Here are a few more pictures from Kasbah Leila, our desert hotel in the Erg Chebbi dunes of eastern Morocco.
Kasbah Leila Morning
We got up very early in the morning to take photos of the sunrise over the temporary lake at Kasbah Leila. Watching the sun set over the dunes is one of my best memories of Morocco, and standing here on a little rise between two lakes, with Kasbah Leila in the distance and Michelle by my side, is another.
Lahcen
The area west of Kasbah Leila was flat and you could see for miles. While we stood there taking pictures, we saw a motorcycle drive down the road, starting from very far away and stopping at the ruined compound on the far side of the lake. A man got off to check on the herd of goats, and when he saw us, he drove all the way around the lake, parked his bike, and came over to greet us. He pulled a bundle of tchotchkes out of a backpack and tried to sell us something. I said we weren’t interested, but I offered him a few dirhams to let us take a picture. He spoke enough English to tell us his name was Lahcen, and he was a Berber shepherd. You can’t blame a man for trying to make a buck.
Shepherd’s Bike, Kasbah Leila
This was not Lahcen’s bike. It probably belonged to one of the men tending camels in the field behind Kasbah Leila. After sunrise, we went back up to the auberge for a breakfast of bread, honey, jam and coffee, before piling in the van to head back to Ouarzazate.