Tourist First: Morocco: Ait Benhaddou, Movie Set and More

Monday, May 1, 2017

Morocco: Ait Benhaddou, Movie Set and More

The ancient ksour or citadel of Ait Benhaddou. At the top, tourists and local children on school
tours make their way to a former grain storage house. At the bottom, a movie is being filmed. We
were told that it was Jackie Chan's production company but that he's not in this film.

You've probably seen Ait Benhaddou or the desert that surrounds it in movies. Films in the "Star Wars" series have been shot here, along with just about any movie that needed an exotic desert: "Lawrence of Arabia," Orson Welles's "Sodam and Gomorrah," "Gladiator," "Alexander," and "Jesus of Nazareth," to name a few. A couple of big film studios are within a few minutes' drive.
This area is part of the Atlas region, but not the High Atlas, and was once a stop for caravans traveling from one oasis to another. Today it's a tourist attraction, though people still live in the mud-brick buildings. A more modern community is across the river (from which the photo above was taken), which is where most of the restaurants and hotels are. The winding passageways of Ait Benhaddou are lined with shops selling Berber textiles and other goods.
We stayed a few kilometers down the road at Kasbah Titrit, which is near the ruins of Kasbah Tamdaght, which appeared in "Gladiator." For 10 dirham (one U.S. dollar), you can enter Tamdaght and clamber around its crumbling walls and even venture onto what roof it has left. One interior room is in pretty good shape and is used to display costumes, mostly dresses, from movies that were shot here.
Kasbah Titrit is architecturally similar to Tamdaght (mud bricks, towers, terraces) but has been restored as a boutique hotel boasting an indoor pool, a hammam and spa, a dining room serving mainly French cuisine, and large, beautiful rooms with views of the desert. We spent two nights here. Below are some snapshots.

The intact and crisp towers of Kasbah Titrit provide a contrast to the crumbling ruins next door.

A view from inside Kasbah Tamdaght.

Storks find a home at Tamdaght.

The view from our room at Titrit.

A street in the Ait Benhaddou ksour.

Steps to the granary atop Ait Benhaddou.

Ait Benhaddou is riddled with public passageways such as this.

Jane and me atop Ait Benhaddou with stunning views
of the desert and oasis countryside.

The pool at Kasbah Titrit.

Our rather palatial bathroom at Kasbah Titrit.

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Argentine Patagonia

They are called what they look like: Mexican hats. They occur naturally in the highlands above the town of El Calafate. The water in the distance is glacier-fed Lago Argentino. An hour's drive east of El Calafate, near the headwaters of the lake, visitors can hike on the Perito Moreno glacier and take a boat ride among icebergs that have fallen off the several glaciers in the Parque Nacional des Glaciares. El Calafate is basically a summer (Nov. to Feb.) tourist town, and there are a number of hotels at all price points. We stayed at Esplendor El Calafate, a very stylish hotel with a full restaurant and bar. The South American picker-upper drink mate is available at breakfast. The hotel is an uphill walk from the commercial area, but that's not much of a drawback. Click on the photo to visit the Esplendor online.

Dominica

Probably the greenest island in the Caribbean, in terms of color and ecological awareness, is Dominica, just north of Martinique. It was named by Columbus, who sailed past it on a Sunday. The island nation is one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, but it is rich in friendly people and natural attractions, including a boiling lake, hot and cold waterfalls, a parrot jungle and hill after hill of dense green jungle. There is also a cable-car ride through the jungle canopy (http://www.natureisland.com/AerialTram.html). I wrote about Dominica years ago, and much of that article is still relevant: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/travel/winter-in-the-sun-an-island-where-less-is-more.html?scp=2&sq= Unfortunately, one of the hotels I mentioned, Petit Coulibri, has since closed. Fortunately, there's still a wonderful eco-resort called Papillote Wilderness Retreat http://www.papillote.dm/), four acres of lush gardens, hot-spring-heated soaking pools and modest cottage rooms.

Palm Springs

Palm Springs, Calif., is a great destination for nature lovers -- Mount San Jacinto State Park is a wonderful gondola ride (shown above -- click on it to visit its website) away, and Joshua Tree National Park is a short drive away. It's also a great destination for naturists; there are several major clothing optional resorts in the area -- and for fans of Mid-Century Modern architecture. For a dose of mid-century style, stay at the Orbit In (http://www.orbitin.com/), which does ask that you keep your clothes on.

Pompeii

If you're driving from Naples to the Amalfi Coast, and it's hard to imagine anyone who wouldn't want to visit the Amalfi Coast, you should plan to spend a night in the modern city of Pompei, adjacent to the ancient city of Pompeii. Above are the murals depicting an unknown ritual in what's called the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. If you can, devote most of a full day to exploring the site. Afterward, you'll want a good hotel. Click on the image for info about Hotel Amleto, a small and friendly hotel in the heart of the new town and an easy walk from the ruins.

St. Vincent

This is one of the "rooms" at Petit Byahaut, an isolated (access by boat only) eco-resort on St. Vincent, the largest island in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Bequia, mentioned above in this column, is one of the Grenadines. The photo above is of the living deck and doesn't show a relatively enclosed area that had a real bed. Did you notice I said "had"? That's because the place has closed. To read about the property in its heyday, click on the image for a New York Times article I wrote. The article has a link to a slide show with more images of the resort.