Day 53 - Movie time

This was our final day of our Sahara trip with it finishing in Marrakech. Our first stop was for coffee in the town of Kalaat M'Gouna, the centre of the rose growing region. Next to the cafe there was a rose distillery on display, and we learnt that the Damask Desert rose that grows wild here is such an important part of the area that even the taxis are rose coloured. 

Next was Ourzazate, a city that has made lots of money from the movie industry, especially westerns due to the landscape. There were a couple of movie museums with quite cheesy props, we decided that we didn't need to go in, we had seen quite enough from the outside, thanks. 

We visited the old kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, which looked like it was made from giant sandcastles and we were told that since it is made of earth, water and straw it often washes away. It was very touristy though, lots of buses there catering to people on desert trips like ours, and also day trippers from Marrakech.

After lunch it was the slow drive through the mountains to Marrakech, we dropped off the Canadians at their flash hotel, then the driver took us in to the medina where we were met by someone from our riad. We thanked our driver/guide and said our farewells, then it was into the medina - this one was even worse that Fes, with motorcyclists whizzing past and people everywhere, luckily we didn't need to go far. 

Our riad in Marrakech was much nicer than the one in Fez and had a lovely sitting area and pool in the middle, it was also a huge plus that the bed was soft and comfortable.