An Ouarzazate Story

accomodations fashioned after the nomads' tents

Jay and Maey came from their Ouarzazate shoot, raving about gorgeous gorges, camping under the brilliant stars, and eating chicken cooked in tanjin, the traditional Moroccan pot—counterpart of our palayok.

Since Mawj and I arrived two days late and only met them in Marrakech, we were absolutely dying with envy with their Ouarzazate stories. We decided to go there—but we also wanted Jay and Maey to come with us. We knew the experience wouldn’t be complete without them.

But the two were a bit hesitant. After all, why should they spend extra to go somewhere they’ve already been to? They could explore other places or just chill out at Casablanca. But I was adamant. Ang kulit ko, pare. Up until the night before we left, I kept badgering them to join the trip. I used every emotional blackmail tool I could think of—Paano na ang friendship?! Papautangin naming kayo! Minsan lang tayo mag-Morocco, maghihiwa-hiwalay pa tayo?! Looking back at it--- mennn, I didn’t know I had that kakulitan inside me.


Needless to say, they caved in. And in the end, they thanked me for it! Because unlike the scorching heat they had experienced in their first trip, Ouarzazate was cool because of the unexpected rain. We rock-climbed, shouted our frustrations over the gorges, heard our echoes, wrote in each other’s journals, munched on camel barbeque and cooked our own goat tanjin. We marveled at the expanse of the place; it was the land where nomads roamed, pitching their homes from one spot to another. And at that moment we knew how that felt like as we moved from one destination to another, sleeping in transit and in strangers' homes.




There are lots more stories to tell about this place and our whole Morrocan journey and I’ll post them as soon as I get the other photos. :-)