Last Friday I detailed our visit to Atlas Studios, where many major motion pictures have shot over the years. We have one final ‘Hollywood’ stop before the day is done — we’re en route to Ait Benhaddou, an UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular filming location.

There’s a one-lane road in. Luckily our excellent driver Mufasa is up for the challenge.

Another fabulous hotel. Excellent job picking accommodation, Nomadic Tours!

It’s late afternoon as we set off to hike the kasbahs of Ait Benhaddou.

There it is… does it look familiar?

Perhaps you’ll recognize it from Game of Thrones…

[images via here, here, here, and here]

Another movie that recently shot in this area is Queen of the Desert, which will be released at the end of this year starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, and Damian Lewis.

PUPPIES…!! I’m ready to give up the rest of my day to sit and play with them. But alas, they are feral and I didn’t get my rabies shot before this trip.

Looking back down over the kasbahs:

The natural lighting here is spectacular. Check out those hills glowing in the distance — no Hollywood magic needed!

There’s another giant hill opposite this one; we’ll climb up there later.

Here we are approaching the very top of Ait Benhaddou.

We descend and climb up the opposite hill. The views — and this light — continue to impress.

My tour mates are a blast.

We walk back to the hotel just as the sun sets. This was a long and perfect day — can’t believe how much we squeezed in.

Thanks to Nomadic Tours for discounting my tour in exchange for photography and blogging. Opinions are my own.