Morocco: Erg Chebbi, The Dunes

When we left Ouarzazate, we had no idea we were driving to the highlight of our entire Moroccan trip. Although we knew we were to see the edge of the sahara, nothing prepared us for the next two days.

This time, we were able to speed up a little more. We drove for a long time when it was just us, sand and the one road we were on. So when we finally saw an auberge (inn), we stopped for lunch. It has a big restaurant and the set lunch menu or tajine, kebab, olives, salad was so big, I had to take a walk around its backyard before sitting in the car again. Here, in the middle of nowhere, the auberge had a pool! I was tempted to swim but had to continue our journey as the sahara was calling.

Driving past many more interesting villages, we arrived in Rissani early in the afternoon. I read on Lonely Planet that only a few years ago that a road has been built to connect Rissani to Merzouga, our destination. Prior to this, many locals were able to make a high profit on organizing tours or transportation to the Dunes at Merzouga.

Since the completion of the road, some locals who lost their income resorted to manipulate road signs to confuse driving tourists. So here, we relied heavily on the GPS. True enough, we did see some local "guides" waving at us, offering us "help".  

Once we got off the main road into the trunk road, it felt like we were driving on an endless horizon of sand and nothing else. Sting's Desert Rose came to mind.

When we finally see blocks of square yellow ocre buildings, we turned off the road. Then we saw it. Before our eyes, the dunes. So soft yet so intimidating. So beautiful, yet vastly. I felt so small (well, more than usual).

Nasser Palace, our riad, was one of a handful in this small settlement. When we were parking the car, I could see little strings of camels far away up in the dunes. It must have been about 3pm. We were greeted by our friendly host and offered mint tea. The riad has a swimming pool at the center. The rooms surround the pool on two floors. As we made our way to our room which overlooked a camel stable, I noticed a lot of young students from Spain. I wondered how the riad could accommodate all of them.

Later, I discovered that there is a camping ground in the Riad, filled with colourful berber tents. The students gather around a fire, sang and danced and sleep there, if they sleep at all.

We had dinner at the riad and then sat on a platform on the second floor. On the side of the dunes, we saw stars. On the other, a rai band started playing by the pool. The contrast made me feel like there is no one out "there" and all living beings are in the riad. It's like the movie "The Village". A creature could have came out of the dark of the dunes and attack those who are drunk from the siesta in the riad.

We went to bed early. At 4am, we woke up and went out to the entrance. It was dark and cold. We could hear music playing from the camping ground. Our guide, who is a berber man waited for us alongside two camels. We rode the camels towards the dark, with our berber guide walking quietly next to us.

About 5 minutes into it, I looked up and saw the brightest stars I have ever seen in my life. The sound of the music and the light of the camping fire became more and more distant. The wind was blowing softly. It was quiet except the little noises the camels made once in a while. I could feel when the camel's legs stepped on the soft sand dune. It adjusted its weight, swaying left and right. I don't know how much time we went on like this when we reached the bottom of the highest dune. The berber guide helped me get off the camel.

As it was too steep for the camels, we had to start climbing to the top by ourselves. It was still pitch dark. So the berber guide helped me. It seemed effortless for him. I kept losing my balance as with each step, I sunk my feet too deep into the sand. So the berber guide pulled me. He was extremely strong for a small man.

After some time, we started to see a faint light coming from the other side of the dune. We were in the shadows. The berber man told me we had to hurry to get to the top. And so we did. We made it to the top in good time. It was very windy and I had to cover my face with a scarf. At first I could not see much of my surrounding. No..not because I covered my eyes! It was simply too dark.

Then...when the first sunlight came through the horizon, I was flabbergasted. I had never seen such magnificence. The berber guide was as excited as we were. Imagine. Being there so often and still he was excited. I can understand it though. We sat and waited some more. And finally the sun rose before our eyes, creating the light and shadow play all around us. We were on the highest dune looking down at the other smaller ones. It was like being in a sea, except it was all sand. We stayed for a longer while.

As we turned to descend, I finally realized the climb we made. And as if to mock the whole romantic sunrise episode, a bus of Americans arrived. The first to get off was a group of overweight women in the 40s. They were talking so loud, not even the wind of the sahara could shut them up. I'm glad we had our special moment before they arrived.

We took it as a sign to return back to the riad. The berber guide told us we could ride the camel around more. So we did...along the dunes, passing a tiny patch of green. We also bought some rocks from our berber guide. It was our second Berber dealing and it went like this...

Me: EUR6 for 2?

Berber: No no. EUR 6 for 3.

I paid him EUR8 for the three. 

We later went back to hang out at the riad. Mint tea, a lunch and chatting with a group of Spanish tourists who were eating some food they brought from Spain. We also went to visit the culture centre in the village. Bought a Moroccan mirror and some carpets. Again, the prices were much lower than Fés.

We checked out late in the day. I promised myself that I will be returning to this place for my next trip to Morocco.