From Midelt we took the classic route south, taking us through the Ziz gorge, which provides a fantastic landscape along the route. We saw the first mud-walled houses. Later, we decided to take a detour through the desert to reach some strange buildings.
We stopped in Errachidia at the Marjane supermarket for some provisions and a quick lunch, before we took a right turn to start a desert crossing from the Tarda oasis to Erfoud.
There must be enough water underneath the valley, as we not only saw little fields next to the village and palm trees, but also huge almond and olive plantations along the way.
When some towers appeared on the horizon, we knew we were getting close to the first sight, the city of Orion, designed by the German artist Hannsjörg Voth. The construction resembles the celestial constellation of Orion. Sadly, you can visit it only with special guides for a steep fee. We were content to just drive past.
The next monument was the Stairway to Heaven by the same artist, well guarded.
We came to a nice viewpoint, where a guard was watching – what, we didn’t know. Edi joined him.
After driving through the stony desert, we finally reached the tar road north of Erfoud. There was a camping close by (Karla camping), where we had a great hot shower and a lovely dinner in front of an open fire. Hadman offered us to take us 100km through the desert and around Erg Chebbi, that sounded interesting! More next!