Hollywood in the Desert, Ouarzazate, Morocco

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Michelle on the set for Kundun at Atlas Studios

After our lovely, calm trip to the desert, we hopped on a hair-raising minibus ride to Zagora.  This guy pushed the limits of the one lane road, and really played some game of chicken with the oncoming traffic.  Scary enough, that at one stop, we moved back in the bus so as not to see it coming!!!
Zagora, was unfortunately tainted a little, as we had major trouble finding our campsite.  It was a very cool little spot, but because we arrived so late, we couldn't' enjoy it to its' fullest, and we left very early in the morning, heading for Ouarzazate.
The main site in Ouarzazate is the Kasbah, an old mud-brick fort that has been partially restored. For centuries, this was the place where people from the Atlas Mountains, Draa Valley, and Dades Valley converged to do business. Hollywood found Ouarzazate back in the 1950s and has used the kasbah and surrounding scenery as the backdrops for films including "Lawrence of Arabia", “Gladiator", “Jewel of the Nile", “Kundun", to name a few.  There is also a private studio called Atlas Studios, which we took

Martin with kids in Ouarzazate

a guided tour of.  The sets were all made of lightweight material, and even styrofoam.  From the back, all the walls were just propped up with wooden scaffolding, and some haven't stood up to the test of time.  We were on the sets for Gladiator, Asterix (Cleopatra film), and Kundun.  There was a full set of Jerusalem built out in the middle of nowhere behind the studios.  A really strange sight.
The people were quite friendly here in Ouarzazate.  We had some fun moments with the kids living near the studios, and then taking a bus all the way through town we chatted with many locals on our walk back to our hotel via the Kasbah. 
To celebrate our quick day in Ouarzazate, we had our first beer of/in Morocco.  A delicious Stork brand, which we enjoyed on our rooftop terrace, overlooking main street and our great little Patisserie across the street.  *Stub