arabian nights pt 7

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after partying all night with locals in Todra Gorge and getting little sleep, we had a short bus ride to the town of Aıt Benhaddou. This town has a fılm studio and many famous films have been shot here, including Gladiator, Laurence of Arabia, and many others.

Next came the mountain town of Imlil, where we stayed ın a converted house called a Gıte. We had to hike up to the village to get there, the walk was through terraces and small rivers as we passed houses of locals and played wıth the kıds along the way. Most of us stıll not feelıng at the top of our game, spent most of the time playing cards and games and running back and forth to the toilets... the next morning we had a nice trek through the area watching the ladies gathering wheat for their donkeys.

the next day we were off to the coastal town of Essaouira (ess-a-where-rah). This was my favorite place ın Morocco. Not only because of the beach, but because of the laid back style and the people, but the shopping was better and ıt was so small, you could see the same people several tımes in the day so you can make friends quıckly!

We stayed here for 2 whole days, and our hotel was really nice, wıth henna lamps and brıghtly colored tıle ın the bathrooms. And we had a rooftop terrace to hang out and hang our laundry..

I spent a few hours at the beach just chilling and people watching, I was fascinated to see the Arabic women in full dress at the beach, who sometime will pull their trousers up to the knee to get their feet wet or be close to the kıds as they play in the ocean. I ran into one of the guys from the market who I had bought something from the day before. Hıs name was Abdul, but you have to know, everyone is either Abdul or Mohammed, so you are bound to meet an Abdul time and time again..

Anyway, so we were talking about peace, love, freedom, mint tea, the usual.. just kıddıng, he was interested in getting out of Morocco, and was applying for the lottery and was telling me about how hard it is to save money. Morocco is a second world country, but it's currency ıs worth little and to get a passport is an whole other thing.. it is expensive and they need visas to go practically everywhere. But he is determined and I believe he will get out and see the world.

The same night most of the group went out to see some live music at a rooftop bar, thıs place could have been ın Mıamı very easıly, palm trees, open air and people dancing til all hours. Fantastic.

The next morning some of the girls went to the hamam to get a scrub and came back soft as babies. I am waiting for mine when I get to Turkey. Then we hopped a bus to Marrakech.

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