Fes-Casa-Marrakech Tom Griffithurl='/Videos/3194.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3194.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' In the Djemaa El Fna So. The clock is now ticking. Thanks to the Mauritanian Consulate, we now have 22 days to get from Marrakech to Senegal. Which means the next three weeks is going to be a mad headlong rush through perhaps the driest, hottest, least-serviced-by-public-transport part of Africa there is. We can't wait. We left Fes, and returned to Casablanca on one of Morocco's relatively speedy and comfortable trains (2nd class is more than sufficient, but nobody gets a reserved seat, so it's every person for him or herself). Suze hadn't seen Casa before, so we did a quick loop of the medina and returned to the still-massive Hassan II mosque. Our real reason for being in Ca... read more

Casa-Tangier-Chefchaouen Tom Griffith I have heard Tangier described as many things - the 'Armpit of Morocco', 'Africa's Tijuana', 'a complete dump', 'a hole', and, perhaps more tactfully, 'where East meets West'. I had spoken to people who had been here, and was told crazy trales of people being stabbed, of marauding packs of stray dogs, of vice and sleaze. So I was kind of prepared for a real craphole of a city. In fact, Tangier is a bit of a dump, but it is also quite cool in a seedy, dodgy kind of way. It is definitely a port city - the place is full of sleaze-merchants of every description: drug-pushers, touts, prostitutes, drunks, lowlifes, and plenty of mad old blokes. On my way to a Tangier internet cafe, a wild-haired old loony stopped me ... read more

Luxor-Cairo-Alexandria Egypt 2007 Tom Griffithurl='/Videos/2910.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2910.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Alexandrian souqurl='/Videos/2911.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2911.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Alexandrian seafront Just when I thought Egypt couldn't throw any more surprises at me, I found Alexandria. Sitting at the opposite end of the Nile from Aswan, Al-Iskandariyah (as it is known to the locals) couldn't be more different from the conservative, steamy, Nubian south. It is almost as if the Mediterranean sea breeze has carried over something of Europe to the place; from the French-style coffee-shops and seafood restaurants, to the charming architecture and rattling old trams. It is an intensely li... read more

Luxor-Aswan-Abu Simbel-Aswan Tom Griffithurl='/Videos/2834.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2834.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' An Aswani Ahwa One of the best ways to experience Egypt is to sit back in a coffee-shop, tea in hand, and talk crap with the locals who will invariably be attracted to your table. I try to do this at least once a day - mint tea and a waterpipe at the local ahwa are about as close as you can get to downing a schooner of beer at the pub. The ahwas are where Egyptian men gather, day and night, to talk, argue, smoke, play games, watch telly, and relax. Dropping into one, you usually get to meet some interesting characters, play a game or two of tawla (backgammon), and practise your Arabic. After my first day in Aswan, I was feeling a little Egypted-out, so... read more

Cairo-Suez-Dahab Tom Griffithurl='/Videos/2600.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2600.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Dahaburl='/Videos/2602.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2602.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Message from meurl='/Videos/2692.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2692.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Helwan the camel Something weird is happening to the world's weather when you get a hailstorm in the Sinai Desert, right on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Either that, or Allah or God or whoever is really angry. Why else would ice drop on a balmy diving resort in the Middle East, and on Friday the 13th as well? That's exactly what happened here this morning, and the locals are as amazed as the tourists. One guy was running around taking pictures ... read more