April 14: Ait Ben Haddou

We were picked up at Le Relais De Marrakech at 7:00 am and headed toward the popular city of Quazazate, which has incredible panoramic views of the High Atlas Mountains. We crossed the Tizi N Tichka pass while admiring the amazing landscape of Berber villages.

Next, we visited the fortified city of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site and most spectacular Ksar in Morocco. The Kasbah was built with mud and home of Pacha Thami El Glaoui. The kasbah was used as a setting  for more than 20 famous films, including: Gladiator, Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia, and Game of Thrones. The highlight of our stay was the time we spent taking tea at a rooftop cafe.  Our host was terrific as he took videos of each of us pouring tea while taking in the picturesque scenery.

Our last stop before making it to our hotel was at the Atlas Studios, which is the Moroccan Hollywood.  It was cool to see the elaborate sets that were made for so many American feature films.  I was surprised to learn that many sets were used for more than one movie.