Morocco

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After a night in Jerez which included a fantastic flamenco display we made out way to Tarifa to catch the ferry across to Tangiers in Morocco. We missed the 11am ferry by about 2 minutes due to traffic on the road so had another two hours in Tarifa that we had not planned. Tarifa is a lovely little town sitting on the coast. During the summer it is full of British tourists but it was pretty much closed up for the season.

We had a good ferry crossing and landed in Tangiers. From there it was a couple of hours in a mini bus to Chefchouen. It was good to move away from the normality of Europe and on into Africa where things are not so predictable. (That is my perspective anyway ... for most of the people in the group they simply saw dirt and cars driving in a way that scared them!) We drove up into the hills of Chefchouen. It is a pretty place and we stayed in a beautiful Riad. We spent time wandering around the medina and five of us did a fantastic walk into the mountains (well for three of us it was fantastic ... for two women it was all too much ... they cracked it at Mouhammed - the guide who did not speak English - as they couldn't work out where the lunch stop was and then wanted a taxi to come and collect them in the mountains so they did not have to walk back!)

After Chefchouen we travelled to Fes and explored the Medina there. From Fes it was on to the Atlas mountains to stay in a Gite (a guesthouse) in the mountains. It was really pretty up there with snow on the mountains nearby. Needless to say it was pretty cold. We went for a walk further up into the mountains to visit a little mosque in a valley high up - all really good. (though once again we had people just focussing on the cold rather than looking up and seeing the magnificent mountains ... though these were the same people who struggled on the 1 hour walk from the place that we left the mini bus up the donkey trails to the village).

From Imlil we travelled to Ait Bennhadou. It was the start of a few long days of driving in a mini bus. Ait Bennhadou is a mud village where many movies have been filmed (Gladiator, Star Wars). We walked to the top to watch the sunset. It had the feeling of being on a large film set. That night we had a tangine and coscous making demonstration with "Action" - a Berber owner of the guesthouse who has been an extra in many of the movies that have been filmed in Ait Bennhadou. (I will fix up my spelling later when I am not negotiating a Moroccan keyboard).

After Ait Bennhadou we travelled into the Sahara desert for a desert camp. Once again it was a long day of travelling but really rewarding when we got there. The desert was largely the rocky deserts that I had been through in Central Asia, but the camp was enclosed by sandunes. It was amazing to look up at the sky at night and see the milky way so clearly. I wish I knew a bit more about the northern sky (or the southern sky for that matter). It was a cold night but we had a fire and cooked 'smores'. The next day we headed out early for a long drive to Touradant and then on to Essaouira.

We are now in the seaside town of Essaouira. It is a pretty little place and it is nice to have some time to wander and explore and just catchup. Essaouira is known as the windy city and a famous windsurfing location. It was good to see the ocean again. I sat on the beach for a long time and watched the kite surfers. We stayed in a lovely Riad. Once again Moroccan accomodation is geared up for the heat so there is no heating in the rooms. It has been getting quite cold at night. Had more Tangine and Couscous for dinner!

After Essaouira we headed back to Hotel le Menara in Marrakesh to finish the trip. People left the following day but I had a couple more days to check out Marrakesh. It is a really vibrant place and I spent a fair bit of time down at the souk watching the world go by. After Marrakesh I caught the train for a night in Casablanca before flying out to Thailand to meet up with Al.

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