heatherbirt

Here's what we'd have liked to know that wasn't in the Rough Guide (2007 edition). - CTM and Supratours buses have air conditioning. - The Telouet Glaoui kasbah is now owned by UNESCO, and you pay 20 dirhams for entry. The hotels have guides to show you round. - There is a bus from Imilchil to Tineghir in the morning each day. - There is cycle hire available in Boumalne, and we would have like to make use of that to explore the gorge. - There is a bus around midday from Ouarzazate to Telouet, which makes the return journey at 7am. - The Glaoui palace in Marrakesh is not yet open as a museum - try asking the caretaker to take you round. Our best finds (don't miss these!). - La Perle du Dades hotel ... read more

- history: tied between Roman ruin Volubilis, and the Fes medina, in Morocco - beautiful architecture: Glaoui Palaces in Marrakesh and Telouet. Those Glaouis had some cash. - bizarre architecture: Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's cathedral in Barcelona, a truly extraordinary sight, albeit not necessarily a beautiful one. - unusual sight: tannery in Fes. - view: glacier blanc, French Alps. - beautiful journey: Tizi'n Tichka between Telouet and Marrakesh. - hotel: Perle Du Dades in Morocco. Beautifully put together place, wonderful hospitality. - food: La Lanterna in Riomaggiore, Italy. - hospitality: wine and snacks in Pat and Alan's garden in Treignac. - enclave: Gibraltar. - meal on a boat: at the marina in Barcelona. Nothing on a boat that was moving (i.e. from Tanger to Genoa) was anywhere near. - touts: Marrakesh. Steer as clear as possible. - ... read more

From the Cinque Terre it was a complicated journey on six trains to our next destination, Digne. We followed the coastline round into France, giving fabulous views of the sea and the coastal villages. Much of it is almost as pretty as the Cinque Terre, but with fewer tourists. We dropped in on Monte Carlo, Monaco on the way, crossing three borders in a day - not that anyone wanted to see our passports. It was a bit tight, as we had lots of half-hour changes, two late trains and one cancellation. The last journey was from Nice up to Digne, on a very local train up into the Alpes where the conductor got out of the train at every stop and shouted his destinations, dropped off parcels on the station platform, and even let a ... read more

Two days on a ferry back to Europe! We had a bit of a stress on the way on to the boat. We eventually found a check-in office, where a small sign apologised because they wouldn't be able to accept bank cards on board. As you can't take Moroccan Dirhams out of the country, we'd carefully used ours up. The banks were closed. We managed to get more Dirhams and change them back to Euros by half an hour after the ship had been supposed to leave (from the wrong fery terminal). We eventually set sail 6 hours late, although nobody explicitly announced the delay, and there was never a word of apology from the staff. It's good to be at sea. We could see the Spanish or French coasts for quite a lot of the ... read more

Don't go to Marrakesh. It's full of lying, swindling, pestering, annoying people who spend their time trying to rip you off, sell you stuff you don't want or misdirect you (to their shop). The most annoying example was when we knew where we were and where we were going, but someone wanted to 'help'. We told him we didn't need help, we knew where we were, and went the other way. He followed us, and tried to persuade us to go his way instead. Eventually we let him take us there, much to our annoyance, but then of course he wanted money for 'helping' us. We refused, and as our mothers might read this we can't quote what he said. We arrived in the heat of the middle of the day, after a long bus journey ... read more

By Tineghir, the Moroccan diet finally had its wicked way with Heather's insides. We asked directions from someone, thinking we'd be safe as he had a stall to mind, but no, he came with us and spent about an hour trying to sell us jewellery, or better, swap some for Heather's blackberry! In the next town, Boumalne, our taxi refused to brave the 'piste', or track, up to the hotel. We had a long hot walk and then were faced by a river and a bridge, which looked fun to Gavin but Heather could tell there were trolls underneath. Rather than walk many miles round, Gavin carried over the bags without any appearance from the trolls, and valiantly helped Heather across. Called the Perle du Dades, our hotel was run by two lovely people, very hospitable, ... read more