Posts Tagged ‘Erg Chegaga Dunes’
How does the Ramadan fast affect tourists traveling to the Imperial Cities, the Sahara Desert and other regions of Morocco during this high holy holiday? Can tourists eat or drink in public during Ramadan? This article should clear up the confusion on this issue for tourists, to explain the most polite solutions for tourist behavior at this time, and to assure tourists that there is no problem with them visiting Morocco during Ramadan. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, holidays such as Ramadan advance by approximately ten days with each subsequent year. This means that Ramadan makes a cycle through the entire calendar of twelve months each twenty-some years. This year, Ramadan started on August 12th, 2010 in Morocco. The fast presently starts in Morocco at approximately 4:30 AM, and ends in the evening at approximately 7:30 PM.
For anyone interested in touring Morocco’s kasbahs or ksars, I highly recommend starting with Kasbah Taourirt, the Pasha Glaoui’s former palace in Ouarzazate. Kasbah Taorirt was built by the Pasha Glaoui. Its location was strategic for trading routes and in the 1930’s when the Glaoui ruled the South was then considered one of Morocco’s largest Kasbahs. Kasbah Taourirt was one of the places Glaoui kept his slaves. As a Moroccan traveler you can explore its nooks and crannies to discover its history and often local female painters who sell their art inside as well as the many quality silver shops just steps outside the Kasbah.
Upon first sight of the Moroccan Sahara Desert, one can wonder if it is a grain of utopia or perhaps a miracle created by god. For those who are not believers then let’s just say that one must, in their lifetime have tea in the Sahara. The Sahara desert is itself a character in The Sheltering Sky a novel written by the prolific writer and composer Paul Bowles. For centuries explorers have been seeking to discover the Moroccan Sahara. Almost a century ago, a young administrator in the British Colonial Service decided to take 1,500-mile adventure trek across an ancient, deadly slave route in Africa’s Sahara desert.Hanns Vischer then published a book about this British Colonial’s journey, across the Sahara desert and went on to become one of the most famed explorers of his era.
