TInghir to Aït Benhaddou, Maroc, November 13, 2018

I had the best sleep ever!  It pays to upgrade!  

Today we had an 8 am start and went 205 km-

A few of the passengers have expressed an interest in learning some French, so lessons started today!  For 30 minutes on all travel days, we'll have a class at the back of the truck.  I had 6 students this morning:  Grant, Brad, Terry, April, Victoria and Shelby.  We'll see how long it takes until I bore them to death!

Along the way, wild camels-

Most towns have roundabouts rather than traffic lights and these are often filled with interesting objects.  Rose water and rose creams are produced in this town-

We stopped for a break and I had a café au lait-

We're driving through desert with a threat of rain.  I'm glad we're inside because it's also quite windy-

Another interesting roundabout statue-

We stopped in Ouarzazate for lunch.  There were many shops near where we parked the truck-

They sell rocks that contain fossils-

and tagine pots-

Mint tea is usually served in a silver pot and it is more popular than coffee.  Alcoholic drinks are not available in restaurants and many men sit around all day sipping tea-

After lunch, we passed Atlas Studios.  Lots of desert films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Game of Thrones have been filmed here-

The Oscar Hotel-

Another roundabout-

Ecla Studios-

Off to market-

Pottery stands along the highway-

Some rivers have a bit of water.  The rainy season is in August and September-

More dates-

We got to Aït Ben Haddou and I upgraded again!  May as well as time is running out for possibilities.  Then, I headed to the Kasbah (castle) on the hill-

I took this picture from the deck on our hotel!  What a cool spot where we're staying!  

The views from up top are also great-

Looking down at the rooftops of shops and homes-

Painting is done using tea as the main color, saffron for yellow, indigo for blue and the brownish overlay is created by burning the back side of the paper-

More colorful scarves for sale-

Tea sets-

and an interesting bowl-

I am really enjoying Morocco!  Tomorrow we have a later start because Marrakech is close.  We will be there for 3 nights and I ALREAADY HAVE MY HOTEL RESERVATION!!!  RIGHT ON THE MAIN SQUARE!!!  LOOKING FORWARD TO IT ALL!!!!