Morocco , you seem to have lost the sun!

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The parents did eventually make it in to the town of Chefchouen, as the rain had lightened in the afternoon. They planned to buy water,eggs and bread. They bought a pasta strainer and a couple of other bits, but they forgot to pick up the bread and water. The next morning started off with a shower (surprise surprise), but had stopped after breakfast so we packed up, and headed for our next destination, the Volubis ruins near Meknes. On the way we stopped at a cafe and it had the film White house down playing on the tv. This was quite a distraction as we found ourselves just sitting there watching it. For Lunch we stopped in another small town and had an egg and salad sandwich which was really good, then just as we were leaving, Dad tried to steal the table water much to the amusement and confusion of the waiter. Back on the road and tom-tom took us of the nice tarmac'd road and sent us down a Moroccan country road with next to no tarmac left apart from he strip down the middle and shed loads of pot holes. This was great as it gave us the views of the nearby mountains, though i don't think the suspension would agree. At the end of the road we had to drive through road works, which in true Moroccan style was literally through the middle as the JCB had to wait for us to pass before carrying on with his work.



The Volubis ruins were amazing and the view surrounding it was too, as you could see for miles, including the impending rain clouds... We did have enough time to see most of the ruins, but when we felt a few spits, he headed for the trucks, and just in time too. The original campsite was in Meknes, but the write up in the campsite book made it sound really bad, plus it wasn't in the tom-tom so we assumed it no longer existed, and went for one just down the road. This proved to be a good decision as the place was very quiet and clean. Also while driving to the ruins, I had hit a pothole near a tree, and could distinctly hear air hissing out, but the truck tyres seemed fine so I ignored it. This turned out to be the fat bike tyre, which was above the drivers door, and hadn't even been ridden yet, had picked up a large thorn and was flat. The plan the next day was to pop into Meknes have a quick look around, pick up some money, as the parent had run out, and then head on to Rabat. Of course this didn't happen. We parked up in the new town, and wondered about, got some money, but it was just a town much like any other. Dad then said about a gateway to the old medina called El Bab Monsour, that was recommended by the travel book, so we decided to go look for that. At first we were going to drive over and see if we could find it, but knowing how hit and miss that can be i suggested we take a taxi. This proved to be a really good decision as there wasn't any parking near the gateway, that and we were looking to drive to the wrong side of the medina too. Just across the road from the gateway was a small market, but everyone seemed to be walking inside the building behind so we followed, and found an spices and meat market. We walked out of here and back across to the gateway, which now houses a picture gallery, so you have to go around the corner to enter the medina. While heading for some loos, a guy offered us a guided tour and a horse and cart ride for a good price.



While having a bottle of drink in the square, the guy was still hanging around, and Mum was already wanting to do it, so we did. The horse ride took us to the old christian prison, where we picked up a different guide. In fact this was worth the extra as it is an underground room, with no inscriptions detailing anything, so the guide was able to explain everything to us, making it a really interesting visit. Back in the cart, we were whizzed off along the outer wall, to the royal gate, where Dad was told he could take a photo, but it must not have the police in it! Luckily they were hidden behind the kiosk in the shade so this wasn't a problem. The next stop was a strange one, unfortunately our driver didn't speak english, so couldn't explain what the place was, and as we didn't know what it was we skipped it, and moved on to see the town baths, which your no longer allowed to swim in. The ride ended at the berber market where we meet our original guide, Hamille, and we began our tour of the old medina. This was fascinating, and the guy certainly knew his history, and again with out him, we would have just wondered about aimlessly till we got bored, missing all kinds of things. In the afternoon he left us at a restaurant, while he went home to eat himself, then of course the tour ended as usual in a carpet shop, and a pharmacy, where both times Mum bought something. It turned out to be a great day, but not the original plan, so as it was now late afternoon we headed back to the campsite we just left.



The next day we headed for Rabat, but the weather was atrocious all the way, so at a cafe stop we decided to skip Rabat and head for Marakesh in the hope for some sun. This made the day a long one, as the weather didn't improve the whole way and there was road works around Rabat slowing us down. We stopped for Lunch in a small town just before Casablanca, and reprogrammed the tom-tom to allow toll roads this dropped the ETA by over an hour. The tolls were numerous but only a pound a time, plus it allowed me to break up the bigger notes that the cash machine gives you, as I kept giving them a 100 Dirham note for a 15 Dirham toll. We made Marrakesh in good time, but along the route i was getting really tired and all my muscles seemed to ache, which just didn't seem right. As it was still raining when we arrived, we decided to pay for a bungalow rather than mess about setting up the tents. This had a extra benefit, as I had now realised I had food poisoning! The next day or so was agony, with stomach cramps and endless loo stops, so I stayed indoors all day to recover. Originally we were only going to stay for two nights, but we extended this to three till i was better. Yesterday the weather started off bad but by the afternoon was sunny and warm, so the parents left to go shopping, with the intension of visiting Marrakesh properly today with me, but unfortunately I'm still not even 90 percent so they are going to go in to Marrakesh without me. Weather reports claim the rain will have moved off by Friday, so we should get the good weather for the next week at least.



The funny thing is, by now I was hoping to be writing some more up beat blogs, as so far they've been pretty dire, but fate has had other ideas, and this holiday seems to be a list of problems. But tomorrow is another day hopefully by then things will begin to right themselves and we can begin enjoying ourselves.

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