New Years in Oarzazate
In Oarzazate, Rick wanted a fancy bathroom (pansy) so we stayed at some lavish swankhouse. We walked to town the next day through a wide river bed that was running at a trickle (see middle photo). That day we went to the studios where many famous desert movies were shot: Gladiator, Sahara, HBO’s Rome and a grip of Italian movies about Jesus. Rick spent the sunny afternoon on the phone with his bank while I sat eating crêpes and ice cream, hitting on some Peacecorps volunteers. That evening we were pumped for the town square (on which every other night there was tribal performance and crowds of people). Turns out that New Years in Morocco is a family festival. At 9:00pm the entire town was free of walking souls (except for us). We walked around trying to find a bar, which pretty much don’t exist in Morocco because of Muslim majority. Dumbfounded, we walked home and went to a cafe next door where a 70 year old white hippie was singing to a desert rock band, pretty much sounded like bad karaoke. The waiter left (I think to search the town) and returned later with a dusty bottle of wine. At midnight, everyone in the place came over and congratulated us, as if we were celebrities. I really like the Harira soup (top right), and the Bsara for breakfast. I felt the drive to Oarzazate was the best though, through old palmeries and dried up old villages (see below).