Dec 25th Dades Valley and Gorges

The South: Marrakech is in the middle of Morocco and we are now traveling south.  The arable land is replaced by mountains and rivers running through the gorges.  The soil is a deep red.  There are small settlements along the mountain side and in the small valleys but we are told there is little work available.  The men go abroad for years to work, primarily in Europe.  They do mostly semi-skilled jobs in construction or other vocations.  They send money back to support their families who remain behind.  After they save for many years they return to set up a small business at home.   It is interesting that as in the U.S. these rural areas are much more conservative in values and dress.  Each settlement has a mosque and the women all wear head covers and black robes (but not face coverings).  The men dress in gelaba, a usually black hooded robe; it looks much like what monks wear.

Roses: Here also is rose country.  Yves Saint Laurent is the patron saint of this region having brought the plan for making perfume from rose pedals to Morocco.  These are harvested in May but I still was able to buy a beautiful bouquet of roses for Karen, a dozen for about $3.  In the rose markets you can buy everything from rose soap and rose water to perfume to patent medicine for stomach ailments made from rose pedals.  Here too almonds grow and the white of the almond trees provide a vivid contrast with the red of the soil and of roses.

Movie Studios: So you wondered where all the desert scenes were filmed in cheap TV movies-It is in Quarzazate, the Hollywood of Morocco.  There are three giant movie studios here and I have attached a picture of Karen sitting on one of the props from a Cleopatra movie I am sure you have never heard of.  It was quite fun-not quite Universal Studios.

Aqueducts: Here they date from the 11^th century and are about 15 feet underground that go on for many km with funnel openings along the way to catch the water.  I climbed down into one and it was much cooler than outside.  Now there is no water running through it and the villagers sleep here on summer night.

Gorgeous Gorges: We spent much of today exploring gorges first from the top of the mountain and then into the gorge itself.  They built a hotel into the side of one of the mountains but when we went to eat there we were told it was closed because a bolder had fallen on it last week and the roof caved in.  They didn’t mention what happened to people inside.  They assured us that the restaurant had been relocated and was open!