In the east of the kingdom, Ouarzazate, Zagora and Tinghir represent Morocco’s cultural diversity: they bear testimony to deep-rooted traditions, but contemporary creation is not to be surpassed when it comes to honouring cinema’s best hours! Ouarzazate is one of the entrances of the desert. A bit out from the city, the Kasbah of Tifoultoute stands sentinel. Film buffs would identify these landscapes: David Lean’s Laurence of Arabia was filmed in their midst. In Ouarzazate, cinema is king: the studios were the setting for Babel with Brad Pitt, The Nile Diamond with Michael Douglas, The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese, Tea in the Sahara with John Malkovich, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott and many other internationally renowned productions. Other cultural attractions are also worth a visit in the region. For example, the Ksar (fortress) Aït Benhaddou, which stands in the heart of the Ounila valley. Its buildings flank a hill to its summit, on which a historic granary is erected. Further on, cave homes can be viewed in Imadri. Finally, in the Drâa Valley, Tamgrout, another of these communities cut into the rock, holds one of the most famous and oldest Koranic libraries in the country: some of the manuscripts preserved there are approximately 1000 years old! Tinghir and Zagora are not without attractions either. Under the first segment, you go right through the Aït El Haj mellah: in the shadow of its mud-brick walls, amid the small alleys drenched in ochre light, you discover the old Jewish neighbourhood, a major piece of the city’s history. Around Zagora, the environment is considerably different. The site of Tazzarine takes you to the gates of prehistory: Inscriptions etched in the rock, 5000 years old, bore evidence to the history of the region that extends back thousands of years. Rock engravings, ancient kasbahs and Hollywood studios… Morocco, a nation of contrasts, for sure!