6 Sep - as expected, it's been a long day / night. Went out for a great last dinner in Madaba...on my own...before my taxi picked me up at midnight. Fly to Istanbul, wait 4 hours for next flight to Casablanca. All goes as planned with no delays and my luggage arrives in Casablanca, phew! Check into Hotel Washington in Casablanca. My room mate for this trip (Highlights of Morocco - GAP) has arrived but is out exploring. I head out too but can't really find any of the sights (not sure there are any!). Head to the supermarche for supplies...it's [View Full Entry]

---

---

8 Sep - we explore Meknes in the morning including a panoramic view of the old town, Thursday's Gate, Bab Agnou (the main entrance to the medina), lake, Meknes Palace and the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss II (the son of the Iraqi who brought Islam to Morocco in the 7th century AD). We wander round the souk which has numerous stalls selling dates, sweet sugary pastries, fruit & veg, dead animals (butchers as you've never seen before - blood and flies everywhere and disgusting smells) and herbs & spices. We also visit an old granary which was considered an advanced concept [View Full Entry]

---

---

10 Sep - an all day drive through the spectacular scenery of the Middle Atlas and High Atlas mountains as well as the cedar forests before arriving on the edge of the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert in the village of Merzouga. En route we stop to see a pack of hungry (and extremely lazy) monkeys on the roadside. By the time we check-in to our auberge and climb the sand dune behind our rooms we have missed the sunset but it's still an amazing sky. The landscape of the reddish-pink sand dunes, interspersed with greenery is completely breathtaking. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

17 Sep - arrive in Marrakech. Sightseeing with the group includes: Bahia Palace...built by Bou Ahmed in the 1890's with paved courtyards, pavilions and reception halls decorated in traditional Morrocan zelije tiling on the walls and carved cedar wood doors which housed Ahmed's 4 wives and 24 concubines, what a guy!!! Saadian tombs...opulent mausoleums of the Saadians who ruled Morroco from 1549-1668. Ancient walled garden with mosaic graves and pavilions with tombs. Majorelle Gardens...formerly owned by Yves St Laurent, there is now a memorial to him within these beautiful gardens. V tranqu [View Full Entry]

---

---

15 Sep - early morning stroll at 7.30am to walk back down the mountain to Imlil. Drive along more bendy roads as we leave the Atlas Mountains behind. Drive through the outskirts of Marrakech heading to the seaside town of Essaouira. We stop at an Argen oil factory. This is a women's co-operative and they explain how argen oil is extracted from the nuts of the argen tree to become either cooking oil (which helps reduce cholesterol) or beauty treatments (rich in Vitamin E). It takes 30kg of nuts to make 1litre of oil! Disappointed not to see the legendary goats [View Full Entry]

---

---

13 Sep - we leave the Todra Gorge and drive throught the Dades Gorge which is even more spectacular...very red stone and strange rock formations, some look like giant feet. Drive through the valley of the 1000 Kasbahs to Ouarzazate. This area is famous for being used by Hollywood as a film set (including good old Lawrence of Arabia) and they are currently filming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time with Ben Kingsley, due for release in 2010. We visit a herbologist who explains all the herbs and spices used by the berbers for both cooking and medicinal purposes. I buy [View Full Entry]

---

---

1 Sep - Ramadan starts. Officially on my own now...ho hum. I gave Nafis my mobile number so he keeps calling. Finally, I pick up and agree that he can drive me to Madaba. Found a great, cheap wee hotel online. Nafis has difficulty finding it but eventually, we find it and he drops me off. After various conversations that he thinks of me as his sister, if I have any problems I call him and that I should find a husband when I get home. What a guy! 2 - 5 September - v relaxing week just chilling out in [View Full Entry]

---

---

18 Aug - we have a leisurely breakfast on the train followed by a few hours of watching the Turkish countryside go by. Vast, dry, sandy, nothing-ness except for the odd, small settlement with cows and a minaret. A v relaxing way to spend a Monday morning...work life seems a distant memory already :) Arrive in the hippy hangout of Goreme in Cappadocia, WOW what a place. For those of you in the know, all I can say is Humbie moonbase :) Out of this world scenery. Over the ages, volcanic tufa (Heather - amazing climbing!) has been sculpted into strange [View Full Entry]

---

---

20 Aug - we're officially in the Middle East now, wow. Syria always seemed to me to be such a mystical, ancient and biblical place and relatively unvisited by western tourists...all of this appears to be true, although there are lots of Iraqi tourists here. We meet Hussain, our excellent tour guide for all of Syria. We'll be in the country for 5 days, so really looking forward to getting to know more about this elusive country. We arrive in Aleppo late afternoon, the second biggest city in Syria, after Damascus. The drivers are MANIC and it reminds me of being [View Full Entry]

---

---

22 AUGUST - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, 34 TODAY. Who would have thought that I would spend my birthday in Syria, not me, that's for sure! I'm a bit hungover after all the drinking in the Baron Hotel the night before but I soon forget about that when Ali gives me a birthday (post) card and gorgeous pearly bracelet which she designed and made herself. I only mentioned once to her at the start of the trip that it was my birthday during the tour, so it was great to mark the occasion, little did I know that was only the [View Full Entry]

---

---