Todra Gorge & Aït Benhaddou
Our drive to Todra Gorge started with camel milk.
We went off the beaten path a bit and found some at a small farm. I tried a sip, and it tasted much like cow's milk but less creamy.
That morning, we were driving from Merzouga, near where we'd spent the night in the Sahara, and arrived at our hotel near Todra Gorge mid-afternoon.
Some of the group took the rest of the day as a break, but most of us went for a walk through some farms into the gorge -- a lovely walk of just over an hour where we saw groves of almond trees and other crops, like broccoli and green beans.
The gorge itself was a beautiful sight, but the stroll was my favourite part. I've never considered myself an outdoorsy person, but I'd gotten used to being in nature and on the move while travelling, as my last few trips were quite active and hiking-heavy. Only when dodging through trees and hopping across streams did I realize I missed it.
We spent the night there with a dinner of couscous at the hotel, then headed out again in the morning to Aït Benhaddou, with a couple stops along the way, notably at a place for Moroccan spices and herbs. We got a demonstration by an herbalist, who walked us through the spices used in Moroccan cuisine as well as their natural remedies, from saffron to black-seed.
We arrived in Aït Benhaddou early afternoon, after lunch at a local restaurant where I had merguez sausages. The town, which has several film studios, is known for being the site of many famous sets, from Lawrence of Arabia to Game of Thrones.
The earthen fortified village itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and 8 families still live there.
As we toured the site, our local guide pointed out small corners where sets had been constructed, like the small ring in Gladiator. We saw some guest rooms and lots of photos and movie posters from film sets posted around the site.
We also got to peek into old homes, like the kitchen here (no longer in use).
One part I especially enjoyed was seeing a Berber painter at work in one of the rooms around the giant complex. He painted using natural ingredients like Moroccan tea or Indigo, and then burned the painting to make the ink show up, which he demonstrated.
It was a very nice village to walk around, with remnants of film sets here and there.
We climbed to the top and were greeted with a lovely panorama of the surrounding hills and desert.
After making our way back down, we visited a rug-making collective of beautiful handmade works and got another demonstration of the craft to wrap up the day.