Day 161
4 hrs, 7 .0 kms

Compared to the other Desert Valley Civilizations I’ve followed… Dades Valley, Draa Valley, Tinghir… The scenery isn’t exactly spectacular here. It’s more about wide open spaces then jagged cliffs and mountains. That’s OK—it’s actually nice to have something different. And despite the flat terrain, there’s not much being cultivated along the riverbed, signalling that Ouad Melh is probably not a very reliable water source.



But there is water in it now, and up ahead there is a small gorge that looks kind of interesting, so I head down to check it out. There I follow a trail for a little ways until I get tired of having to ford the stream back and for… back up to the road. Here I go around bend and… lo and behold, the Ait Ben Haddou Oasis, a long, wide cultivated area along the riverbed. But this isn’t the dense palm forest with a tropical forest feel like in Agdz or Arfoud . Here there are just a scattering of various trees. I’m thinking that perhaps the palm trees died out due to drought—but I’m later told that palm trees just don’t grow well in this region for some reason.



Here the road veers to the right and the river to the left. I realize that I’ve made the wrong choice by following the road, and try to correct my mistake by cutting across the terrain, chopped up by erosion, and back to the river valley. There I find the river is turned into a pond, which makes for a rather muddy crossing, but I manage. There’s another village on the other side that I’ve got to check out.

Idluwan is a picture perfect traditional village, with the ruins of the old mud castle accessible and easy to explore—I can even climb up to the upper floors of the houses. It looks like only one house in the old kasbah is still inhabited though . Wandering on through the modern and semi-modern parts of the village, I notice some unusual things about the exterior of the castle. There a long, sharp wooden poles sticking out from the walls at the higher levels. Hmmm… never seen those before in a East Moroccan village…. Could it be for defense? For hanging something on? There must be something unique about this culture here… A little later I ask somebody.

"Oh, that was a backdrop for a Hollywood movie set!"

Oh… I see… Yes, I soon learn, there is something unique about this culture. First source of employment in this region: subsistence agriculture. Second employer: Hollywood. Yep, a large percentage of these rural folk earn a living building set, being extras, and other miscellaneous tasks whenever Hollywood (as well as European movie producers) move into town. These simple folks have worked with the likes of Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe in movies like Gladiator, Babel, Prince of Persia, Kingdom of Heaven and endless others .

I stop to a chat with a fellow, and he says he’s a musician too, so he invites me over for tea. As we sit on the carpet in his very traditional home sipping tea he tells me about his run ins with some of the big name actors that have been here with make 30 million a film. And what does he make? Well… more like twenty dollars a day—when there’s work…

I notice something else about this village. All the people are darker skinned—unlike Ouarzazate when a large percentage are fairer skinned. It gives me a chuckle when a kid calls another kid a derogatory term for black… I guess it’s like guys in the hood using the N word with each other…

I jam with my host for a little bit, then continue on my way. Still a lot of road to cover.