Morocco 2001
9/10th June
I travelled down from Huddersfield to Heathrow using Railtrack - risky, with my partner Julie , who was getting an earlier flight to LA. Julie was visiting an old college friend whilst I was away doing my 'Moroccan thing'.
I had signed up for a weeks touring with Wilderness Wheels who are based in Ouarzazate ( pronounced waz-az-at ) The company was set up and is run by Pete Gray who lives with his wife and young daughter in the town and speaks fluent Arabic and French. Wilderness Wheels has only been running for around a year and some of the routes we were to take were specifically tailored to this trip - the last in the season as from June onwards it is far too hot for southern desert mileages. I chose Wilderness Wheels as Pete , at the moment , only takes a maximum of 4 people out ( minimum - 2 people ) and I didn't fancy 'tear-arsing' around the desert with 10 or more testosterone fuelled guys - some of whom would almost certainly be out there to prove something - I'm 47 years old and am getting a bit too old ( and fragile ) to be coping with such things and thought that this would be a more 'laid back' experience allowing me to see more of the the countryside etc. -- mmmm?
I flew with Royal Air Moroc to Casablanca and then a short hop (35mins) to Ouarzazate arriving around midnight. I had met my travelling compadre ( Paul ) at Heathrow - we, quite by chance, found ourselves standing next to each other in the check-in queue. Pete met us at the airport, asking if we had 'clocked' Diana Rigg who was on the same flight as ours - Ouarzazate is at the centre of the Moroccan film industry with a couple of studio's located in and around the town - Lawrence of Arabia was shot here as well as some of the Star Wars sequences. The airport is only 2km from the town so a quick ride to the Palmerie hotel and to bed.
The Kasbah - Ouarzazate
Paul and I had arrived in Morocco a day early mainly to get acclimatised to the place/heat , so the following day we had time to check out the town. We got the usual hassle of people wanting to show us their shops, act as guides around the Kasbah and Palace etc. but somehow we managed to keep going and were actually able to enter the Kasbah without the services of a guide - although it wasn't for want of trying on their behalf. The Kasbah is still occupied and is in effect a small self contained town with shops and houses all seemingly linked together - the streets are impossibly tiny and on that day quite smelly as the sewerage system was blocked. Eventually I found a tiny music shop selling all shapes and sizes of Moroccan and Arabic drums. I was quickly invited inside and found myself having a fantastic 'jam' session with the 2 young guys running the place - this went on for ages as I tried loads of different drums - I promised to call back in a weeks time to do some 'business'. Back at the hotel and a refreshing dip in the pool, Pete called in with his wife and lovely 2 year old daughter Zahra, he also had brought some riding gear for us to try on for size. Pete supplies all the riding equipment ( mainly Fox gear ) which was all high quality and offered good protection without sacrificing mobility. We met up in the evening for our first real Moroccan meal at a place called Dimitri's in the town centre and then an early night for a proposed early start in the morning.
Rachid and friend in the Drum shop