Because of the disturbances during the night, I woke up quite early again. I freshened up as best I could, checked out, and went back to the square. By then I had finally brought strict order to all my belongings, so I wouldn’t forget anything, have it stolen, or have to search for things for a long time.
Packed and ready, I went to the market to drink a coffee. Somehow, there was still hardly anything going on. So I sat there for a while with coffee and cigarettes, studying the rest of the route.
At some point I walked around a bit, stocking up on flatbread, nectarines, and cheese, as well as a drink for the journey, and then headed toward the southern gate. At first, of course, nothing was happening. Buses arrived and some left, but there was no crowd like there had been the day before at noon. I began to wonder how I would recognize my bus and whether I had been ripped off—but I assumed it would somehow work out.
Eventually I sat down at the bus station café, which consisted of little more than a booth with a few umbrellas, drank tea, and waited. The bus arrived at some point—certainly not on time. I’m not sure how I recognized it; probably the caller shouted the destination and I just happened to be right. After some waiting, the usual starting and honking, the constant food vendors, and a few elderly women asking for alms—to whom I gave two oranges—we finally headed east.
At first the drive was almost straight and barely uphill. After about half the journey, shortly before crossing the Atlas, the bus stopped in a village for a break. Most passengers sat down at a stand with a barbecue, which sent thick clouds of smoke into the air. I sat next door in a café, drank tea, and studied the map. After about half an hour we continued.
The bus now climbed toward the Atlas, and at the highest point there was an almost sudden transition into a completely different landscape. This was the North African watershed. Most of the rain comes from the west, falls on the Atlas, and farther east almost nothing remains. The ascent had still been quite green, but beyond the pass the plateau consisted of rock and desert. From there on, the landscape became greyish-yellow.
Along the way there were once again impressive serpentines and wide-open views, completely unobstructed by trees. Eventually we reached our destination, but the bus station was far to the west, outside the city center. I walked eastward until I reached a small hill in what was actually a very compact center.
The city felt quite orderly and modern at this point. My first task was to find a hotel. Right on the main street was the Royal. After inspecting the rather bare room for 80 dirhams, I agreed. The room had its own shower—a luxury I hadn’t had so far on the trip. There was electricity, a bed, and that was enough. At the reception sat a senile old man who would later drive me nearly to despair. He was so slow that even the simplest tasks took an eternity.
The check-in alone took another half hour. He also told me that I had to return the key when leaving. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but later it became annoying to wait ten minutes just to hand over the key, and another ten minutes when I needed it again. I should also mention that the shower provided almost endless hot water—another luxury that would later make me spend 250 dirhams on a room near the end of the trip.
Like all the rooms I had stayed in, this one had no heating. But here I had underestimated Ouarzazate. Later I read that in winter cold winds can come down from the Atlas. On the first evening it was still manageable, but it was already noticeably colder than in Sidi Ifni, where it had been around 18 °C at night. During the first night the temperature dropped to about 5 °C, while during the day it was around 25 °C. On my last morning, there was even frost, and some car windows were frozen.
I put my things down and went out to look for something to eat. Just around the corner was a place where all kinds of people gathered. I didn’t see any tourists at all—unlike everywhere else since Agadir. Around the square were a few restaurants that looked quite modern. I walked through the small center for a while, but didn’t really find anything that appealed to me.