The night in Agdz

We stopped briefly in Ouarzazate, and determined that Lonely Planet was correct in its description that this town is so strategically placed that it doesn’t need to rely on looks or charm to get by. We passed through, after watching a gaggle of girls struggle to cross the street without seeing because they’d used their headscarves to completely cover their faces to protect them from the blowing sand.

Very soon after that, darkness fell, quite suddenly, and although we’d planned to spend the night in N’Kob, we stopped earlier, in Agdz, and looked for a hotel. Easier said than done. Moroccan marketing isn’t what American marketing is, so although we saw signs telling us of the existence of two hotels recommended by Lonely Planet, the signs gave no hints as to where to find them. We bumbled about in the dark, followed a narrow dirt road into the Land of Barking Curs, and found the Rose du Sable, a guesthouse in a walled garden next to a palmerie “recommended by the Jolie-Pitts” according to LP, and stopped in. A gracious young man welcomed us, showed us a beautiful room in a rose-filled sanctuary, served us cold beers, and later fed us a generous and delicious dinner on the pool-side deck. We slept like rocks.