{"id":10931,"date":"2020-06-07T03:24:56","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T10:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/?p=10931"},"modified":"2020-10-24T02:25:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T09:25:15","slug":"ouarzazate-the-hollywood-of-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/07\/ouarzazate-the-hollywood-of-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"Ouarzazate, The Hollywood of Morocco."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes living on the road looks this: Sleepy giggling kids still on their beds as Dan drives down a bumpy dirt road while I throw all the crap from on top of the counter and fridge haphazardly onto our bed. And why is this craziness happening? Because we parked at an idyllic spot on a lake in Morocco\u2019s Hollywood and I guess we were parked in the director\u2019s shot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hollywood<\/p>\n

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When we drove to this lake last night, we incorrectly assumed these tents were being torn down. In reality, they were being put up for today’s movie filming.<\/p>\n

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We weren’t the only ones confused by the knock on our door while still asleep this morning. All of our friends also were asked to relocate for the day because we were parked on their set location.<\/p>\n

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The sheep were part of today’s filming.<\/p>\n

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Today our kids enjoyed their cereal while watching actors and crew film for an upcoming movie… like it was no big deal. Haha. I love their adaptability.<\/p>\n

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The view from the back of our van did not suck today… but since we were awaken early and also heard that camping too close to the lake is a bad idea after last year’s outbreak of parasites which were transmitted through biting sand flies (yes, true story), we decided to head towards our next destination instead.<\/p>\n

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On the drive today, we spotted reflections from a solar farm.<\/p>\n

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Ouarzazate is known as Hollywood of Morocco. Since Europe doesn\u2019t have these types of desert landscapes and the costs to make a movie here is a fraction of elsewhere, Ouarzazate has built up quite an industry of movie making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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So much so that Wes Craven decided to produce the sequel to his remake of \u2018The Hills Have Eyes\u2019 right here in the Moroccan desert. Here an American-style gas station meant to be near the old Route 66 in New Mexico was built. We\u2019ve never seen the horror film but we did talk the attendant down from 2 euros a person to 2 euros for all 5 of us.<\/span>
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It’s suppose to say ‘Full Service Tune Up’. I am guessing in the actual movie they did a bit more due diligence to make things look more realistic with proper spelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kids were okay with visiting this place from the front side but it got creepier for them once we went inside and around the back of the building.<\/p>\n

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The inside the shop had all kinds of old American food and beverage containers on its dusty shelves. We even found some cans of food from Ralph’s! Ha. File this under things I would have never guessed I’d see in Morocco. So funny.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The creepy dolls inside and outside of the shop didn’t sit too well with our little adventures.<\/p>\n

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One more photo and we are outta here.<\/p>\n

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Let’s not come here again, ok?<\/p>\n

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Notice anything different with this abandoned movie car in the Moroccan desert versus real ones in the US? No bullet holes here!<\/p>\n

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Today we are headed to the Anti-Atlas Mountains for another night of wild camping (boondocking). We spent a lot of time on dirt and broken roads in Morocco. It’s nice to stay off of toll roads and get a better glimpse of they way people live and the surrounding nature.<\/p>\n

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Pretty little villages with terracing.<\/p>\n

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Found an open spot on the top of the mountain near a cell phone tower.<\/p>\n

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Kids are occupied with their toys outside so I get to enjoy a little quiet time with my coffee and my favorite french cookies<\/a> we found at the store.<\/p>\n

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We had a couple work trucks drive by and wave. Some even gave us a thumbs up during our hour or so here. But then a man on his scooter stopped and was not happy with us at all. We didn’t understand what he was saying since we do not speak Arabic or French but we got the gist that we were not welcome to overnight there.<\/p>\n

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Instead of having an uncomfortable night wondering if it was actually illegal to overnight there or not, we respected the local and headed out of the Anti-Atlas Mountains as the sun started to dip. I didn’t want two unexpected knocks in the same day.<\/p>\n

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We drove to the next town that allowed wild camping outside of its police station. An officer came out the station, took down our information and we called it a night.<\/p>\n

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Here is a VLOG that Dan created for this adventure!
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