventually we found somewhere with food and I had a cheese pizza with orange juice (the freshly squeezed orange juice is really good here).

As we approached the square we could hear the music pumping out and a large crowd had gathered along with 2 police cars. We squeezed to the front and watched. 5 women sat in a row, the middle one in red, with 2 blue clad ones either side. They all played percussion with (from the left) a bongo style drum, a tambourine style one, a metal plate for the middle one (played with large metal ring-things on her hands), a ceramic drum, and another bongo. But it was the singing that was hypnotic with the beat of those drums, a very rousing rhythm that rose to a crescendo. At the end there were a few whistles and the odd clap (one very odd one, mine). We realised that one of the tennis lads was standing right in front of us and he came over to talk although I couldn’t hear a word. Slapping of hands then the next song started. My feet were getting tired so I went to a cafe for a soft fizzy drink after letting Mike know where I’d be. When the ladies stopped (half an hour later) Mike found me and we walked back to our hotel (about 9:30).

I started on this blog and Mike took my mp3 player to try to record some of the music (if they played any more).

They didn't. But Mike e-mailed me some pics, they are not very good as lots of lights were shining on the crowd and were bad for photos, but I will include them as the band was so good.

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Comments

[Amy Friedman]

which google had located, but which didn’t exist
These posts keep betting funnier and funnier. The main theme seems to be: "which google had located, but which didn’t exist." Google is having you on. It has lured you to Morocco with promise of things which aren't there. However the Berber women drummers sound fabulous so I am glad they existed.

[DickDiamond]

Yes, I don't think google is very welcome over here. No street views available. I think Moroccans are worried about spies and google is a bit spy-like. There's another band on tomorrow but we won't be here then...