# Deserts & otherworldly landscapes

> Deserts & otherworldly landscapes: Erg Chigaga, Zagora, Goreme, Pamukkale, Tamgroute. Travel guide and desert landscape photography prints.

- Source: https://clevertourists.com/guides/collection-deserts-and-otherworldly-landscapes
- Authors: Evan & Clara, Clever Tourists (first-hand, from a 526-day trip across 20 countries)
- Published: 2025-04-06

Dunes, travertines and fairy chimneys — the places that barely looked real.

## Places

### Erg Chigaga, Morocco

Erg Chigaga is the largest and most remote field of Saharan dunes accessible from southern Morocco, reached by a long off-road drive beyond the end of the paved road at M'Hamid. Its isolation keeps it far quieter than Morocco's more visited dune fields.

### Zagora, Morocco

Zagora sits in the Draa Valley, a long oasis corridor of date palms following the Draa River toward the desert. It is a traditional staging point for camel treks and journeys deeper into the Sahara.

### Goreme, Turkey

Göreme sits at the heart of Cappadocia, a region of soft volcanic rock eroded into cones, pillars and valleys. The town is built into and among the formations, with cave dwellings, rock-cut churches and a celebrated dawn balloon flight over the landscape.

### Pamukkale, Turkey

Pamukkale, meaning cotton castle, is a hillside of dazzling white travertine terraces formed by mineral-rich thermal springs. Above the terraces lie the extensive ruins of the Greco-Roman spa city of Hierapolis.

### Tamgroute, Morocco

Tamgroute is a small town in the lower Draa Valley known for two things: a centuries-old religious library and a tradition of distinctive green-glazed pottery. It offers a focused, lesser-visited stop between Zagora and the desert.